Is everyone starting this program with 90% or their max? I downloaded a spreadsheet and wasn’t sure if this was already taken into account. Thanks. And the spreadsheet is from stronglifts
I’ve been running Smolov (including the intro cycle) for squat and Smolov Jr. for bench since March 18th. Currently working off 375 (90% of 415 max) for Smolov and 280 (10 lbs of max) for Smolov Jr. I just finished the intro cycle for Smolov, and completed my first day of the base mesocycle today. Tomorrow is the first day of the final week of Smolov Jr. for me.
I’ve been averaging betwen 3,500-4,000 calories on training days to ensure I can maintain recovery within both programs.
Though I ran the majority of Smolov Jr. while doing the intro cycle, I plan on running it again with the base cycle. I find that if I split my sessions into am/pm (depends on feel as to which lift is trained when) and continue to scarf down tons of food I’m still able to recover. Of course, I’ve been running two a days for a while, so that might be a big variable.
Smolov being a peaking program, how is your strength level after the end of the program? Congrats again to all the impressive gains!
I’m running Smolov Jr. for OHP right now. It’s basically an experiment to observe the effects of running Smolov Jr. on OHP and the effect of an advanced strength cycle on a beginner’s strength.
In the third week now, day 2 is tomorrow. Everything is smooth sailing so far. I’ll be putting up 2.5 more pounds than my starting 1 rep max for 10x3 on the last day.
[quote]BCP27 wrote:
I’m running Smolov Jr. for OHP right now. It’s basically an experiment to observe the effects of running Smolov Jr. on OHP and the effect of an advanced strength cycle on a beginner’s strength.
In the third week now, day 2 is tomorrow. Everything is smooth sailing so far. I’ll be putting up 2.5 more pounds than my starting 1 rep max for 10x3 on the last day. [/quote]
Cool, I hope you do not fuck up your shoulders.
That being said, from looking at your pics I assume you re rather new to the game, not sure why you would use Smolov so early even if its just an experiment.
W.e. floats your boat.
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
[quote]BCP27 wrote:
I’m running Smolov Jr. for OHP right now. It’s basically an experiment to observe the effects of running Smolov Jr. on OHP and the effect of an advanced strength cycle on a beginner’s strength.
In the third week now, day 2 is tomorrow. Everything is smooth sailing so far. I’ll be putting up 2.5 more pounds than my starting 1 rep max for 10x3 on the last day. [/quote]
Cool, I hope you do not fuck up your shoulders.
That being said, from looking at your pics I assume you re rather new to the game, not sure why you would use Smolov so early even if its just an experiment.
W.e. floats your boat.[/quote]
Definitely new to the game, I just want to see some advanced strength cycle like Smolov Jr. does for a beginner.
Just did 87.5 for 8 sets of 4 reps today, only 2.5 pounds less than my starting 1 rep max. Tomorrow is the last day of the cycle and my shoulders held up. I did manage to throw in a 1 rep max test for bench press last week, up 15 pound from when I started the cycle, so the OHP is having a lot of carry over.
[quote]BCP27 wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
[quote]BCP27 wrote:
I’m running Smolov Jr. for OHP right now. It’s basically an experiment to observe the effects of running Smolov Jr. on OHP and the effect of an advanced strength cycle on a beginner’s strength.
In the third week now, day 2 is tomorrow. Everything is smooth sailing so far. I’ll be putting up 2.5 more pounds than my starting 1 rep max for 10x3 on the last day. [/quote]
Cool, I hope you do not fuck up your shoulders.
That being said, from looking at your pics I assume you re rather new to the game, not sure why you would use Smolov so early even if its just an experiment.
W.e. floats your boat.[/quote]
Definitely new to the game, I just want to see some advanced strength cycle like Smolov Jr. does for a beginner.
Just did 87.5 for 8 sets of 4 reps today, only 2.5 pounds less than my starting 1 rep max. Tomorrow is the last day of the cycle and my shoulders held up. I did manage to throw in a 1 rep max test for bench press last week, up 15 pound from when I started the cycle, so the OHP is having a lot of carry over. [/quote]
And the last day is over! 10x3 with 92.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds more than my starting 1 rep max.
Last set I decided to go for max reps and hit 6! strstd estimates my new 1RM to be 112 pounds or so, but we’ll see. It tends to over estimate.
Do you think that smolov is better suited for people who have already a decent squat and want to break a plateau or do you think a guy with a 330 squat can do it to? How do you guys feel you progress after switching to your own programming?
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
IMO JR is for bench, if you use it for squat or dl you are weak sauce <3333[/quote]
Why do you say this? Have you done a full smolov cycle for DL? I’d be really interested to know what results you got if you did
Why would anyone run Smolov with deadlift?
[quote]Doh wrote:
Why would anyone run Smolov with deadlift?[/quote]
I don’t know, why would running Smolov Jr. for deadlift be “weak sauce”? Presumably its the same reason for both. I would be really surprised if someone survived smolov for deadlift though
- Cycle: base meso (for bench)
- Status: completed
- Gain: 10 lbs
- I started this with a bench of 235 and accidentally did the base meso instead of Jr. To be honest it wasn’t too difficult, as squatting is much tougher in every way. I would recommend going only with 10 lb jumps every week, using a narrowish grip, and pausing every rep that you can. I only rested two days after the last session, hit 245 very easily, and then just missed 265 at lockout. If I waited longer to retest I’m sure I would’ve got 265. I would definitely do it again, some of the weights look daunting at first, but the workouts build on each other. Extremely light high rep band pushdowns did help my elbows feel better.
[quote]kjmont wrote:
Do you think that smolov is better suited for people who have already a decent squat and want to break a plateau or do you think a guy with a 330 squat can do it to? How do you guys feel you progress after switching to your own programming?[/quote]
Usually, the lower your squat, the more weight you get out of smolov.
People forget it is a PEAKING cycle though, so you probably only keep half your gains.
I went from 585 to about 620 when I ran smolov the firs time.
Its a great program but people are retarded with the tweaks they make to it.
[quote]Facepalm_Death wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
IMO JR is for bench, if you use it for squat or dl you are weak sauce <3333[/quote]
Why do you say this? Have you done a full smolov cycle for DL? I’d be really interested to know what results you got if you did[/quote]
The Smolov template online was made for squatting, why would I use it for DL.
The Smolov JR template was tweaked for benching, why would I use it for DL?
If your reading comprehension did not such you would realize I was stating for people to suck it up and run the real Smolov for their squat, not Smolov JR.
If I was going to use a DL peaking cycle it would definitely not be Smolov, pulling 4 x a week sounds retarded.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
- Cycle: base meso (for bench)
- Status: completed
- Gain: 10 lbs
- I started this with a bench of 235 and accidentally did the base meso instead of Jr. To be honest it wasn’t too difficult, as squatting is much tougher in every way. I would recommend going only with 10 lb jumps every week, using a narrowish grip, and pausing every rep that you can. I only rested two days after the last session, hit 245 very easily, and then just missed 265 at lockout. If I waited longer to retest I’m sure I would’ve got 265. I would definitely do it again, some of the weights look daunting at first, but the workouts build on each other. Extremely light high rep cable pushdowns did help my elbows feel better. [/quote]
congrats, and X2 with the pause, A lot of people forget that these Russian programs are built to be performed with the same form you would use in competition.
Meaning squat deep, and pause your benches. I hate seeing people tng Smolov or Sheiko -.-
thanks boss, I’m going to give it another go soon. Pausing also helps my bar path stay perfect
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
congrats, and X2 with the pause, A lot of people forget that these Russian programs are built to be performed with the same form you would use in competition.
Meaning squat deep, and pause your benches. I hate seeing people tng Smolov or Sheiko -.-[/quote]
I’m glad I read on this site that all benching in Sheiko should be paused. I’m finding it very beneficial.
/hijack
Keep dropping dem knowledge bombs, Achilles.
[quote]Consul wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
congrats, and X2 with the pause, A lot of people forget that these Russian programs are built to be performed with the same form you would use in competition.
Meaning squat deep, and pause your benches. I hate seeing people tng Smolov or Sheiko -.-[/quote]
I’m glad I read on this site that all benching in Sheiko should be paused. I’m finding it very beneficial.
/hijack
Keep dropping dem knowledge bombs, Achilles.
[/quote]
Consul, I just happen to lift with someone who is pretty much a world authority on Sheiko (outside of the Russians themselves)
It is also recommended that you close grip the bench on DL days since it is usually lighter.
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
[quote]Consul wrote:
[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
congrats, and X2 with the pause, A lot of people forget that these Russian programs are built to be performed with the same form you would use in competition.
Meaning squat deep, and pause your benches. I hate seeing people tng Smolov or Sheiko -.-[/quote]
I’m glad I read on this site that all benching in Sheiko should be paused. I’m finding it very beneficial.
/hijack
Keep dropping dem knowledge bombs, Achilles.
[/quote]
Consul, I just happen to lift with someone who is pretty much a world authority on Sheiko (outside of the Russians themselves)
It is also recommended that you close grip the bench on DL days since it is usually lighter.[/quote]
That’s awesome. Thanks for the tip.
I ran the Smolov Base last fall and was able to hit my first ever 500 squat. After that I made a 6 month run on Texas method, I found that I adapted well for Bench and DL but my squat seemed to suffer. After failing on a 450 squat in march I realized it was time for a change. I ran the Smolov base again finished this week. Got a 515 and seemed like there was still a bit left also hit a 10 lbs DL PR which is not too shabby for taking a month away from DL. Not sure why I ever try to move away from high volume training, but I am a volume believer now.