[quote]stallion wrote:
Haha Evolv, you stand correct. Actually it is so bad it is hard to combine with a normal life. For those having a normal life, I’ve made a lighter variant of the base meso cycle. If done as it is supposed to be done, it is so hard that you will dread the next workout. The end of the base meso cycle is really really hard, the intense phase is nothing for children either.
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Or maybe you need to man up. Check out my experience on Smolov from 2 years ago on the first page of this discussion.[/quote]
Haha! I need to man up! That’s the best fucking joke I’ve heard on this site for ages. Thanks for making me smile. FYI: Smolov SQ: 2 times, Smolov FSQ: 3 or 4 times (don’t remember). Smolov base meso cycle: Lost count. Check kraftsportNO on youtube. ;)[/quote]
Lol, sorry man, I was just giving you a hard time man since you were agreeing with me. No hard feelings That is what we get for only typing our words, hard to show expression. I wasn’t trying to be negative towards you.
Are you kraftsport on youtube? I’ve kept up with those vids for years. I actually used to watch those to get motivated on my first Smolov run in '08.[/quote]
Haha, no worries. kraftsportNO is my channel yes. Keep on hammering the weights buddy!
Max may be higher by another 10 to 20lbs, I got a call during my workout and by the time I returned to the station I was to cold, decided to say screw it. I used 531 for bench and oh press during the cycle and even did some heavy singles, deadlifted once during the first week. Injuries-right knee pain, supplements- lots of fishoil, bcaas, creatine, protein, and waximaize. Ate whatever and whenever I wanted. Minimal fat gain. Things that helped alot- contrast showers, lax ball, and lots of food. Most of all I feel comfortable and smooth when I squat now.
Cycle: Base meso
Status: Completed
Gain: 25 kgs! from 125 kg to 150 kgs
I’m 193 cm at approx. 90kgs, didn’t change throughout the cycle
I also play basketball (practice 4 times a week, play 2 games during the weekend)
I just finished the base mesocycle for my safety bar squat, as I had some shoulder discomfort, felt some disconfort using the normal bar, as u use a very close grip. I also didn’t do any upper body stuff while doing the base mesocycle (don’t think I would have had the energy to do so either…).
I had some experience with squatting multiple times a week, as i’m very familiar to sheiko (have completed 3 prep cycles&1 competition cycle): This was probabely also the reason I didn’t experience any soreness (see later). Although I have had squat sessions with wendler’s 531 where i underestimated my max considerably, and by result got 15 reps in the last set of the last week (for those who are not familiar, it’s kind of a repout thing…), I found the 4x9 days very hard! It was the only time I came close to ‘seeing stars’. People say this a lot, but I’ve never actually experienced it, it was more like a light feeling in my head.
I made sure that because of the basketball-smolov combination, I had an intake of at least 4000 kcals a day. I find this very high, that’s why I’m astonished my bodyweight stayed the same throughout the cycle! The day before I tested my max after the base mesocycle, I got flu-like symptoms (didn’t want to eat, sometimes felt nauseated), but tried my max the next day, as I felt (am feeling) a lot better!
Worked up to 130kgs, and it felt very heavy, then 140kgs which felt a lot better. As I loaded 150kgs onto the bar, I was already thinking I was going to fail… Unracked it, descended and it felt extremely heavy. As you can see on the video, I paused for just a second and decided to bring it back up. As I did this, my hand slipped, so I just used I arm (advantage of the SSQ bar I guess)
So it was actually kind of a paused squat (not really but hey…). I’m very satisfied with this, as I normally use a lot of ‘spring’ at the bottom, if you know what I mean.
For the switching phase, I’m just going to do dynamic effort squat, powercleans, speed deadlifts and work my upper body again.
Uwe, you NEED to fix your overall back tightness in your squat man. You will mess something up with that rounding and lifting in your back. Keep at it!
have fucked my wrist using a tin opener, and now i cant grip the bar without pain.
Front squats are okay though, so im starting the base meso today with a 145kg max, so it will be 105kg 4x9 today.
^BRM, i take it you mean bench? lots of back work, shoulder dislocations and basic mobility drills
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
have fucked my wrist using a tin opener, and now i cant grip the bar without pain.
Front squats are okay though, so im starting the base meso today with a 145kg max, so it will be 105kg 4x9 today.
^BRM, i take it you mean bench? lots of back work, shoulder dislocations and basic mobility drills[/quote]
I wish I meant bench. I’m still a noob at all of this. I love the smolov jr squat program though. I feel i am making good progress. I would like some tips on streching before squats. What i should be doing for how long. Stuff like that.
depends on where you need work, but i do cossack squats (a deep, painful side-lunge) and deep split-squat stretches.
Other lifts to do while on smolov? clean and press, pullups/chins, dips, bench, supported row movements. anything no taxing to lower back
I’m on the second week of the intense cycle, so far so good
knee wraps and belt really help on the heaviest sets
hoping to hit 200kg by the end of the cycle
Started smolov with a 1rm of 120kg, which is pretty low for smolov. Started the base meso cycle. After the first 2 weeks I cracked my rib with my belt and had to stop. I have not yet tested my 1rm because I cannot squat pain free, but my deadlift went up 20kg from the first 2 weeks so Im guessing my squat went up more then that, this is with having done no deadlift work or any other exercises beside the squats.
Anyone have experience using the base meso right before a meet?
They’ve got a bit of a template on how to peak for a Saturday meet, just want to know if I’ll be able to kick ass or if I’ll feel burnt. Don’t really care if I keep the gains or not, I’m going from raw to double ply right after this meet.
Hey everyone, pretty new on here but I thought I’d post a reply about my Smolov experience. I just finished my second round of smolov for squat and bench, the first round gaining 55lbs on squat and failing bench after the second day of the second week. Still gained 10lbs on bench…
Tonight I tested my max’s after another 3 week round and went from 525 to 560 on squat, and from a paused (competition) 350 bench to a 372.5 new 1RM. At this point, I will swear by the Smolov program whether it be the full duration or Smolov Jr. It’s a lot of volume and pretty much hell 4 days each week, but COMPLETELY worth it.
As long as you consume the calories needed to keep your energy and recovery up, as well as get enough rest each night, it’s totally doable. I’ve heard different cases where people actually lose weight on the program and some who either gain or remain the same. I guess that just depends on your caloric intake during the program. I gained 17lbs the first time and 11 on the second.
And not to mention gained a considerable amount of size on my quads, hams and glutes. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to gain a significant amount of poundage on whatever lift they choose to run, in a very short period of time. But it will definitely separate the men from the boys so come prepared and good luck!
PS Don’t forget to STRETCHHHH and foam roll everyday and EAT EAT EAT.
Just for informational purposes my current numbers are:
Squat: *560
Bench: 372.5
Deadlift: 550
I did smolov jr for four weeks. Took a week off and now tested my max.
I added 70 pounds to my max. Originally 250. I did 265x7=320. Didn’t do x1 cause I don’t trust people in my gym for a spot(i.e squat rack curl guy beside of me)
[quote]BigRedMachine87 wrote:
I did smolov jr for four weeks. Took a week off and now tested my max.
I added 70 pounds to my max. Originally 250. I did 265x7=320. Didn’t do x1 cause I don’t trust people in my gym for a spot(i.e squat rack curl guy beside of me)
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Nice gains! Real good job on smolov jr! But out of cuiosity, what’s your bodyweight and bodyfat?
[quote]BigRedMachine87 wrote:
I did smolov jr for four weeks. Took a week off and now tested my max.
I added 70 pounds to my max. Originally 250. I did 265x7=320. Didn’t do x1 cause I don’t trust people in my gym for a spot(i.e squat rack curl guy beside of me)
[/quote]
Nice gains! Real good job on smolov jr! But out of cuiosity, what’s your bodyweight and bodyfat?[/quote]
Thank you. It was tough. I think I ended up doing about 500 reps counting my warm up sets through the entire thing.
I weighed 205 today. I think I gained about ten pounds during smolov. I have no clue what my body fat percent is.
Started 2011 out with a BW of 118kg, dropping weight and not training at all during 3-4 month(max 2 times a month) this summer cost me a LOT of strenght. So after a couple of months of regular training, I decided to give it a go.
No major problems during the 5 weeks, other than a chronic lack of sleep (I’m used to that), and the fact that heavy lifting kills my appetite. This does make it easier for me to drop the last kilos. Bench during this was taken from a Sheiko CMS template, and deadlift was done purely on feel and only for singles.
I’ll be starting the switch+intense cycles on Monday, I have a meet planned on the 25. Feb so there will real world results at the end of this.
Currently in the beginning phase of Smolov. I took some time off from Squatting so I could get ready to run the Tough Mudder in Tampa, FL so I didn’t want to over work my legs. I wanted to use a weight I know I could hit any given day so I went ahead and used 315.
The Intro cycle went smoothly and it helped getting my back into the groove.
I am currently in week 2 of the Base Cycle so we will see how the rest goes. I am hoping to hit 360-375 when I max at the end of the base cycle.
Gains:
Base cycle: 365lbs to 415lbs belt only.
Intense cycle: 415lbs to 455lbs belt + knee wraps
Synopsis: this is my 2nd Smolov run. My first run was October-December 2010, it brough me from 315lbs to a 405lbs belt only squat.
February - April 2011 I ran Coan-Phillipi for deadlift and ended with a 495lbs deadlift.
March-May 2011 I ran Korte 3x3 but didn’t finish it so I don’t know if my maxes improved.
On June 2011 I had a serious lower back injury during a meet, deadlifting 470lbs with bad form.
I spent 3 months rehabbing it, after the pain was gone I felt ready to go for Smolov again.
October - December 2011 I ran it with a max of 365lbs which was 90% of my previous 405lbs max. Base cycle ended with 415lbs belt only. Right after finishing the base cycle, I went to a meet and squatted 440lbs with belt+wraps+loose suit. Then I continued with the intense phase, I used belt and wraps every session. Ended this monday, with 455lbs belt+wraps (no suit).
The cool thing this time, is that I had no injuries during the whole run, whereas last run I had multiple pains during the Intense phase.
My problem last run was that after Smolov, I stopped squatting with such frequency, and lost some of my strength gains. Now I need to find a high frequency routine (but not as brutal as Smolov), in order to keep my gains.
That is what we get for only typing our words, hard to show expression. I wasn’t trying to be negative towards you.