Experience With Smolov and 1-6

Post Edited: Since I had to stop benching for a few weeks, I have stopped using my old numbering system. The previous week numbers were for bench, so they are pretty much meaningless now.

Smolov 5 & 6

Week 5(first ‘switching’ week went good. We flew down to Bahrain for some R&R, which I thought would screw me up some, but I was still good about the schedule this week. Did box squats 8 x 3 with 265 twice that week, and 3 negatives twice that week with 495. If you’re not sure how to do negatives on squat, here’s what I was able to find: load up with 50-75 pounds above your max, unrack, and do a slow negative to the pins, which you previously set up right at the bottom of your ROM(preferably parallel). Set the bar on the pins(control all the way down), strip off enough weight that you will be able to squat it back up, then get back under the bar. Tighten up, and EXPLODE the bar back up. Rerack the bar and reload the weight. Rest a bit, and repeat.

Week 6, I got too busy drinking and such. Only hit the gym a couple times, though I did compete in a chinup contest(palms in) on base and took second with 25. First place got 30. I did manage to get a day of box squats done, as well as a day of negatives. Hopefully won’t have any ill effects on next week, starting the intense cycle. I will also be restarting the bench, if my shoulder feels alright. Curious to find out how much strength I’ve lost from not benching for 2+ weeks.

You’re deployed to Kuwait and this is how you spend your time!!! Get off T-Nation, and start concentrating on what your supposed to be doing in the combat zone. Lives depend on what you do. You owe them a single laser focus on the job at hand. Get your head on straight and concentrate.

I am assigned to NavSpecWar, as an NSW RIB driver. Our job(when there is one) is insertion/extraction of SOF forces. The fight is on land right now, thus we have no job except to sit and wait on a call that never comes.

So yes, this is how I spend my time in Kuwait. Part of my job is to stay in shape, which I am doing.

Thanks for your concern.

BTW, Kuwait is not a ‘combat zone’. We have tried to move into the ‘zone’ in order to have a job, or at least a better chance of doing something, but we were not allowed to.

comrade smolov says thou shall follow his program to the letter. :slight_smile:

when it is called for three workouts in second week of switching cycle, it is what thou shall do!

what result did Prikida after base meso yield ?

The website I got it from didn’t give any specific switching routines, it just told you the type of stuff to do.

If by prikida you mean the max at the end of week four, I put up 445. That is why I believe I was very conservative on my estimate of 375 for my starting 1RM of 375. Probably should have been working off about a 405 1RM. Oh well.

Have started the Intense cycle, and it is. When I did the squat negatives, I would warm up all the way to 405 before jumping to 495 for my negative weight. That(in retrospect) seems to have been easier than the sets I did Monday at 380. Maybe that is due to the messed up week I had last week(switching week 2). Who knows.

Great thread man… just letting u know that some of us here are reading it :slight_smile: Not much to say though you have things pretty well wrapped up.

202.5kg is nice. you should get like 220 when you finish the smolov program. :wink:

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support.

are you still making gains with 1-6 for your bench?

Like I said above, I tweaked my shoulder a couple weeks ago, and so took two weeks off to recuperate. I started back on it this week though, and was surprised. I didn’t lose much strength, which I totally expected to. Tomorrow is the last day of the Smolov week, so I will update this past week then.

Smolov Week 7

Bench- This was my first week back benching, and I was very surprised by how little strength I actually lost–almost none! I decided to go easy on my first set and test the waters at 275. This went up pretty easy, so I waited a minute or two and bumped it up to 295. 1-6 went like this:
295 x 1 - 255 x 6, 300 x 1 - 260 x 6, 305 x 1 - 265 x 6* - 310 x 1 - 270 x 4
*Spotter assisted the last rep some.
So I was ecstatic about that. 40-Rep looked like this: 205 x 18, 12, 8, 2. The last set of 2 was done after a rest of no more than 10-20 seconds.

This Smolov week SUCKED. This was when the full realization of how much I underestimated my squat numbers before really sank in.
Day 1 - 290 x 3, 335 x 3, 380 x 4, 4, 4, 5.
Day 3 - 265 x 3, 310 x 3, 355 x 4, 400 x 3, 380 x 5, 5.
Day 6 - 295 x 4, 315 x 4, 355 x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4.

As if the poundages weren’t enough on Day 3, I had to make it really hard. I do my squats in the middle of my workout, and that day led off with T-Bar rows. When I bent down and pulled the bar up for my first set, it felt like I tore my groin on the right side. I contemplated stopping as I bore through it for a few more sets, then realized I didn’t tear anything when the pain spread to the other leg. Apparently, even though I wasn’t too sore at the beginning of the workout, my legs decided to strike right before the actual work began.

The only way I was able to get through the squat routine was to do a few BW squats before shouldering the bar, and then I would still only be able to go down for a half-rep on the first one. So you could actually add half- to three-quarter reps to each of the sets if you want to really see what I did that week. Needless to say, this really sucked.

Apparently while we were away, some decisions were made, and we now have a job to do all of a sudden. Which is both good and bad. Good because we’ll be working, bad because it starts at the end of this week and I won’t be able to finish out the Smolov cycle.

I was actually enjoying the cycle. I’ve felt more soreness in the last week and a half than I have in a long time. And who doesn’t like picking up things that weigh more than you do(445 squat at 209 bodyweight-not world class, but I’m happy:).

So, I appreciate ya’ll reading this and giving input along the way. Once I get back to the States and have the time to dedicate to it, I’ll hit it up again. I’m hooked on it now. Someone mentioned how they do it about twice a year…sounds like a doable plan to me.

Thanks again guys.

boatguy

smolov plain rocks!

congrats on your achievements!