Mondays workout:
Nice progress stallion. I’m currently in last week of smolov base cycle. 2 more workouts. I already know I’m stronger, will be awesome to see how I do after the switching phase. Worth all the hard work in the end.
going to do the intense meso cycle as well ?
[quote]stallion wrote:
Mondays workout:
- YouTube [/quote]
What the fuck?? Do you just keep re-running smolov???
I may do. It depends more on other factors, possible relocation and finding a new gym in time.
It was really making my hips a bit sore before but ice packs after the last few workouts really helped that.
If I feel good think I will have to do it as my squat is still quite weak and the gains from this cycle are going to be awesome. I feek like the over-training feeling has dissapeared in the last few days of the base cycle.
[quote]stallion wrote:
Thank you!
Does anyone have anything to say about the technique, anything that I could improve?
– Stallion[/quote]
I was surprised no one had said anything so far regarding technique. I’m a rookie compared to most guys here, but it looks damn solid to me. Front squats especially are beautiful. Its awesome to see that much of squat depth nowadays with lots of guys adding extra weight but cheating themselves on form.
Awesome videos, keep up the hard work!
[quote]Hanley wrote:
stallion wrote:
Mondays workout:
What the fuck?? Do you just keep re-running smolov???[/quote]
yes, that is the plan, with one month of maintenance in between so as not to get burned out.
I hit 142.5kg for 8 reps raw(no belt and no kneewraps) front squat at bodyweight 102.5kilo today in the last set in the 2nd workout in the 3rd week of smolov base meso cycle. Before this i already did 4 sets of sevens.
I strained some muscle in a spot in my upper back (to the right), but nothing serious.
I have been using a creatine/ribose product that have given me some extra boost. And with two workouts left in the base meso cycle i am still going strong and fresh, unlike last time i did the program when i did not eat so much to try to get rid of big stomach.
I am considering extending the base meso cycle with one week, and adding 2.5kilo to the working sets compared to week three.
But i will not decide about this until i have finished the two last workouts in the ordinary base meso cycle. I have had this tought before about extending the base meso cycle, but then the two heavy days in the end killed me and i needed a break…
perhaps this time around…
every workout now i am front squatting weight that i have never front squatted for so many reps on the weight before. that is extremely motivating.
more videos will show up in my youtube account later, but right now i am preparing for exams and do not have the time for that.
anyway, after this base meso cycle on smolov i want to do 180kg raw front squat, and then early next year after switching phase and intense meso cycle i am closing in on a 200kg/440lbs raw front squat and the bodyweight then will be about 102-105 kilos i think.
the only thing that can stop me now is injury or sickness, i pray that it will not happen!
just wanted to share the good news!
Inspiring thread, my only question: do you perform any other exercises, like hamstring work or bench pressing? thanks!
At the moment I do benchpressing once a week, but I intend to bench press twice a week, but I have a problem with my right wrist, and will let it get time to heal.
I sometimes do the nordic hamstring exercise, and some light deadlifting.
The main focus is the front squats, but as long as you have the work capasity, you can include upper body work. However i do not recommend going overboard with other leg-exercises.
Front squat is a wonderful exercise, and works almost the entire body, yet it is easier on your body than both squats and deadlifts.
Doing smolov is harder for ordinary squats than front squats. But still hard enough! 
How much has your back squat gone up due to Smolov?
Thanks for the reply! The only reason (and probably excuse) I don’t want to do the smolov is the lack of hamstring work. I’m a big fan of deep olympic squats, and don’t want to do power squats, but romanian deadlifts/goodmornings seem out of the question…decisions, decisions…
[quote]arnoud verschoor wrote:
Thanks for the reply! The only reason (and probably excuse) I don’t want to do the smolov is the lack of hamstring work. I’m a big fan of deep olympic squats, and don’t want to do power squats, but romanian deadlifts/goodmornings seem out of the question…decisions, decisions…[/quote]
Just do it. FFS like, ANY type of squat is gonna nail the shit out of your entire legs. There’s no way 12 weeks of gut-busting squatting is going to leave your legs in any worse shape than when you started.
Dude, if your squat goes up, so does your total leg strength. The squat is not jsut a quad movement (as important as they are to it tho).
Besides, if you’re REALLY worried, just do some pull thrus.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
How much has your back squat gone up due to Smolov?[/quote]
first time i did entire smolov was a few years ago.
i did the entire smolov squat program for back squats.
i increased my 1rm by 27.5kg (+7.5kg after base meso).
that was incredibly tough. i felt beat up all the time and
was never sure i’d make it trough. i remember i felt like a
zoombie at the end of the base meso cycle.
but after the switching phase and coming the intense meso and
adding some creatine supplement to my diet, my strength skyrocketed!
if you can make it past the base meso and enter the intense phase, you
will really feel that you are making damn good progress.
squat before smolov was 172.5kg and 1rm after smolov was 200kg.
because of different circumstances my squat went back to 170kg (lost motivation,
sickness etc. etc.).
Gradually i got back to 200 and made 210kg. then i decided it was time for
another smolov cycle.
completing the entire program, also very hard and tough this time, and especially
the intense meso cycle was killing me squatting 200kg+ weights three times a week RAW.
My back hurt all the time and my muscles were tense as hell. not recommendable for those
faint of heart. i remember lying in bed nearing the end of the intense meso cycle
and wondering if i could make it through. my back muscles were tense like iron.
i made it through and i squatted 240kg after that. so a 30kg increase this time.
i’d always wanted to compete, so now was time to do that. however my squats were not
deep enough for powerlifting standards, so i had to go lower, and then of course i lifted
less kilos. anyways the gains were real as i used the same technique throughout all
the workouts, only thing was i had no powerlifters to guide me and it all was about
my own madness and intensity.
why i decided to do the smolov base meso cycle for frontsquats i am not quite sure, but i think
it is because i figured that if i could become stronger without using the heaviest weights like
in back squats, i could become stronger with less structural “damage”. Less weight on the body
means lesser forces on the back and the other structures. a lot of heavy back squats makes my
lower back feel bad, and front squats felt plain better. less weight also means less recovery time.
for a while i did only rock bottom pause squats, and that also increased my 1rm back squat. so in
essential i have tried to increae my backsquat using as little weight as possible (little weight is
a relative term here… i know)
anyway, the first time i completed the smolov base meso cycle for frontsquats. my backsquat and my
deadlift followed the same 1rm increase. all 3 lifts increased by 10kilos.
the smolov base meso cycle for front squats are hard, but not as hard as if done for the back squat, but gives same
increase! same 1rm increase with less pain and less weight. it is wonderful!
so motivated by this success i almost immediately ran another smolov base meso cycle, adding another 10kg to my 1rm.
at that time i lifted 180kg in the front squat, but that was with a belt and kneewraps (did not use kneewraps in the
workouts itself), only for maxing (ego-thing…), i have later (now) ditched both the belt and the kneewraps. now it
is all raw, and it is the only thing that matters…
after this second base meso cycle i competed in the ipf powerlifting nationals in norway. it was my debut at the
nationals.
i finished 11th of 12 contenders at bodyweight of 104.2kg in 110kg class. my goal was to break my own personal
records, i did not care about which place i got.
[video national debut 2007 - stallion: - YouTube ]
I got a pr in both the squat and the deadlift, and again my smolov front squat training proved succesful.
many other pl’ers frown upon this, but i know this way is the right way for me.
immediately after the nationals i started another smolov front squat base meso cycle.
and increased my 1rm by another 10kg.
[video 190kg fsq: - YouTube ]
I never got to test the deadlift and squat properly after that base meso cycle, because i felt really beaten up and
decided to take 1 week completely off all training. coming back in the first training session i went for 10 explosive
atg reps backsquatting 140kg (very light weight), then on the sixth rep, decending, my lower back “snapped” and i had
to abort for medical attention. what followed was hell, and i tought the lifting career was finished.
to make a long story short, four months after that i made a comeback, and today i can back squat heavy and front squat
heavy but i am still hesitant to deadlift heavy as i reinjuried myself during the recovery period in the deadlift,
lifting a weight i normally would blow off the floor (160kg).
the depression when not knowing if you are going to heal properly, and if you ever can lift again is awful. my
girlfriend was very patient and went trrough it with me. i was depressed, angry and upset. I went online playing poker
all night and my diet was shit. i totally neglected my previous lifestyle, and my rock hard butt and legs wich
previously i could not measure fat from a skinfold on the tigh 'cause it has such great muscle tension went soft… i
was abot to get a normal average joe physique… argh! ( at least - so it felt)
well - i decided to give smolov a complete run for the frontsquat. and increased my raw frontsquat from aproximately
145kg to 170kg in about 11 weeks ( base meso cycle - one week rest - switching phase - intense meso cycle - one week
rest)
then i did one month maintenance work front squat 5x5 four times a week at 70% of 1rm before i embarked on a new
smolov front squat program where i currently have two workouts left in the base meso cycle. i think i will lift 180kg
raw after this meso cycle, then i will continue the program and eventually closing in on 200kg raw front squat. then i
will have another one month maintenance before doing the smolov again… i plan to do this the entire next year (3
complete smolovs in 2008). call me nuts, but that’s what i am aiming for, and then if no injury or no sickness arise,
i will lift 250kg raw frontsquat.
my backsquat is at all times about 50kg bigger than my front squat, and i lifted 220kg with a narrow stance high bar
placement squat with only a belt after my previous smolov for frontsquat where my 1rm in the frontsquat was 170kg.
and if anyone wonders why my bench is weak - it is because of injury, and i set my health before my strength (sounds
odd coming from a smolov enthusiast, does it not?) and therefore my main goal is to have a painfree and injuryfree
upper body before i put all my effort into the benchpress.
to sum it up:
first smolov - backsquat: +27.5kg (+7.5 base meso)
2nd smolov - backsquat: +30kg (+10 base meso)
first smolov base meso cycle only: +10kg front squat
2nd smolov base meso cycle: +10kg front squat
first complete smolov program, front squat: 25kg+
if you do not think the increases add up correctly it is because squat strength in the beginning was exaggerated due to lack of proper depth. so when i started to compete i had to make deeper squats, and thus my numbers became more real. so 220kg raw backsquat today is stronger than 240kg backsquat quite a while ago. (which had insufficient depth)
anyway my reccomendations:
smolov program is easier with front squats than back squats, but still very hard.
if you plan on running smolov you should be used to high volume squatting, for instance sheiko programs. the sheiko beginner programs are some good beginners programs…
having a good work capasity that you have built during the years also helps greatly.
– stallion
[quote]arnoud verschoor wrote:
Thanks for the reply! The only reason (and probably excuse) I don’t want to do the smolov is the lack of hamstring work. I’m a big fan of deep olympic squats, and don’t want to do power squats, but romanian deadlifts/goodmornings seem out of the question…decisions, decisions…[/quote]
You can incorporate hamstring work in the smolov program, for instance do it on the saturday and the monday. Just don’t go nuts, and you will be fine!
You won’t regret doing smolov. It increases your squat tremendously!
[quote]Hanley wrote:
arnoud verschoor wrote:
Thanks for the reply! The only reason (and probably excuse) I don’t want to do the smolov is the lack of hamstring work. I’m a big fan of deep olympic squats, and don’t want to do power squats, but romanian deadlifts/goodmornings seem out of the question…decisions, decisions…
Just do it. FFS like, ANY type of squat is gonna nail the shit out of your entire legs. There’s no way 12 weeks of gut-busting squatting is going to leave your legs in any worse shape than when you started.
Dude, if your squat goes up, so does your total leg strength. The squat is not jsut a quad movement (as important as they are to it tho).
Besides, if you’re REALLY worried, just do some pull thrus.[/quote]
You hit the nail on the head man! Heck, I even feel it in my hams when front squatting heavy!
Well I couldnt be arsed to wait around any longer to test my new max and Im away next weekend. So I did it today. I gained 15kg on my previous max. Smolov works!
[quote]JONBOY-UK wrote:
Well I couldnt be arsed to wait around any longer to test my new max and Im away next weekend. So I did it today. I gained 15kg on my previous max. Smolov works!
[/quote]
Congratulations! Was this the base meso cycle only?
What was your previous 1rm, and what is your current 1rm? what kind of squat did you do ( powerlifting style, oly style, … )?
Saturday 8th of December I completed the smolov base meso cycle for front squats. Footage from the last training session can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kraftsportNO
(see the latest video in my profile (when processed), as youtube has not processed the uploaded video as of posting this on T-Nation)
This is the first time I have completed the base meso cycle WITHOUT missing any reps in any sets in any workout. I have done the program before, but there’s always been some workouts that was too tough…
I have decided to add a fourth week to the base meso cycle, adding 2.5kg to all work sets in the last week. This is the first time I try that. The 11th workout on friday really was hard, it wastremendous hard, esp. because I had been slacking a bit with the food, and irregular sleeping. That workout was hell, the last workout was also very hard, but with long rest periods and mental toughness I got trough it.
My full olympic squat went from 110 to 125kg. Its still pretty weak…haha well I’m a beginner and 6foot4 so hey!
I’m thinking its highly likely I will do the next phase of the program after two more weeks of rest.