Training Like a 1960s Soviet Lifter - 12 Week Challenge - no longer here

Training Logs
1

Hello,

As a I am getting back into the gym after a 2 week incubation period because of the COVID shot and passport, I started to look at a program I wanted to run that was developed in the 60s for the Soviet Weightlifting team. There is some slight modifications that will be made as I compete in Powerlifting.

Breakdown:

Sunday - Squat/SP
Monday - GPP
Tuesday - Bench/SP
Wednesday - Squat(DL)/RDL
Thursday- GPP
Friday - Bench
Saturday- GPP

Will add weekly breakdowns on the following training cycles go. Will also post pre-cycle pictures and post cycle pictures.

Week 1-2 Training %
Main lifts
70-75@5-6 sets x 2-6 reps

Assistant work
Moderate volume. Sets of 20-25 range

5 Likes
2

I think there’s a lot to take in from Olympic training for powerlifters.

The only thing I would note is the Oly lifts have a high skill/practice component and powerlifts less so.

Doing 6x2 hang cleans is a different story to doing 6x2 deadlifts so adjust volume/intensity accordingly.

Good luck.

3

Thanks and yeah that is for sure and the original program was also built for up to 3 sessions a day

4

woah good luck man. soviet programs are nuts lol.

5

W1 D1

Note: I had to travel outside my city to do a business meeting so training was brief

Box Squat
355@3x5
375@3x3

Shoulder Press
140@3x5
145@3x3

Squat Review

Felt good overall on squats a bit grinding with the sets of five on the last two reps with a new belt.

SP review
Felt light and was moving with ease

3 Likes
6

Still a bit stiff all over, but the worst part was trying to do 20-25 reps with light weight. My body clearly is not built for 20-25 reps. Will be looking at sets of 15s till my cardio is built.

Bench
225@3x5
235@3x3

Shoulder Press
140@2x5
145@2x3
150@2x2

Pull Ups -175@3x15
Dips -125@3x15
Curls 25@3x15

Note: got a compliment on how fast my bench was moving which is a surprise because it always feel slow.

3 Likes
7

please tell me what the minus 125 & minus 175 means on pullups and dips. Thank you.

1 Like
8

so I use assisted pull up machine… anything with a - means that I had assistance. Currently able to do BW + weight for dips but not pull ups yet.

1 Like
9

Box Squat
265@3x5
264@3x3

Leg Extensions 200@3x15
Pull Throughs 80@3x15
Reverse Hyper BW@3x10

Felt sluggish as I was up a bit later than usual playing nurse to my gf as she had a massive onset of a killer migraine. So I stayed with 365 and did sets of 3.

Good thing about this program is there is some leeway with weight and reps/sets.

4 Likes
10

With football season in full swing as I coach. I will be switching from a four day training week to three day and do squat/bench every session

11

Box Squat
355x5
365x5
355@4x5

Bench
225x5
235x5
235@4x3

Curls 35@3x10
Face Pulls 100@3x10
Leg extensions 240@4x15
Good Mornings 135@4x15

3 Likes
12

That is some strong squatting.

2 Likes
13

Thanks, it felt like that today.

14

Box Squat
380@4x2
380x3

Bench
235@6x5

Pull ups -150@4x15
Dips -110@4x15
Hack squats 135@3x10
Reverse Hyper BW@3x10

Squats
Wanted to stay low volume today so did sets of 2s at the higher end of the weight

Bench
Felt a bit sluggish today but weight moved okay.

Note: still trying to figure out the volume for all three days because I want to do a high/low/Medium volume break down

3 Likes
15

Total poundage/total lifts for the week:

Squat: 21,255lbs/ 57 lifts
Bench: 16,870 Lbs/ 74

Box Squat
375x5
375@4x4

Bench
235@2x5
235@3x4

Hammer Curls 35@3x10
Side laterals 20@3x10
Leg Extensions 240@4x15
Pull throughs 100@4x15
Side bends 45@3x10

4 Likes
16

Major headache came out of know where…

Box Squat
385@4x5
405x5

Had to call it there but the 405 was light an moved fast. Was looking for two sets.

4 Likes
17

Are the box squats called out in the high volume program you’re running?

18

So the program was adjusted from a weightlifting program, so box squats weren’t really in there programming. I prefer to box squat for several reasons vs raw squats.

  1. Less beating on the hips and knees as I go just above parallel.
  2. I develop my posterior chain, which allows me to dead lift less frequently
  3. I lose all tension at the bottom for box squats which allows me to build a stronger squat
1 Like
19

These all sound like great reasons.

Nice and strong 405 x 5 squats.

20

Again another battle of the migraines but narrowed down the issue.

Squat
405x4
405@2x3
Had to stop for 10 mins and lower the bar on my back.
315x3 less of a headache so went after the rest.
405@2x3

Bench
245@4x5
255@2x5 - the max for this week was 250 and totally forgot

Pull Ups -120@4x10
Dips -80@4x10
Leg extensions 240@4x15
Hyper reverse bw@4x10
Neck rehab work 4x20

4 Likes