Thanks Achilles I appreciate the input…
No prob. I ran them both simultaneously. If you keep your joints healthy its worth a try
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
For example, Smolov base meso rep scheme = 4x9 monday 5x7 weds 7x5 fri and 10x3 sat versus JR 6x6 mon 7x5 weds 8x4 fri and 10x3 sat.
USE the base meso for squat, it is successful for a reason, many just run the base and not the intensive, the JR is made for bench
Again, your reason for not unning the full is because of time, so run the meso, dont do the JR for squat [/quote]
Im sorry but how on earth does the math suggest that smolov jr is less volume???
4x9 vs 6x6 - both are 36 reps with the same weight…
5x7 vs 7x5 - again, both are 35 reps
7x5 vs 8x4 - very similar, 35 vs 32
10x3 vs 10x3 - huh… seems identical
The difference is solely that jr is more sets and thus less reps/set.
Sidenote: Smolov was written for olympic lifters who were having trouble with their leg strength to be run rarely as a ‘quick fix’. Note that oly lifters squat high bar and dont use gear. Keep that in mind when thinking about such a program.
I’m trying smolov for the first time. I’ve always had a weak squat relative to my other lifts, but smolov really seems to be helping! Just wanted to post that experience here to encourage other lifters to try it.
NB: I lift drug free and raw (belt only). So yes you can handle the volume without roids, just eat plenty of McDonalds (jk but seriously do eat plenty of something and get your sleep).
I didn’t really know my 1rm going in, and I just wanted to get started right away so I put 355 in the spreadsheet. I probably low-balled it a little bit, but it’s a lot better to aim a little low than to aim too high on your max with any program.
I finished the mesocycle and just maxed out a couple days ago. Hit 425 to parallel with nothin but a belt! That’s a huge deal for me. My old squat max may have been a bit higher than 355, but it sure as hell wasn’t over 400.
So there you go, 70 pounds more than I had ever attempted before, and that’s just with the first half of the program. I’ll be back with my results after I’m done with the switching phase and the intense cycle.
Try it!
[quote]arramzy wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
For example, Smolov base meso rep scheme = 4x9 monday 5x7 weds 7x5 fri and 10x3 sat versus JR 6x6 mon 7x5 weds 8x4 fri and 10x3 sat.
USE the base meso for squat, it is successful for a reason, many just run the base and not the intensive, the JR is made for bench
Again, your reason for not unning the full is because of time, so run the meso, dont do the JR for squat [/quote]
Im sorry but how on earth does the math suggest that smolov jr is less volume???
4x9 vs 6x6 - both are 36 reps with the same weight…
5x7 vs 7x5 - again, both are 35 reps
7x5 vs 8x4 - very similar, 35 vs 32
10x3 vs 10x3 - huh… seems identical
The difference is solely that jr is more sets and thus less reps/set.
Sidenote: Smolov was written for olympic lifters who were having trouble with their leg strength to be run rarely as a ‘quick fix’. Note that oly lifters squat high bar and dont use gear. Keep that in mind when thinking about such a program.[/quote]
I’m planning to use it for a ‘quick fix’ anyway for my squat. Being stalling on squat for a month perhaps while my other lifts are going up.
[quote]arramzy wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
For example, Smolov base meso rep scheme = 4x9 monday 5x7 weds 7x5 fri and 10x3 sat versus JR 6x6 mon 7x5 weds 8x4 fri and 10x3 sat.
USE the base meso for squat, it is successful for a reason, many just run the base and not the intensive, the JR is made for bench
Again, your reason for not unning the full is because of time, so run the meso, dont do the JR for squat [/quote]
Im sorry but how on earth does the math suggest that smolov jr is less volume???
4x9 vs 6x6 - both are 36 reps with the same weight…
5x7 vs 7x5 - again, both are 35 reps
7x5 vs 8x4 - very similar, 35 vs 32
10x3 vs 10x3 - huh… seems identical
The difference is solely that jr is more sets and thus less reps/set.
Sidenote: Smolov was written for olympic lifters who were having trouble with their leg strength to be run rarely as a ‘quick fix’. Note that oly lifters squat high bar and dont use gear. Keep that in mind when thinking about such a program.[/quote]
First off have you ran Smolov? If not do not give advice or even opinions on the program.
Second, yes this amount done is close, but there is a big difference in squating 500 4x9 and 500 6x6.
My advice was to use the JR for bench, which works, and use the base meso for squats if you some how do not have the will or time to complete the whole program.
From running the program I can say that the JR would not have helped my squat nearly as much. The 4x9 was the worst day sometimes, many of use averagely work up to heavy 5 sets but not many work up to heavy 9 sets, running the base meso you are forced to.
Honestly if you are a vag go ahead and run it, I was just giving advice.
[quote]arramzy wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
For example, Smolov base meso rep scheme = 4x9 monday 5x7 weds 7x5 fri and 10x3 sat versus JR 6x6 mon 7x5 weds 8x4 fri and 10x3 sat.
USE the base meso for squat, it is successful for a reason, many just run the base and not the intensive, the JR is made for bench
Again, your reason for not unning the full is because of time, so run the meso, dont do the JR for squat [/quote]
Im sorry but how on earth does the math suggest that smolov jr is less volume???
4x9 vs 6x6 - both are 36 reps with the same weight…
5x7 vs 7x5 - again, both are 35 reps
7x5 vs 8x4 - very similar, 35 vs 32
10x3 vs 10x3 - huh… seems identical
The difference is solely that jr is more sets and thus less reps/set.
Sidenote: Smolov was written for olympic lifters who were having trouble with their leg strength to be run rarely as a ‘quick fix’. Note that oly lifters squat high bar and dont use gear. Keep that in mind when thinking about such a program.[/quote]
I’m curious where you heard the program wasn’t designed for geared lifters. Also, Smolov was both a weight lifting and powerlifting coach.
This is from the dragon door article written by Pavel Tsatsouline:
“The above cycles have built great strength, now you are facing the tricky task of peaking it when it counts. Once you are a week away from the meet Smolov recommends the following week-long podvodka or taper. Wear full contest gear naturally.”
I’ve heard all sorts of things about how smolov wasn’t designed for this and that, or smolov himself looked like crap, or whatever. But the simple fact is that guys who run it generally put a stupid amount on their squat for the time-frame, raw, drug-free or otherwise. That’s all that matters to me.
WEEK 2 BASE COMPLETED!! Today’s workout was really easy for some reason…
Is the final week of the base cycle the hardest? I don’t know if I need to mentally prepare myself or not, ha-ha.
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
WEEK 2 BASE COMPLETED!! Today’s workout was really easy for some reason…
Is the final week of the base cycle the hardest? I don’t know if I need to mentally prepare myself or not, ha-ha.[/quote]
It’s not as big of a jump in weights as from week 1 to week 2 but it should still be the hardest! The good thing is if you make through you should be on for a solid PR afterwards and I would recommend carrying on and running the full cycle if you have responded well.
Great work Spock!
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
[quote]arramzy wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
For example, Smolov base meso rep scheme = 4x9 monday 5x7 weds 7x5 fri and 10x3 sat versus JR 6x6 mon 7x5 weds 8x4 fri and 10x3 sat.
USE the base meso for squat, it is successful for a reason, many just run the base and not the intensive, the JR is made for bench
Again, your reason for not unning the full is because of time, so run the meso, dont do the JR for squat [/quote]
Im sorry but how on earth does the math suggest that smolov jr is less volume???
4x9 vs 6x6 - both are 36 reps with the same weight…
5x7 vs 7x5 - again, both are 35 reps
7x5 vs 8x4 - very similar, 35 vs 32
10x3 vs 10x3 - huh… seems identical
The difference is solely that jr is more sets and thus less reps/set.
Sidenote: Smolov was written for olympic lifters who were having trouble with their leg strength to be run rarely as a ‘quick fix’. Note that oly lifters squat high bar and dont use gear. Keep that in mind when thinking about such a program.[/quote]
First off have you ran Smolov? If not do not give advice or even opinions on the program.
Second, yes this amount done is close, but there is a big difference in squating 500 4x9 and 500 6x6.
My advice was to use the JR for bench, which works, and use the base meso for squats if you some how do not have the will or time to complete the whole program.
From running the program I can say that the JR would not have helped my squat nearly as much. The 4x9 was the worst day sometimes, many of use averagely work up to heavy 5 sets but not many work up to heavy 9 sets, running the base meso you are forced to.
Honestly if you are a vag go ahead and run it, I was just giving advice.[/quote]
I have ran the base meso. I merely wanted to point out that volume is the same. Indeed the higher reps become extremely difficult, no doubting that. I agree 4x9 is as close to impossible on week 3 as imaginable.
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
I’ve heard all sorts of things about how smolov wasn’t designed for this and that, or smolov himself looked like crap, or whatever. But the simple fact is that guys who run it generally put a stupid amount on their squat for the time-frame, raw, drug-free or otherwise. That’s all that matters to me.[/quote]
A good summary. I just think that it definitely should be approached with caution due to the high propensity for injuries. Also, if you start adding in gear and poor form (which occurs way too often with low bar squatters, as well as high bar squatters of course though not as common I would say) then it is going to do nothing but cause injury and create insane and most likely unproductive overtraining. But yes, if you attack it in a logical and prepared way, it can produce fantastic results.
[quote]arramzy wrote:
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
I’ve heard all sorts of things about how smolov wasn’t designed for this and that, or smolov himself looked like crap, or whatever. But the simple fact is that guys who run it generally put a stupid amount on their squat for the time-frame, raw, drug-free or otherwise. That’s all that matters to me.[/quote]
A good summary. I just think that it definitely should be approached with caution due to the high propensity for injuries. Also, if you start adding in gear and poor form (which occurs way too often with low bar squatters, as well as high bar squatters of course though not as common I would say) then it is going to do nothing but cause injury and create insane and most likely unproductive overtraining. But yes, if you attack it in a logical and prepared way, it can produce fantastic results.[/quote]
Have to agree! I high-bar olympic squat which I believe is the most conductive to high frequency squatting, based on evidence of the fact no oly lifter squats less then 3-4x a week and based on the theory (in my head) that slow eccentrics = harder to recover and also, the greater the degree of torso lean the more the squat becomes taxing in a way which is harder to recover from for squatting frequently, aka low bar.
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
WEEK 2 BASE COMPLETED!! Today’s workout was really easy for some reason…
Is the final week of the base cycle the hardest? I don’t know if I need to mentally prepare myself or not, ha-ha.[/quote]
Yup, very doable though, typically.
I’ll probably run Smolov over the summer.
- Cycle: Smolov Jr for Squat and Bench
- Status: Completed
- Gain:
Squat 385 to 435 - 50 lbs
Bench 255 to 275 - 20 lbs
Deadlift 425 to 455 - 30 lbs (Since I was maxing on squat and bench I decided to max out on DL)
The program felt tough and I’m feeling a bit banged up, but the gains were worth it.
For those that have run multiple cycles of either the base meso or the entire cycle, how long do you give yourself between cycles? After running JR I am wanting to run the full squat cycle, I feel pretty trashed after this last month so it wont be right away but i’m trying to figure out how long I should wait to run it.
Good Job Repo. From others I have spoken with you should give 2+months inbetween running such an intense peaking cycle.
I also have read not to run the smolov JR for bench too many times in a year due to stress on shoulders.
There are a few similar programs you can run that go a bit longer such as gavrilo for bench or coans bench program. A lot of people who like smolov also enjoy and profit from programs such as sheiko rather than 531
You could also run the introductory phase for the base-meso to ready your body and add time to prepare for tyhe main cycle.
[quote]Re.po wrote:
- Cycle: Smolov Jr for Squat and Bench
- Status: Completed
- Gain:
Squat 385 to 435 - 50 lbs
Bench 255 to 275 - 20 lbs
Deadlift 425 to 455 - 30 lbs (Since I was maxing on squat and bench I decided to max out on DL)
The program felt tough and I’m feeling a bit banged up, but the gains were worth it.
For those that have run multiple cycles of either the base meso or the entire cycle, how long do you give yourself between cycles? After running JR I am wanting to run the full squat cycle, I feel pretty trashed after this last month so it wont be right away but i’m trying to figure out how long I should wait to run it.[/quote]
HEY GOOD JOB Alberta buddy!!!
I have two more days of the base cycle left, THANK FUUUCK. My workout yesterday was crazy hard. 
I totally had a question and I forget, OH YAH!!
Okay so if the intense cycle is easier than the base cycle, why don’t they call the base cycle intense and the intense cycle something else, heh. UHH thought about that before I fell asleep last night, now I realize it’s not important.
I do not know if I would say its easier, EX:
last day of base had me do 525 10x3
second to last day of intensive is 460x1, 550x1, 5854x3
I think intensive just stimulates your muscle a little differently, it brings in a larger variety in weights, and while the singles are not as bad the 4x3 each week looks brutal.