I am considering running Smolov after my September meet and I was wondering which would be the best upper body program to use in conjunction with it. I am currently in my first month of running 5/3/1 for squats/deads with Smolov Jr for bench (all paused) and will be running that format until the meet.
I don’t think that running Smolov Jr. for bench for about 6 consecutive cycles would be smart and would most likely cause severe over training of benching, so my question is - What would be a good idea for a program to do along side of Smolov for Squats?
5/3/1 isn’t my style, its good for squats/deads but not for bench (for me at least, no disrespect to JW) Like I said, i’m running Jr. for bench from now until the meet, would it be smart to run it for 6 straight cycles?
It doesn’t really seem like a peaking program to me i’m mainly doing it to get a lot of practice with the pause and a slightly closer grip to work on my elbow tuck, and the days are easy as hell because i used 5 pounds less than my best pause rep to base my numbers off of
Yeah my friend is running sheiko, and i’m debating between the two programs and I just want to give Smolov a try because I heard that it’s hell. But due to my work.school schedule i’ll probably be forced to run skeiko and try smolov another time.
I defintely recommend smolov. It brought me from 585 to 620. The intensivenis rough. But the base is definitely worth it. I plan to run it twice a year to shock my Cns and such.
Run Smolov for Squat on Monday, 5/3/1 for bench on Tuesday, Sheiko or RTS for deadlift on Thursday, and Fri or Sat you can do Westside DE effort workout for the bench.
[quote]daraz wrote:
Run Smolov for Squat on Monday, 5/3/1 for bench on Tuesday, Sheiko or RTS for deadlift on Thursday, and Fri or Sat you can do Westside DE effort workout for the bench.[/quote]
I’ve decided after my meet that I’m just going to run Smolov for Squats and Smolov Jr. For Bench with Weighted Chins, DB Rows and Band Pullaparts. My original plan was good from the start. Then going to Sheiko after Smolov, which should last until my next meet. With the amount of upper back and lat work I do, I won’t get shoulder problems from blasting away at Smolov Jr. for a long time. Also doing my “franken-program” as my friend calls it from now until the meet - 5/3/1 for Squats, Smolov Jr. for Bench and Maggnusson-Ortmayer for Deadlifts. Thanks to everyone who gave input.
[quote]daraz wrote:
Run Smolov for Squat on Monday, 5/3/1 for bench on Tuesday, Sheiko or RTS for deadlift on Thursday, and Fri or Sat you can do Westside DE effort workout for the bench.[/quote]
[quote]Ethan7X wrote:
My friend ran Smolov Jr for Squats, Smolov Jr. for Bench, and rows 2x a week .
However, he didn’t bench and squat 4 days a week, it was 3x a week.
He said the bench got extremely hard and he had failed several times even though he made it only 3x a week, but the squat was fine.
Careful OP, it might not go as well as you planned.[/quote]
Well for my Jr. progression I started with numbers based off of a 1RM below my actual pause max and I’m only going up my 5 pounds per cycle regardless of if I get a much higher 1RM in the process so I wont get ahead of myself. Also, if it starts to get too much for me, I have no shame in changing my plan, I’d rather back off and lift another day than to be too stubborn and hardheaded to cut a program early.
[quote]Ethan7X wrote:
My friend ran Smolov Jr for Squats, Smolov Jr. for Bench, and rows 2x a week .
However, he didn’t bench and squat 4 days a week, it was 3x a week.
He said the bench got extremely hard and he had failed several times even though he made it only 3x a week, but the squat was fine.
Careful OP, it might not go as well as you planned.[/quote]
This is most likely because your friend entered in maxes higher than what he could actually do at the time.
A lot of people do this, it is moronic, and all that happens is you cheat yourself.
I ran Smolov base-meso for squats, and Smolov JR for bench simultaneously along with my workout partner. It worked out incredibly well. It is not an easy program, but it works.
Your friend is also a loser for doing it 3x week vs 4x. Why change a proven program? Because you cant handle it? Then do not do it. If you are going to jump on Smolov, DO IT HOW IT WAS MADE TO BE DONE!
*End ranting, hate when people talk about problems with Smolov yet they are tweaking its base.
Uh… let’s see, giving advice would be defined as ADVISING someone to do or to not to do something.
Letting somebody know they MAY not get the results they want is not ADVISING anything, it’s giving them a possible heads up based on OTHER people’s experience, so that they’re not extremely disappointed.
Also, it has a lot to do with it because OP was talking about running a Squat+Bench program of Smolov+Smolov Jr. at same time. It wasn’t the squat portion that the person I was talking about had problems with, they got through with it. It was the bench that stalled over and over
