Any thoughts on using paused squat exclusively for this?
Stallion talked about doing the entire base cycle with pause squats back on page 2. I ask because I only train pause squats since I’m not competitive and just want to get stronger while perfecting form and saving my joints. Plus I figure if my pause squat goes up, so does my regular squat. If I do the program I would be calculating with my pause squat 1RM anyway since that’s all I have to go off of.
[quote]kjmont wrote:
A question for all you experienced guys.
I am going to run smolov for a meet peeking it 4 weeks out so I can work on my own and put more work on deads and peaking bench and I was wondering what stance to use? I have recently moved my squat stance out to a wide-stance and my weaknesses seem to be my quads, adductors, and maybe glutes. Should run my competition stance squat or should I run a high bar medium stance squat (maybe pause squat?) to work on my weak points? Or should I split it up maybe base meso - high bar, intense - compt stance, or 2 days high bar, 2 days wide. Or should stick to one stance?
Any help is appreciated! [/quote]
I started with a fairly wide stance and had to move it in because my hips got fried. My advice is squat with whatever stance you want, but don’t be shy about making adjustments as necessary to complete the program.
[quote]DAVE101 wrote:
Any thoughts on using paused squat exclusively for this?
Stallion talked about doing the entire base cycle with pause squats back on page 2. I ask because I only train pause squats since I’m not competitive and just want to get stronger while perfecting form and saving my joints. Plus I figure if my pause squat goes up, so does my regular squat. If I do the program I would be calculating with my pause squat 1RM anyway since that’s all I have to go off of.[/quote]
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. You could always adjust midstream if you needed to to complete the program.
Thanks for this thread. I posted in another thread about the Smolov program in particular.
A little confusion on my end. Is this regimen designed for powerlifting or Olympic lifting in terms of a power squat or full depth high bar squat? This may be a small discrepancy but it may matter in how the work is performed.
Can you use different bars in the program such as Cambered?
DobermanUSMC, someone used it with SSB some pages back. As to your question about powerlifting or Olympic lifting, I’ll refer you to an older post by the above poster. Notice the mention of contest gear:
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Smolov was both a weight lifting and powerlifting coach. This is from the dragon door article written by Pavel Tsatsouline:
“The above cycles have built great strength, now you are facing the tricky task of peaking it when it counts. Once you are a week away from the meet Smolov recommends the following week-long podvodka or taper. Wear full contest gear naturally.”
http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/another-russian-super-cycle/default.aspx[/quote]
Cycle: Intro, Base. Completed Both.
Previous 1 RM: Approximately 435. After Smolov: 470 Gain: 35 lbs.
I ran Smolov because I had inured my hand (right ring finger) and had surgery on it. I spent a couple months not doing much. I was able to squat without gripping the bar so all I did was light to moderate squats. Once I was able to grab the bar I decided to run a program that involved the only thing I could do.
I thought Smolov was going to be much more difficult than it was to be honest. But the focus and simplicity made it seem easy for me. It was a struggle on certain days as I was not accustomed to so much volume with significant weight.
I admit I was challenged by some of the weights and found out alot about myself. I found I could handle the weight I had never previously attempted. I just had to say “fuck it” and attack it. All my focus was geared toward one lift. I never missed a rep the entire cycle.
When I went for my max attempt I feel I had at least another 10 lbs. but I wanted to leave something to strive for.
I might run this again but I’m not sure. I have a hard time neglecting other lifts for the sake of one. Now that I’m healthy again I have no limits. But it is a very affective program as long as you do it as written and don’t lie to yourself.
Considering running the full Smolov for squat starting sometime mid November, while also running Smolov Jr for bench (benching after squats).
For squats I want to move towards training them with higher frequency anyway, because I enjoy doing them and I also want to get very good at them. Squats are the priority, if benching as well is a bad idea then I’ll do something else.
I’ve done Jr for bench before and had moderate gains, and I think frequency would help my bench out right now, mentally as much as anything - I need practice under the bar, and Smolov with a sensible/conservative max should give me plenty of that. My bench also responds well to volume in my experience.
The plan is to start mid November, complete the base meso for squats and Jr for bench, deload/switching phase over the winter holidays (dynamic squats, focus on feeling good), then intense cycle at the start of the year. Upper body will take a back seat during the intense cycle, I’ll likely still bench with some frequency but I won’t be pushing it at all, and upper back will be given the attention it deserves.
Am I likely to kill myself?
Any tips?
I’ve done the base cycle squats and the jr for bench at the same time and it went okay, one thing to think about is that if your 10x3 days are on the same day then especially by the last week when you’re taking longer rests to make it through you will be getting into pretty long workouts!
Also, although I have considered doing smolov again but I’d definitely chuck some ‘speed’ deadlifts in there, just to keep it ticking over, nothing over 60% probably so it wouldn’t impact on recovery. I know many of the other guys have said smolov helps their deadlifts but it really didn’t help mine in the slightest, just something to consider
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Considering running the full Smolov for squat starting sometime mid November, while also running Smolov Jr for bench (benching after squats).
For squats I want to move towards training them with higher frequency anyway, because I enjoy doing them and I also want to get very good at them. Squats are the priority, if benching as well is a bad idea then I’ll do something else.
I’ve done Jr for bench before and had moderate gains, and I think frequency would help my bench out right now, mentally as much as anything - I need practice under the bar, and Smolov with a sensible/conservative max should give me plenty of that. My bench also responds well to volume in my experience.
The plan is to start mid November, complete the base meso for squats and Jr for bench, deload/switching phase over the winter holidays (dynamic squats, focus on feeling good), then intense cycle at the start of the year. Upper body will take a back seat during the intense cycle, I’ll likely still bench with some frequency but I won’t be pushing it at all, and upper back will be given the attention it deserves.
Am I likely to kill myself?
Any tips?[/quote]
Sure, why not. However, remember that the further you are away from great form/setup on the lifts the more stressful programs like Smolov will be. Also, it seems to me that more people than not crash & burn on the intensity cycle. Perhaps stick to the base cycle.
Yeah, the workout length came into consideration when I was thinking it over. An alternative would be to stagger bench and squats days in some way, but that would probably have me lifting pretty much every day, and I’d like some days to devote to recovery.
When I’m planning on doing it I’ll have a fair amount of time off from lectures, so workout length isn’t a massive issue - I could even do two a days if necessary.
Thanks for the guidance on deadlifts, I was thinking that I might want to get some in there somewhere, but it’ll be completely dependant on how I feel I’m recovering from the squats. Probably at the end of one of the workouts with a rest day following (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday).
I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Yeah, the workout length came into consideration when I was thinking it over. An alternative would be to stagger bench and squats days in some way, but that would probably have me lifting pretty much every day, and I’d like some days to devote to recovery.
When I’m planning on doing it I’ll have a fair amount of time off from lectures, so workout length isn’t a massive issue - I could even do two a days if necessary.
Thanks for the guidance on deadlifts, I was thinking that I might want to get some in there somewhere, but it’ll be completely dependant on how I feel I’m recovering from the squats. Probably at the end of one of the workouts with a rest day following (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday).
I’ll let you guys know how it goes.[/quote]
My .02 cents: Run the base phase for squats as is with no bench and then start the bench cycle during the switching phase and have it run into the intense phase. The base phase is only 18 days of squatting total (except for the test) then you get a relative break during the switching phase. I have run something similar with good results.
Hey,
I always wanted to do this and when I finish my next cycle of 531 I am ready for this smolov break!
I have one question though, does it make any sense to switch the days up so that I squat Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday? or does that mess up recovery?
[quote]cbassloves2ball wrote:
Hey,
I always wanted to do this and when I finish my next cycle of 531 I am ready for this smolov break!
I have one question though, does it make any sense to switch the days up so that I squat Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday? or does that mess up recovery?[/quote]
I wouldn’t call Smolov a break. If you want to be prepared, it would be useful to do assistance work with the main lift like BBB and increase squatting frequency to more than once per week. Just make sure to balance out the intensity and volume. Having only one back-to-back session per week would be better for recovery. Doing the two week intro will help.
when I say break I don’t mean break as in vacation but rather a change from my current program…
I actually run a 3-day full body version of 531 and squat 2x week and have squatted up to 4x before…
I was just wondering about the switched up days.
[quote]cbassloves2ball wrote:
when I say break I don’t mean break as in vacation but rather a change from my current program…
I actually run a 3-day full body version of 531 and squat 2x week and have squatted up to 4x before…
I was just wondering about the switched up days.[/quote]
That makes sense. I shouldn’t have made that assumption. Switching up the days is probably doable if you get enough rest and food. You’re still doing four training sessions in a week so it doesn’t change weekly volume. IMO, the original template is still preferable and I would stick to it for optimal recovery. I’d rather add an extra day of recovery if I couldn’t lift a certain day because its harder to get back on track when falling behind. The first 4x9 session is typically tough if you aren’t conditioned for high reps.
Having two days instead of one between the 5x7 session and 7x5 session is probably better. A day of rest is adequate when going from high intensity (10x3) to low intensity (4x9). If you can only train on weekdays, maybe starting the training cycle on Thursday would be a good idea.
Running the whole smolov cycle for the first time(base+intense), doing these high bar stance. Tested my squat before I started and it was 210kg, will let you guys know what it jumps to after I’ve completed it. Currently on week 2 of the base and the most painful day is probably the 4 sets of 9 reps… feel like im gonna throw up lol
[quote]JW9000 wrote:
Running the whole smolov cycle for the first time(base+intense), doing these high bar stance. Tested my squat before I started and it was 210kg, will let you guys know what it jumps to after I’ve completed it. Currently on week 2 of the base and the most painful day is probably the 4 sets of 9 reps… feel like im gonna throw up lol[/quote]
Anything for upper body?
Anything for upper body?
[/quote]
Bench 2-3 times a week, arms probably once a week, shoulders 1-2 times a week and I’m trying to train my back as much as possible as it is my weakest body part atm. Oh and calves/abs whenever I have time.
Great thread very interesting 
Just finished the base cycle and squat has gone from 210kg to 220kg and bench from 120kg to 135kg with a pause.