I was thinking about doing smolov jr for deadlifts but cut the volume in half each day. Does that sound like a reasonable thing to try?
Done with first week of bench/squat/pullup. Have plenty of free time so might as well do something crazy. Getting in ~3.5k cal/day in salmon, chicken, beef, milk, rice, oatmeal, eggs, green veggies as well as drinking 3-4L a day. Sleeping ~10-11hrs. Might bump the calories to 4k and just cut an extra week or two afterwards. Hunger is way, way up. Iāll pass out at 9:30pm, wake up at 4:15am, chug some milk and pass out till 8-9am. Even 20 rep squats didnāt do this to me, itās insane.
Workouts have been tough but doable, no missed reps and in and out of the gym in ~45 minutes-itās actually a lot less total volume than I usually do overall. Hips a bit tight. Lats around the armpits are a bit sore. 4x9 was particularly enjoyable as I like higher rep stuff, but 10x3 the day after 7x5 was less so.
Only thing that has me worried is week 3 the 10x3 day for both bench and squats has #s Iāve only ever hit for singles (and not for 10 sets), and the 7x5 numbers Iāve only hit for doubles and triples before.
Lets hope for some serious superadaption during week 2ā¦
- Cycle: Base Meso Only
- Status: Completed
- Gain: before 105kg (231lb) after 125kg (275lb) gain 20kg (44lb)
High bar, no belt, ATG, narrowish stance.
I was sort of stuck on 105kg, as I had done it about every week for 6-7 weeks, always for just a single. However, I used 110kg as my max as I think I was physically capable of it even though I had failed 110kg a few times, on 8/21, 8/28 and 9/29. I had also hit 100kg for a triple once before, an 80kg 20 rep squat, as well as a 100kg front squat, so I figured 110kg would be tough but doableā¦ Skipped the intro as I had been squatting 2-3 times/week already.
- Synopsis:
10/13 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 4x9x80kg (+bench, pullups farmers walks)
10/15 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 5x7x85kg (+side bends, bench, pullups)
10/17 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 7x5x90kg (+bench, pullups)
10/18 2x10x40kg, 2x8x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg,10x3x95kg (+bench, pullups)
10/20 2x10x40kg, 2x8x60kg, 1x5x80kg, 3x9x85kg, 20x85kg (STUPID) (+bench, pullups, calves)
10/22 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x6x80kg, 5x7x90kg, 3x100kg, 3x105kg, 2x110kg (+bench, pullups, 2x50,2x20 leg extensions)
10/24 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 1x5x80kg, 1x5x90kg, 7x5x95kg (+bench, pullups)
10/25 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 1x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 10x3x100kg (+bench, curls)
10/27 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 4x9x90kg (+bent over rows, bench)
10/29 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 5x7x95kg, 2x3x105kg, 2x110kg, 1x115kg, 1x120kg (more foolishness, 115kg wasnāt too bad but 120kg nearly bent me over, barely got it-was my skwat goal for 2015 (+farmers walks, 2x50 leg extensions)
10/31 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 4, 7x5x100kg (missed rep 5 of set 7, unloaded the bar and was ready to go home, but rested a few minutes and put 100kg back on and got itā¦barely. Suffering for maxing out 2 days earlier) (+dumbbell bench)
11/1 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg 1x3x95kg, 2,10x3x105kg (more total reps at 105kg+ than every workout Iāve ever doneā¦combined. Just brutal, at least 20 of the reps were grinders. Lotta rest-pause. Difficulty walking home.) (+1 arm rows, +2x50, 4x25 leg extensions, +hamstring curls)
11/6 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 1x3x100kg, 1x3x105kg, 2x110kg, 1x115kg, 1x120kg, 1x125kg (hips uncomfortable/tight warming up. thought about 130kg but settled for a 5kg PR [20kg in 3 weeks!]) (+chinups, +deficit deadlifts, =ed 160kg PR)
11/8 2x10x40kg, 2x10x60kg, 2x5x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 1x3x100kg, 1x3x105kg, 3x110kg, 2x115kg, 1x120kg (had 130kg in mind but wasnāt happening, lower back wasnāt 100% from DLing 2 days ago) (+dumbell bench, lateral raises, 6x30 leg extensions)
Avg Calories/Day: 3400 (~45%C/20%F/35%P) Pretty clean, meat, fish, veggies, rice, oatmeal, eggs, milk
Avg Hours Sleep: ~10-11hrs (9:30-10:00pm to 7:30-9:30pm) For the first week or so I would wake up around 4 or 5am ravenously hungry, pound some eggs+oatmeal and chug some milk, and pass out again. Iāve never experienced anything like itā¦āsurvival hungerā is the closest I can describe it as. This sort of abated during the second week and by the third week hunger was sort of normal, maybe even lower than usual. A few times had mild insomnia but it wasnāt too bad. Sometimes napped in the early afternoon after training for an hour or so. Quads would twitch occasionally at night, and could feel my heartbeat in my knees.
Recovery: I tried to walk at least 1 hour 1-2x a day, and I think this helped with recovery. Stretched the groin and hipflexors a bit, and did some of glute/hip activation stuff. Probably should have done more of this, and foam rolling. Avoided sitting. Sitting kills ya squat! Did cardio a couple times (300m intervals) and I donāt think this hurt recovery at all, and maybe helped it. Got random pains in knees and hips a few times but overall soreness wasnāt too bad. Warming up sometimes felt great, sometimes felt crap. Hard to pin down what causes the bar to feel heavy/wobbly some days and light/stable others. Maybe CNS related? Or lower back/core? Felt about the same once the working sets arrived, but the warm ups were a mixed bag. Looking back, I probably should have done even more warm up sets, if needed.
Growth: Entire legs grew but adductors more than anything. Chaffing just walking around, not being able to take the stairs 2 at a time anymore in some pants. Made the mistake of squatting down once in a pair of jeansā¦crotch exploded quite spectacularly, unfortunately I was in classā¦and Iām a teacher. I think I played it off, donāt think anyone noticed. Even my gym shorts have tears in the crotch. During the third week 4x9, when bouncing out of the hole I kept hearing this ripping soundā¦yep, even shorts are not safe from smolov. Legs 25"ā>26"
Someone said that you should not do smolov if your 1RM is below 140kgā¦I sort of agree. Doing 10x3 with your former 1RM (or almost) is, well, tough. Other methods would probably work just as well and are much more sustainable. Bench and pullup strength stayed the same, maybe up slightly.
Equaled deficit deadlift 160kg PR comfortably and hit a surprising 85kg power clean 5kg PR, have yet to test sumo DL but I think that will have more carryover from the squat so I am guessing it is up slightly. Upper body stuff generally stayed the same.
Iāll do it again but probably will wait a few months before starting. Might do it with front squats or paused back squats.
Cycle: Just started Introductory Microcycle today!
Status: Ongoing
Gain: None yet. Starting squat: 345 lbs
Synopsis: Okā¦Iām 41 years old, 5ā 11", and 193 lbs currently. My goal is to dunk, which requires a 405 squat given my current vertical jump (about 31" standing).
Iām starting with a 345 lb high back squat. This, incidentally, is already my all time best, as Iāve been focusing on squats last few weeks. But really, compared to this program, I have not been hitting it very hard. For me, I squat once per week, for like 3 sets LOL. Warm up, 225, 315, then max. Pretty sure VOLUME has been what is missing for me. I have skinny legs, and my squat numbers suck compared to my other lifts:
Squat: 345
Deadlift: 565
Bench: 315
Strict Press: 225
Standing Vertical: 31"
So the good news is, I have room to grow for sure. I am excited to embark on this 13 week program. Itās gonna be killer, workout #1 felt great.
I will write an update around February 16th when I do my first 1RM test after Base Mesocycle! Wish me luck, Iāll need itā¦
Just finished the first āthree days in a rowā of squatting in the introductory microcycle. The worst part is my lower back is a bit crampy, and my neck is sore from high bar placement. Otherwise, I was able to get through it. I also would like to add, I made every rep count, with maximum speed on the way back up and a slight pause in the hole. Again, Iām doing this for vertical jump increase so I really want to focus on pushing the weight up as fast as I can.
Total Lifts in a 48 hour period:
48 reps of 225
40 reps of 240
11 reps of 260
6 reps of 275
1 rep of 315
Contrast this with what used to be my typical workout:
Total reps, only once per WEEK:
135 X 10
225 X 8
275 X 5
315 X 3 or so
Hoping I"m one of those special cases that gets an enormous 80-100 lb increase in max squatā¦we shall see! Given my 565 deadlift, you would think my squat COULD be 445 (+100 lbs from current)?
Through week 1 of the mesocycle, but barely. The worst part of it for me is my lower back cramping up. I donāt have any lower back issues with deadlifting, only squats. Not sure why, but itās a chronic problem and really sucks. It makes me have crazy anterior pelvic tilt, and Iām walking around the gym with my hands behind my back in pain. Guess Iāll just keep powering through it. Maybe eventually the lower back muscles will adjust. Iām not holding my breath thoughā¦
Sitting for too long in the day killed my lower back. This may be your case.
Hello,
I am about to end my first Smolov 13 week squat program and I cant wait to start it again.
I started with veery hard 145 kg max and yesterday i finished with 3 series of 4 repetitions with 145 kg. I will test my new max after 4 day.
How much time would you recommend me to rest between the cycles?
What do you think will be the effect of immediately starting a second smolov cycle?
death
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Guys,
Quick question, i just finished the base meso cycle. Going to test my 1 RM, how should i approach this week?
I should do 2 days of testing my 1RM as the spreadsheet says?
Regards
This was a great bump. Really got me excited to try some smolov after I get back from vacation the start of May. I know itās a peaking program and I wonāt be able to keep all the gains that I make, but what is the best approach for keeping as much as possible?
I ran the intro cycle and finished up the base mesocycle last weekend (June 2 was my PR attempt day). I started with a training max of 315. Prior to the base cycle I could hit a single with 340 at a 9-10 RPE so i thought 315 would be ok to used considering I did not squat more than once per week prior to Smolov.
I will say that DOMS was brutal for me through the intro cycle as well as midway through the base cycle. Midway through the second week my knees were somewhat achy feeling and my body felt tired. I was taking a couple extra shakes per day as well as more snacking between meals to try to boost recovery. I will say that it is a strange feeling as you can literally feel yourself getting stronger in such a short period of time.
On the PR day at the end of the base cycle I was expecting to hit 50 pounds more than my training max but I was blown away when I loaded up my previous max and it was just a super easy rep. I hit 365 which also felt generally easy. So i thought might as well bump another 15 pounds and see what happens. I hit 380 but almost failed at my sticking point near parallel.
All in all, if your stuck in a rut with your squat and looking to make some gains, this will DEFINITELY boost your squat and break through any plateau you may be stuck inā¦ Heres the link to my PR attempt:
If your making linear gains still, then you have little business running smolovā¦
Iām pretty sure it didnāt last another 11 years though.
I knew that was comingā¦ I was reading up and saw the date but couldnāt resist to add my $.02ā¦
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- I ran the whole 13 program so both
2 Completed - 20lb increase in squat 370ā400
- I might do it again even though I got a 20lb increase I also got a pinched nerve in my back but I do think that my squat form was the cause of this. But what really went up was my sumo deadlift went from 410-450 ish at the time. Iām experimenting with the idea of the conjugate method in the future.