one more day!
Cycle: Smolov Base
Status: Complete
Gains: 25 lbs, went from a 475 to 500.
Smolov was a hellish journey thats for sure, but in the end the 25 lbs were worth it. 500 is for sure my 100% max it felt like I was gonna get crushed on this one. One thing I learned from smolov is how to grind out those tough reps were you really need to work and focus to get it up.
Great work. 500 is a big squat.
Anybody ever thought of doing a full smolov cycle for bench or deadlift?
Well, i just completed Smolov Jr for my bench, got 20 pounds out of it. Wasnt all that difficult. Going to take a week and do speed work and then run the Smolov Intense phase with a training max of 92-95%. Running 5/3/1 for my other lifts but just getting requisites and focusing on the bench.
Just judging by the difficulty of Smolov Jr, and looking ahead at the weights Iāll need to hit in the intense cycle, Id say its very doable to run a full smolov cycle for the bench, provided your nutrition isnt dogshit and your shoulders are in decent condition.
Deadlifts? Well I dont think Iād want to do 5x5ās at 90+ percent. Fuck that shit.
Hi all, Iām going for my third run of Smolov
These were the previous results:
1st run (sep 2010):
base from 315 to 380.
intense from 380 to 405.
bodyweight 206lbs
2nd run (oct 2011):
base from 365 to 415.
intense from 415 to 455.
bodyweight 196lbs
3rd run (aug 2012):
Iāve started the base with 405. Hope to get around 450ish.
Still not sure if Iāll do the intense.
This run so far the only issue was some pain on the left knee, but as soon as I started using knee sleeves the pain went away.
[quote]black_angus1 wrote:
Anybody ever thought of doing a full smolov cycle for bench or deadlift?[/quote]
Yes, but you donāt hear from them because they die.
I think the full cycle for bench would be retarded, do the JR. the full cycle burns most people out on bench, IMO most people would end up injured doing it for bench.
Hey guys how crucial do you think the intro is? Do you think it ad or detract from the possible maximum weight that could be gained?
[quote]Rawteen wrote:
Hey guys how crucial do you think the intro is? Do you think it ad or detract from the possible maximum weight that could be gained?[/quote]
The intro is meant to get you accustomed to a higher frequency routine in case you were not squatting enough times a week
If you are currently squatting lets say 3 times a week, you could skip the intro without much trouble
However if itās your first time trying smolov, Iād say do all the cycles (intro, base, swithcing, intense, taper) before making any changes to the program
I skipped the intro and had a successful program. It wonāt hurt you to do it, but if you are in pretty good condition for lifting I donāt think its necessary. I went from 5-3-1, 4 days a week straight into the program.
Others may disagree, but thatās my opinion. Frankly, the base cycle is gonna be a shock to your system whether you do the into or not. 
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Intro and Base Meso
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Completed
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40lbs gained, 365lbs ā 405lbs
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I was going to do Smolov Jr. for bench also, but I bitched out and didnt get the 2nd and 3rd week in.
This was a a hard 5 weeks. Especially the 4x9 and 10x3 days. 10x3, having to unrack a 90%+ weight 10 times and the 4x9 because I wasnāt familiar with doing anything above 5 reps.
BW went from 181lbs to 188lbs.
Thighs grew a bit also.
If I were to do this again, which wonāt be for some time, Iām going to run the full program. The only reason why I was able to complete this was because itās summer time and I have nothing else to do. Having no other responsibilities and some active recovery helped me finish the base.
My bench got a little de-conditioned but thatās mainly due to my own fault of not doing any pressing for over a week
I have a longer post of this on my log: http://jawustraininglog.tumblr.com/post/30454637911/smolov-base-cycle-review-thoughts
To Rawteen, I suggest you do the intro. A friend of mine also went from 5/3/1 to the base without much deload in between and skipped the introcycle. He ended up hurting himself on the 3rd day. There could be other reasons since his form isnāt all that great either but better safe than sorry. Like jack said, going from squatting 1-2 times a week to squatting 4xās a week with heavier weights and more volume is going to be a big shock to your body.
Update
Base cycle: not finished
I didnāt do the last 2 workouts, since I developed an annoying patellar tendonitis. Guess I shouldāa done the intro cycle, huh?
Also, there was a powerlifting meet I wanted to enter, and if I did the last 2 workouts it would have left me with only 3 days of rest before the meet, so I skipped them and rested for 1 week before the meet (the tendonitis went away almost completely).
I ended up squatting an easy 460 at the meet (using wraps, belt and suit however). Coulāve done maybe 475.
Iād say that would translate to around 440 raw. Which means the incomplete base cycle gave me around 30-35 lbs of gains.
However, itās still lower than my all time raw max of 455bs
Thereās another powerlifting meet on october, so Iāll be doing the intense phase and see if I can hit a 500 squat on the meet!!
Bit late but Iāll post.
Cycle: Smolov Base Meso Cycle
Status: Completed
Gain: At least 12.5kg - 162.5kg to 175kg
Synopsis: Almost definitely gained more than 12.5kg as the 162.5kg was high and 175kg deep. Had to cut testing short as well due to time restraints but very happy. Wanted 180kg but I only had one spotter haha.
DOMS not as bad after week 1 but noticeable. Makes Sheiko squatting seem fun haha.
officially said goodbye to stairs yesterday. day 2 of the base meso tomorrow, wish me luck
I finally have something to contribute!
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Cycle: Base Mesocycle
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Status: Completed (Tested 3 days ago)
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Gain: Roughly 30 lb increase. (405 to 435)
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Synopsis: Definitely demanding squat program, but do-able. I noticed the importance of sleep and food from the outset. Tried to sleep a minimum of eight hours a night, but by the end of weeks 2 and 3, it wasnāt a choice. I fell asleep everywhere: movie theaters, in-lawsā house, restaurants, T-Nation surfing, etc. Probably needed closer to ten hours on those days.
Food was awesome. Ate like a champion for three weeks, but Iām in the 275 lb neighborhood, so hard to overeat. Didnāt count calories, just hit my protein goal and ate regular meals (albeit with seconds or thirds). Didnāt gain or lose any weight, but the all-powerful beer gut decreased somewhat.
DOMS wasnāt too bad, but I think that anyone who has experience with a Rippetoe or Starr-like program knows the feeling. Muscles were tired, swollen, and fatigued, but not really sore. More like tight? Lower back was tender most of the time. Iād never used a foam roller before, but it was my Smolov savior. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it to those who havenāt used one. Roll your upper and lower back, IT bands, quads, glutes, forehead, armpits, fingernails; wherever you can roll, do it.
All days were hard, to some degree. Hardest was probably week 2, 7x5 (physically tough) followed by 10x3 (mentally tough). Never cared about rest periods too much, just tried to keep the overall workout reasonable, though 10x3 days got really long. (10 sets with ~5 minutes rest each + warmups and foam rolling, for example.) Some days, I did need closer to 7-8 minutes between sets.
Overall, I am happy with the progress. Squat form improved and felt rock solid. Strength increased (though after reading through this thread, I wanted to hit 450 on test day. Got greedy. Tried it. Got stapled.) If you have the time, try the program once, or at least the Base Mesocycle. Set aside three weeks for squats, take it seriously, and see what happens.
Sorry for the long post, but Iām stoked. 30 lbs in three weeks with more to come from the Intense Mesocycle? Bring it Smolov son-of-beetch!
^^^ Great work. Keep it rolling. And if you are using the skopec calculator for the intense phase, double check the numbers. I recall finding an error in the calculator during the intense phase. One of the days didnāt make sense to me on the loading progression, so I double checked it, and it was wrong, but that was a while ago, so maybe they fixed it.
[quote]Andrewdwatters1 wrote:
officially said goodbye to stairs yesterday. day 2 of the base meso tomorrow, wish me luck
[/quote]
LOL yeah, come week 3 I took the elevator a few times when I had class on the 2nd or 3rd floor >.<
I have 3 days of the base mesocycle left to go.
My squatting stance is narrow (it varies slightly between just over shoulder width to less than shoulder width depending on how my groin is feeling), high bar, ATG.
Coming into the cycle my ATG PR was 365 and my Low Bar PR was 385, but I havenāt done Low Bar since April, I hate the weigh it feels and donāt feel like Iām getting deep enough.
I just finished up another 4x9 day and I hate these high rep days the most. My legs arenāt feeling extremely fatigued by the end of my sets, but there is typically some soreness in the glutes, quads, and hamstrings the day after. Leg fatigue hasnāt been an issue, lower back fatigue has. Even with putting absolute focus into every rep (head up, chest out, deep breath into stomach, knee break, drive up through heals, hip drive) my lower back just feels tight and wasted. Makes me a little worried about doing the intense mesocycle.
If I squat once a week, is there an intermediate program that may help condition me to Smolov?