T Nation

Smolov Base, True Max?

Powerlifting
#1

I’ve made great strides in my sqaut. I’ve gained 30 pounds and added 100 pounds on to my squat in the last six months. Most of that can be attributed to the smolov work outs. I’m in the third week of smolov base, just did 7x5 yesterday. I didn’t use my true max for this. The most I have done was 330x2 right before smolov. So my 1rm was probably 335-340. I put 310 to base my percentages on and it is killing me. I could have probably used 290 and still been miserable.

this is what my work outs have looked like this month.

Monday:210 4x9 70%
Wednesday:230 5x7 75%
Friday:240 7x5 80%
Saturday:260 10x3 85%

Add 20 pounds to each lift for second week and 10 on to that for the third. Then two max lifts will be the forth week.

I’m excited to see what my new lift will be soon. I know I couldn’t get through it at a 330-340 max. Wondering if anyone did. How did you suffer through it?

#2

I Have used a “true” max I was sick the day i took it but My strength felt fine, and I used that for my cycle and I never missed a wieght just the first 2 workouts blew cause my body wasnt used to such high reps

#3

I ran Smolov right after a meet a few years ago, I had just barely missed 405 and used that for my max. I was a little shocked when i printed out the spreadsheet and saw what was ahead. It was a bitch but the program is designed to take you to the brink but not break you. I didn’t miss a day or a rep and got good results so I’m happy I used 405 for the number.

#4

320 5x7…that must of been fun jack. How much of an increase did you see before and after the cycle?

#5

It really just depends on how your body reacts with volume, Ive learnt if i do anything low volume my body is gonna fall apart and if i go high volume im going to b=make gain just need to learn how your body is going to react. If its your first time dont If it isnt I’d go ahead and go for it

#6

i Ran it back to back and gained about 30lbs each time

#7

I ran the full smolov cycle with a true max an it worked fine as it does for most people who seem to try it. For whatever reason base cycle seems to work back to back for a few people but I tried running the intense cycle back to back and failed miserably on my second cycle. I think I wrote this in the smolov thread, but IMO, smolov probably works best ran: full smolov > 5/3/1 / similar for a few cycles > full smolov. That’s what I intend to try.

Great progress though man.

#8

The intensive phase says im supposed to do 585 3x4 towards the end… wtf ill probably have my lawyer write up a will before i embark on that week

#9

Did anyone do other lifts or just concentrate on smolov?

Thanks for the responses.

#10

[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
The intensive phase says im supposed to do 585 3x4 towards the end… wtf ill probably have my lawyer write up a will before i embark on that week[/quote]
If my workout generator ever spat that out, I’d just skip the pain and go find a grave to lie in.

#11

[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
The intensive phase says im supposed to do 585 3x4 towards the end… wtf ill probably have my lawyer write up a will before i embark on that week[/quote]

Haha, that is awesome. It should be possible though if smolov works its magic, presuming you used a true max. How did you get the number though since you haven’t completed base cycle? You have to put the updated number in for intense.

[quote]BigRedMachine87 wrote:
Did anyone do other lifts or just concentrate on smolov?
[/quote]

I trained my upper body exactly as normal throughout (5/3/1 bench/military, back day, arm day) and had better success maintaining my deadlift by doing speed pulls once a week.

Maybe you could go a little further “only squatting” but it depends on your overall goals.

#12

@jake, I put a conservative estimate of 615 as my max after the base, which would only be a 15lb gain, so from what I read its reasonable, regardless of what I hit I will still enter my max 5-10lbs lighter than it actually is for the intensive in order to keep recovery ok from other lifting ill be doing simultaneously.

#13

[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
@jake, I put a conservative estimate of 615 as my max after the base, which would only be a 15lb gain, so from what I read its reasonable, regardless of what I hit I will still enter my max 5-10lbs lighter than it actually is for the intensive in order to keep recovery ok from other lifting ill be doing simultaneously.[/quote]

Definitely sounds like a good plan, especially at your strength levels across the board.