07.09.2015
High bar squat (belt)
warmups 60kg - 140kg
178kg for 7 sets of 5
Bench press
60kg x 5
100kg x 5
105kg x 5
105kg x 5
105kg x 4
Did some pull ups and band work
08.08.2015
High bar squat (belt)
warmups 60kg - 160kg
188kg for 10 sets of 3 (didn’t recover from the previous day at all… this was probably the hardest day so far on the Smolov, dreading next weeks 5kg increase Lol)
09.08.2015
Light session, some assistance work for the shoulders/back with bands followed by a bit of calf/abdominal work.
10.08.2015
High bar squat (belt)
warmups from 60kg to 130kg
162.5kg for 4 sets of 9 reps (last set was pretty hard but other than that it wasn’t too bad)
Did loads of chin-ups followed by dumbbell flyes/dumbbell chest press and finished with some shoulder mobility stuff with bands.
13.08.2015
Did some band work to warmup my shoulders
clean and strict press (clean on first rep only)
40kg x 10
40kg x 10
60kg x 5
80kg x 4
70kg x 6
70kg x 6
70kg x 6
Dumbbell shoulder press
20kg x 10
30kg x 12
30kg x 12
30kg x 11
Chest supported db rows
37.5kg x 6
37.5kg x 6
37.5kg x 6
37.5kg x 6
13.08.2015
High bar squat (belt)
warmups from 60kg to 135kg
172.5kg for 5 sets of 7
Some band work for shoulders
bench press (2 second pause at the bottom)
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 2 (felt easy but felt my shoulder roll slightly forward on the second rep so left it there, need to do more band work)
Realised I have a slight case of kyphosis in my lower thoracic spine, that’s probably the reason my back always seems slightly rounded when I deadlift which I always have to keep super tight just to make it appear straight. Gonna hammer that area with the foam roller 3-4 times a day 10-15 min a time and also maybe get some stretching done for it.
13.08.2015
5 sets of chin ups, band work for rear delts/chest supported rows.
Sitting DB shoulder press
20kg x 10
32.5kg x 11
32.5kg x 12
32.5kg x 11
32.5kg x 10 (feeling much stronger on these, when I can hit 12 reps consistently im gonna up it to 35kg and so on)
Did some side raises and finished with stretches and band work for the shoulders and scapula.
14.08.2015
High bar squats (belt)
warmups from 60kg to 140kg
182.5kg for 7 sets of 5 reps
Bench press
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
105kg x 5
105kg x 5
105kg x 5 (barely got the last rep)
Some assistance work for the shoulders.
15.08.2015
High bar squats (belt)
warmups from 60kg to 160kg
192.5kg for 10 sets of 3 reps (hardest session on smolov so far… barely got the last set lol)
Had about 4k calories post workout and fell asleep for like 12 hours lool
17/08/2015
Dumbbell pullovers up to 35kg for 12 reps
Rope straight arm pull downs for 4 sets of 12+reps
3 sets of pull ups and 3 sets of chin ups supersetted with band pull aparts
Chest supported rows with 15kg DB’s for max reps (trying to bring the dumbbells much lower to hit that mid back, makes it much harder)
Some form work for deadlifts to finish (my kyphosis has improved a lot, back is almost completely straight now)
18.08.2015
Bit of back work, hip thrusts, light pause squats, face-pulls and band work
for shoulders.
Spent a bit of time at the end of the session looking at all the links in my deadlift form as that is the lift that I technically have the most issues with. noticed that my hamstrings are really tight and shortened due to working a 9-5 office job and glutes are pretty weak in comparison with everything else. Going to work on mobilizing my hamstrings 2-3 times a day alongside dynamic warmups before I train and will also incorporate hip thrusts which I found really difficult to do with proper form. rant over lol
20.08.2015
6 sets of pull ups/some band pull aparts/shoulder dislocations with bands
bench press (2 sec pause) supersetted with face pulls
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3 (pretty easy, like 5-6 in the tank)
120kg x 3
120kg x 3 (when I max out on squat on saturday i’ll try to hit a max bench aswell, maybe have like 135kg or 140kg for touch and go)
Some more face pulls and finished of with some bicep/tricep work.
22.08.2015
High bar squat
60kg for 3 sets of 5
100kg x 2
140kg x 2
180kg x 1
200kg x 1
220kg x 1 (form went a little bit on this as I didn’t keep my upper back flexed as hard as I should have done to keep everything tight, was hoping for maybe 225kg… oh well)
Bench press (pause at the bottom)
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 1
130kg x 1
135kg x 1 (small grind towards the lockout)
All in all im fairly pleased with the gains from the base 4 week smolov cycle, gained 10kg onto my squat with a stiff bar which I find harder to lift with and put on roughly 15kg onto my bench since I started the routine. Bring on the intense cycle.
24.08.2015
5 sets of pull ups
chest supported db rows
high bar squat
warm ups from 60kg - 180kg
200kg x 1 (felt really grindy for some reason)
225kg x controlled negative
flat bench db press (2 sec pause at the bottom)
50kg x 5
52.5kg x 4
50kg x 5
50kg x something, forgot to write it down lol
finished off with db flyes/rear delt work and shoulder mobility.
25.06.2015
Clean and strict press (clean only on the first rep)
warmups from empty bar - 60kg
80kg x 5
80kg x 5 (last rep was a push press)
80kg x 5 (last 2 reps were push presses)
Barbell good mornings (worked up to 90kg for a set of 5, supersetted these with the clean and presses)
Seated shoulder db press
35kg for 3 sets of 6
4 or 5 sets of face pulls
kettle bell swings
worked up to a couple sets on 40kg for 12ish reps
barbell 45 degree back extensions
60kg for 3 sets of 5 reps (5 second hold at the top)
than did like 30-40 minutes of lower body stretching and mobility work.
26.08.2015
Front squats (no belt, first time doing these in a while)
warmups 60kg - 130kg
140kg for 3 sets of 5 reps (back was giving out on these lol)
barbell rows (grip slightly wider than on deadlift)
up to 130kg for 1 set of 5 reps (need to get stronger on these)
3 sets of t bar rows
1 set of band pull aparts to warmup rear delts
Pause flat DB press
52.5kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
52.5kg x 3
Hip thrusts (5 sec hold at the top)
110kg for 4 sets of 5 reps
Planks with additional weight
40kg x 30 sec
60kg x 30 sec
60kg x 30 sec
couple sets of face pulls
27.08.2015
like 5-10 min dynamic warmup for lower body
Good mornings
up to 100kg for 1 set of 5 reps and 3 back off sets with 90 for 5
Stiff leg deadlift (ed coan style where you let the bar travel out in front of you)
Up to 100kg for a few sets of max reps
barbell row (grip slightly wider than deadlift)
up to 100kg for 3 sets of max reps (trying to work on controlling my lats, still feel a bit off balance on my right side where my shoulder doesn’t want to stay back)
And some high rep DB rows to finish.
02.09.2015
Pause Bench Press
40kg x 6
40kg x 6
60kg x 6
80kg x 6
100kg x 6
102.5kg for 3 sets of 6
Incline DB flyes
3 sets of 10kg to stretch the shoulders out
Strict Military press
60kg x 5
70kg for 4 sets of 5
Deadstop DB rows (get a really good stretch on these)
35kg x max reps
30kg x 12
30kg x 12
30kg x 12
04.09.2015
High Bar squat (belt)
warmups 60kg - 180kg
190kg for 3 sets of 4
Pause squat (no belt)
140kg for 3 sets of 5
Hip Thrusts (3 sec hold at the top)
up to 120kg for a couple sets of 5
Some abdominal work
05.09.2015
Pause bench press
warm up 60kg - 100kg
107.5kg x 5 reps
110kg x 5 reps
110kg x 5 reps
112.5kg x 4 reps (got assisted on the 5th rep)
Strict overhead press (out of the rack)
warmups from 20kg - 60kg
75kg x 5 reps
80kg x 5 reps
80kg x 5 reps
80kg x 4 reps (just missed the 5th)
Deadstop DB rows
32kg for 4 sets of 12
3 sets of heavy cable crunches