Bench Press (aim is 165x6x6)
75/165 x 6 - 75/165 x 6 - 75/165 x 6 - 75/165 x 6 - 75/165 x 6 - 75/165 x 6
Olympic Squat (aim is 254x4x9)
115/254 x 9 - 115/254 x 9 - 115/254 x 9 - 115/254 x 9
Seated Lateral Raise (feet on bench)
20/44s x 12 - 22/49s x 11 - 24/53s x 4
Inc. Bench R. Delt Raise
18/40 x 10 - 18/40 x 9 - 18/40 x 8
Called it… I will work calves at some point. Squatting and benching both felt hard today… in different ways. I think I can nail this weeks reps though. Luv smolov.
Bench Press (aim is 182x7x5)
82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 4 - 82.5/182 x 3
Olympic Squat (aim is 270x5x7)
122.5/270 x 7 - 122.5/270 x 7 - 122.5/270 x 7 - 122.5/270 x 7 - 122.5/270 x 7
Rope OH Extension
25/55 x 15 - 30/66 x 8
One-arm standing DB Extension
14/31 x 8 - 14/31 x 7 - drop x some
Kept the long head work minimal… probably a good choice. Benching was very tough today… if my form had felt good I’d have got all the reps though… like a fool I played around with it a bit too much set to set which is why I dropped reps on the last two sets. Squatting was tough but it’s literally just a case of having the balls to do the reps when it comes to smolov and squatting, would have been a little easier today if form felt 100%.
Pull-ups
Wide-grip - BW x 8 - mid-grip - +10/22 x 8 - +20/44 x 4
Lat Pulldown
CG - 80/176 x 6
Seated Cable Row
50/110 x 10 - 60/132 x 6
Deadstop DB Row
Thumbless/lat focus grip - 50/110s x 8 - 50/110s x 7
Straight-arm Pulldown
20/44 x 10 - 25/55 x 5 - 15 x 10 - drop - 10/22 x 8
Felt fatigued today so kept it relatively low-impact… gym was literally stupid packed… don’t know why I ever bother going betweem 4-6pm… usually 2 groups of people waiting for every piece of equipment…
Bench Press (aim is 187x8x4)
85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4 - 85/187 x 4
Olympic Squat (aim is 287x7x5)
130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5 - 130/287 x 5
Today was tough but got the reps… the bench form was hit and miss “as usual” think I have a rough idea of what works best for me now finally (basically, only a small arch, plus shrugging shoulders CT style which also allows for easier unracking)
Squat form was generally good but hard to call depth without a training partners… not fully a2g but hopefully still below para.
[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Where is your head lined up in relation to the bar when you are laying down on the bench? If you’re too far forward it can make unracking a pain.[/quote]
Yeah I feel you, nothing worse/more painful to see then someone trying to unrack a bar about 10" behind their head… generally I’m pretty much on the limit ie. if I went any further back I’d hit the rack in the rep (indeed, I do every now and again, but rarely)
Edit: on that note, every time I try and bench with a big arch I find unracking next to impossible- maybe I could move more weight that way but I wouldn’t want to if it meant having to have every set unracked for me. I find myself to be stronger/more explosive with a small arch/shrug as long as im activily tight elsewhere and use leg drive
I’ve been trying out an unracking method I see ben rice and a few other big hitters doing with their bench. You basically set up with your arch and keep tight as fuck etc. But when you go to unrack you lift your ass of the bench to make it a bit easier. It seems to be working for me at the moment. See the 1min. mark in this video for what I’m talking about.
[quote]phlegms wrote:
I’ve been trying out an unracking method I see ben rice and a few other big hitters doing with their bench. You basically set up with your arch and keep tight as fuck etc. But when you go to unrack you lift your ass of the bench to make it a bit easier. It seems to be working for me at the moment. See the 1min. mark in this video for what I’m talking about.
[/quote]
Interesting stuff I might have to try something similar… not that I’m having trouble unracking with the method I used but this might allow me to use more arch while still having an easy unrack. Bens videos are awesome… great music.
Bench Press (aim is 198x10x3)
90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 3 - 90/198 x 2 - 90/198 x 1 - 90/198 x 1 - 90/198 x 1
Olympic Squat (aim is 303x10x3)
137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 -137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - 137.5/303 x 3 - Volume PR for weight
Benching was easy chest/tris wise but it was actually shoulder strain/pain that was failing me and made me choice to only go for singles last 3 sets. If i foam roll/actually warm up better this weight should be pretty easy money now.
Squats weren’t easy by any means and I’m not sure if they were all below para… but happy to get the reps all the same… looking forward to 315~ this time next week…
If you’re going to back off the reps on the last sets, you should probably make it up in singles at the end or something, because 6x3 and the additional 7 reps is still significantly below the 30 reps.
[quote]SamMcLoughin wrote:
If you’re going to back off the reps on the last sets, you should probably make it up in singles at the end or something, because 6x3 and the additional 7 reps is still significantly below the 30 reps.[/quote]
I didn’t have that long to spare in the session (already very long)… it was a case of limiting myself because of shoulder pain though (applying to overall volume, not just the reps, I was already risking injury going any further)… once the pain is sorted I won’t have to worry as I can just hit the reps in the first place. With no pain, 90kg is easy money now which is nice.
Bench Press (aim is 171x6x6)
77.5/171 x 6 - 77.5/171 x 6 - 77.5/171 x 6 - 77.5/171 x 6 - 77.5/171 x 6 - 77.5/171 x 6
Olympic Squat (aim is 265x4x9)
120/265 x 9 - 120/265 x 9 - 120/265 x 9 - 120/265 x 6
I know I was a few reps short on the last set… but I’ve literally never trained so hungover/dead in my life. Felt like I was going to pass out almost constantly and my mind and body were not even slightly linked. Squatting felt as if I literally didn’t have a “core”.
Just happy to have got through it. If I can get through hungover/dead double smolov, normal smolov will be an absolute pleasure in comparison. Strategy at work.
Good stuff, do try hit the reps though. Smolov’s success really does depend on over-all volume, so try to make up the reps in anyway possible. Even if it means re-racking, resting up for a minute and finishing off the set. Still, good progress!
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Good stuff, do try hit the reps though. Smolov’s success really does depend on over-all volume, so try to make up the reps in anyway possible. Even if it means re-racking, resting up for a minute and finishing off the set. Still, good progress! [/quote]
oh its definitely working, that much I can tell. Really love it for squatting, not sure if I’m completely convinced about smolov jr… but we’ll see.
I would have probably waited a minute and polished off 3 more reps for what it would be worth (not a great deal, most likely) but the gym was closing as I did my last set.
So I missed my alarm this morning and therefore my biceps session before work… will throw some stuff in after Back on Weds.
I was wondering, for any guys reading, experiences/thoughts on the following supps/ingredients:
BCAA
EAA
DAA (also looking into a supp that combines DAA with Mucuna Prureins and Fenugreek)
BCAAs certainly seem to have a proven track record, if a little expensive, so I was mostly wondering how guys feel about using both BCAA and EAAs… is it worth that sort of money? If anyone has experience with the latter ingredients (mostly DAA, as it’s very intriguing) then I’d love to hear it.
For now I just ordered some zinc/magnesium for the experementz.
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
So I missed my alarm this morning and therefore my biceps session before work… will throw some stuff in after Back on Weds.
I was wondering, for any guys reading, experiences/thoughts on the following supps/ingredients:
BCAA
EAA
DAA (also looking into a supp that combines DAA with Mucuna Prureins and Fenugreek)
BCAAs certainly seem to have a proven track record, if a little expensive, so I was mostly wondering how guys feel about using both BCAA and EAAs… is it worth that sort of money? If anyone has experience with the latter ingredients (mostly DAA, as it’s very intriguing) then I’d love to hear it.
For now I just ordered some zinc/magnesium for the experementz.
[/quote]
I only ever used BCAAs when I tried out training fasted for a while, outside of training fasted I don’t think they would have a lot of practical use. You’d be better off just sipping on some whey isolate instead.
Also, I’ve just started trying out some of MP’s ZMA before bed also for de experimentz. Haven’t noticed any changes at all. Not even deeper sleep or particularly vivid dreams.
@phlegms: Well I think BCAA/EAA are pretty proven to have benefits… I’m just trying to weigh up the cost/effect ratio of them (and l-leucine I guess). I’ll be dissapointed if zinc/mag doesn’t give me crazy ass dreams!
Posted my training earlier but it somehow deleted itself… I wrote 3 big paras explaining how terrible everything went, mostly down to trying to bench “like the learn to bench videos” and just failing miserably at it.
Cliff-notes: I’ve tried it before and yet again failed, it just doesn’t seem appropriate unless you have a spotter or the bench press pins happen to be just the right height, in this case I had an option between 1+ inches too high to unrack properly, or having to basically press half a rep out of the rack.
Double Smolov - Week 3, Day 1
Bench Press (aim is 182x7x5)
82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 4 - 82.5/182 x 5 - 82.5/182 x 4 - 82.5/182 x 3 < something along these lines… only hit maybe one set where I felt my form was on point the rest of the time using PL setup seems to just make me lose all my power and increase the ROM (which obviously makes little sense)
Olympic Squat (aim is 281x5x7)
127.5/281 x 7 - 127.5/281 x 7 - 127.5/281 x 7 - 127.5/281 x 4 - 127.5/281 x 4 < think it was like this… forgot my log book… I will hit the reps on my last two days though. I’m ashamed of today’s performance.
I must have been something right PL style bench though… 'cos whilst my pecs don’t feel touched, my back/lower back was cramping up real good in time for them squats. trololol
