I have a question about Smolov, I imagine this is a good thread to post it in.
I plan on running the Smolov routine below
Since Smolov always has you squat 3-4 times week would I be able to get any upper body work done during that cycle? If it matters, this will be the first time I try any Smolov routine.
[quote]S.Fisher_47 wrote:
I have a question about Smolov, I imagine this is a good thread to post it in.
I plan on running the Smolov routine below
Since Smolov always has you squat 3-4 times week would I be able to get any upper body work done during that cycle? If it matters, this will be the first time I try any Smolov routine.[/quote]
It depends on how much work you plan on incorporating. The Introductory cycle and beginning of the Meso cycle shouldnāt be that difficult for you. Once you get into the second week of the Base cycle and add 20 pounds to all your lifts you get to the point where you donāt feel like doing anything after your squat work.
I personally wouldnāt push it. However if you eat, sleep and rehab enough during the program you should be well enough off to where you can add in a little extra work. To each their own thoughā¦
I am about to max for the Base Cycle and wanted to see what everyone did during the Switching Phase. I know to focus on the explosive movement or exploding through the sticking point. What worked for you guys?
Just finished the Base Cycle with a Max Effort workout tonight. I had a goal of hitting 375 before I started the switching phase. I was able to hit 385 without to much of a sticking point so overall I am pretty stoked. This would be a 50 LB PR. Canāt wait to see what the Intense Phase will bring.
I really want to try this program for squats, and I just might end up doing it eventually, as Iāve heard good things about it. Itās just that 4-5 days continuously discourages me.
I just started the base cycle, starting the second week tomorrow, my max going into it was 305 at about 146-147 bodyweight. Assuming Iām able to get through the base cycle I plan on going onto the intense cycle, I know results vary from person to person but Iām shooting for 350 if Iām able to complete both cycles, is this too high? too low? What can I expect?
I did smolov jr and now Iām doing a 6x4 program and plan to do smolov base in march.
If you are ready to really work and eat, you will get great gains.
I started smolov jr in November with a 1rm of 250. Now I am doing 270 6x4. Not sure exactly what my 1rm is, but Iām sure itās over 300 by now.
This question is for anyone who has done a Smolov programā¦What effect did it have on your deadlift once you completed the routine?
Hello T-Nation.
I am interested in doing a smolov cycle for a long time time, but I never really started.
Now my last barbell got f*cked up. And I bought a new one which is a little bit thickerā¦ So I can?t make a good thightness now, I tried different grips on de bar but I can?t get it right.
With this new bar the olympic squat goes pretty well, but my olympic squat isn?t that strong as my low bar squat is.
A few weeks ago i did a belt only 200kg low bar squat (441lbs). And my bodyweight is around 100kg (220lbs). I don?t know my max on the olympic squat but I think it will be around 170kg (375lbs).
Now my question is that it will be okay to do the cycle with the olympic squat, and probably when I will finish it, my normal low bar squat with a normal bar will also make a big gain?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
Cycle: Smolov Jr for Bench Press (yeah, I knowā¦)
Status: Completed
Gain: 10kg from 90kg to 100kg
Probably a bit weak to have run this cycle but I feel it was worth it. Followed the core program but added singles in after the first week. Definitely worth it, would consider doing it for Squats at some point.
Is it better to schedule the days in the base mesocycle so on the days youāll have to squat two days in a row, itāll be 10x3 the first day and 4x9 the second day, instead of it being 7x5 the first day and 10x3 the second day like as written? I think having your heaviest day right after a 7x5 day might reduce your performance a bit.
Just completed Smolov
I had few months free of squatting because I had an issue with one of my legs that made it painful to squat. My all time max at this point was 455. Before I started Smolov, I worked up to what I thought was a near max to get an idea of where I was. I squatted 405 pretty easily, so I just called it there and used that for the base cycle.
Base Start:
BW: 198
Squat 405 - to be clear this was a conservative number.
Note: The second week was pretty easy, so added 20lbs in the 3rd week instead of 10lbs. That put me at 385 for 10 set of 3 on the last day. On set 10, I threw on 405 and reped it out getting 8 reps. I didnāt have a good reason for doing this, I just did it. It was definitely a confidence booster though.
Base Finish
BW 195
Squat 500
I had a massive PR from the base cycle. This made me think that I could have at least put up 450 before the cycle, but we will never know. Besides, estimating low didnāt seem to hurt me in the least.
Intense Cycle Start
BW: 195
Squat 475 - I took 95% instead of 100%
Intense Cycle Finish
BW: 202
Squat 525
I am glad that I used 95% instead of 100%. I am pretty sure I would not have completed the Intense Cycle if I used my true max. I probably would not have been able to complete this cycle if I wasnāt gaining weight either. The 5x5 with 90% are freaking brutal. I puked after the first 5x5.
Net gain for 70lbs. Iāll call that success anyway of the week.
I didnāt stringently adhere to the Mon/Wed/Sat schedule during the intense cycle. During the third week, I took two days rest between all the days. Not a big change to the schedule, but the extra day of recover was huge. This was mainly because the 4x5 at the end of week 2 was brutal. I was not ready 5x5 2 days later. Then the first 5x5 at the beginning of Week 3 absolutely killed me. There was no way I was squatting again two days later. Then I had to go away for the weekend, so it just happened that I had two days rest between all those sessions. In the end, I ended up finishing three days late, which is not a big deal in my opinion.
Would I do it again? Maybe. The main reason I decided to do smolov was because I pinched a nerve in my arm that cause a massive strength loss in my triceps, which basically made it impossible to train my upper body. I had always wanted to try smolov it just never fit in my training. The injury to my arm presented the perfect opportunity. The arm is all better now, so I wonāt be doing smolov again for quite some time if I ever decide to do again.
So I came across smolov as potentially the best technique for improve my squat to a level a little closer to my deadlift. I canāt remember exact bodyweight, but the important number is I hit my previous PR of 150kg @ 198lb bodyweightā¦ and I was <192lb for the majority of smolov, finishing with my PR at I believe 186lb bodyweight.
Base Meso
Status Completed
Gain - 150kg all time pr to 155kg - so 5kg on all time PR with better depth and much lower bodyweight
Intense
Incomplete
Gain - if I hit my triple at 147.5kg tomorrowā¦ Iām thinking a pretty big gain.
I love the programme and feel I would have taken the base cycle much further with weight gain instead of lossā¦ Iām hoping I can hit a PR in the 30lb+ range which would be good for my bodyweight and the fact Iām still training upper body in the fullā¦ for the base cycle I even ran smolov jr. alongsideā¦
Notes: After my base cycle I had one deload week where I avoided squattingā¦ then maxed 1 week laterā¦ then started smolov intense just 3 days later < the latter is A BAD IDEA which Iām suffering for in how cripplingly hard it is every day
[quote]pndpmt wrote:
Is it better to schedule the days in the base mesocycle so on the days youāll have to squat two days in a row, itāll be 10x3 the first day and 4x9 the second day, instead of it being 7x5 the first day and 10x3 the second day like as written? I think having your heaviest day right after a 7x5 day might reduce your performance a bit. [/quote]
I thought the same thing. I put the 5x7 and 7x5 back to back one week. That was a mistake. Honestly, despite being the heaviest day, the 10x3 was the easiest for me. Based on my experience I would leave the schedule as is.
damn pemdas, you made it your bitch.
pndpmt - i find the 7x5 and 10x3 back to back days the easiest part of the week
Smolov intense is going rather well for me. Not missing any reps which is always good. Does anyone have any advice for āmaintainingā your deadlift or at least practising deadlift form in an effective way whilst doing thisā¦ tried doing 5/3/1 for deadlift after a session and it just wasnāt happening. Itās just, itās great for my squat to go up considerably, but Iām not too comfortable with the amount of time itās been since I put up anything above 80-90% of my previois deadlift max(when I tested deadlift after smolov jr, I failed at a weight 45 pounds below my max).
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Smolov intense is going rather well for me. Not missing any reps which is always good. Does anyone have any advice for āmaintainingā your deadlift or at least practising deadlift form in an effective way whilst doing thisā¦ tried doing 5/3/1 for deadlift after a session and it just wasnāt happening. Itās just, itās great for my squat to go up considerably, but Iām not too comfortable with the amount of time itās been since I put up anything above 80-90% of my previois deadlift max(when I tested deadlift after smolov jr, I failed at a weight 45 pounds below my max).[/quote]
You could DL for warm ups. I wouldnāt go over 50% though. I wouldnāt worry about your DL strength. All the squatting will hold it in place. It might even go up.
Cycle: Base Meso
Status: Complete
Gain: 60lb (325-385)
Synopsis: I jumped right into the Base Mesocycle after running three weeks of the āSquats and Milkā program. I had grown bored of back squats, so I decided to run it with front squats instead. I have been squatting heavy 3x a week or more for the past five months or so, so the volume didnāt bother me too much until I finished the third week. I tested my max a few days before starting, and that is what I based my percentages off of.
Week 1 was only moderately difficult across the board. Week 2 is where it started to get difficult. 4x9 was pretty tough; the last set turned into a breathing set, which kind of sucks on fronts. The whole week was tough, but especially 4x9 and 5x7. For week 3, I increased the weights an additional 20 pounds. This was pretty damn brutal. The last two sets of 4x9 I was spitting and grunting uncontrollably, and barely got the reps. I took a 15-minute break between my last sets, and then collapsed when I was finished. 5x7 was about the same. The easiest days of every week were actually the 7x5/10x3 back-to-back. You feel like a warrior on the last day of each week, coming in without a day off and hitting some heavy weights, and it feels good not to be gasping for air for five minutes after each set.
Overall, it is a pretty damn tough routine. However, if you are used to frequently squatting heavy, you can definitely power through it. I still looked forward to squatting, unlike 20-reppers, which were so intimidating and mentally/physically draining that I feared going to the gym. I really didnāt feel physically beat up until I neared the end of the third week. I had major DOMS in my abs, and a couple of very minor muscle pulls in my middle back/oblique. You will feel strong as hell throughout the program. You will also be very damn hungry after the last two days of each week, so make sure youāve got plenty of food around.
I will be starting the Intense Mesocycle next Monday. Iāll let you guys know how it goes. Again, I will be using my true max. It looks much harder than the Base Mesocycle.
^ Awesome work to the poster above, huge front squat and stupid improvement for base cycle and front squat.
[quote]Pemdas wrote:
You could DL for warm ups. I wouldnāt go over 50% though. I wouldnāt worry about your DL strength. All the squatting will hold it in place. It might even go up. [/quote]
You were right! All Iāve been doing for deadlift recently is working up to a moderately heavy (but explosive) single around 400lb after my 3rd smolov session and surprisingly when I pushed it I PRād after not going truly heavy in 3 months and after a big Squat PR.
Smolov Base Results - 5kg/11 lb all-time PR with better depth and BW 8~lb lower.
Smolov Intense Result- 15kg / 33 lb over smolov base PR
End result - 170kg / 375lb
Total Improvement: 20kg / 44lb + depth/form improvement
I preferred the smolov intense cycle overallā¦ so Iām running it again and gunning for >400lb squat afterwards. I love smolov.
Thanks, Jake. I forgot to mention that I did hardly any other lifts during the Base. I basically just squatted and went home. I was too exhausted to do anything meaningful. That probably helped my recovery a bit.
For those of you who have completed the entire program, which mesocycle did you think was more difficult? Base or Intense?