Smolov Challenge - Stewy37's Trials

[stewy37]

This log is to cover my experience of the first 4 weeks of the Smolov Squat cycle. I'm starting a day earlier than everyone else due to my schedule, but it's all good. I'm only doing the base mesocycle as I can't really commit much more time to a squat specialization program than that. MMA and school will be my main focus after the completion of this. Here's some pertinent information:

Age: 25 years old
Height: 6 ft even
Weight: 225 lbs (varies as much as 5 lbs up or down on any given day)
Current 1RM: 405 lbs (This is as of 2 weeks ago and is what I'm basing the program off of)
Goal 1RM at completion of cycle: 450 lbs

Day One:
Squat 4x9 @ 290 lbs
OHP: 95 lbs x 10, 145 lbs x 5
Push Press: 195 lbs x 4
4 Way neck Machine: 40, 80, 120 lbs x15 each dir, 150 lbs x 8 each dir

I've decided to pick one pushing or pulling movement each day and knock out a few sets after squatting. I'll also pick either neck or grip work to add on. Basically, one large movement and one small one. I hurt my bicep doing pullups last week, so I may not be doing any pulling at all for a while yet. No deadlifting during this cycle either.

Notes: I don't usually squat over 5 reps, and it showed. Each set, I blew through the first 5 or so reps and than the last 4 were much harder. Rest was about 5 min between sets. Looking forward to Tuesday.

 

[enright3060]

Cool - We will be using the same 1rm. I'll will be following your progress.

I am looking forward to starting tomorrow.

 

[the_w1se]

Ive heard horror stories from the smolov, good luck man

 

[stewy37]

Day 2 of the program. I was sore, but loosened up good and had no problem doing all the required sets and reps.

Squat: 5x7 @ 305 lbs
OHP: 135, 155 lbs x 5
Push Press: 175 lbs x2x5
3" Wrist Roller: 45, 90, 135 lbs x5xup and down
COC Grippers: I was talking and just mased the number one for several sets of max reps (around 15-20) until I couldn't do anymore.

Good workout and looking forward to Thursday.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Day 3
Squat: 5x7@325 lbs

Events conspired against me today and prevented an early workout. Instead, I made it to the gym after work and had to push to get done before it closed. The first couple of sets were rough as I felt pretty fatigued, but after that they were only minimally difficult. Rest was 3 min between sets which has been my shortest so far.

Note: I decided to wear a belt for all my work sets. Although it isn't affecting me during the day, last night I realized just how fatigued my back was after grappling. After getting up from some sprawl drills and some guard passing drills, I realized I had accumulated a fair amount of lower back fatigue. I decided that wearing my new APT belt on all of my work sets instead of just the last few would be a very good idea for survival during this program.

Anyway, off to eat and get some rest for an early morning session. Oh yeah 10x3!!!

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week One Complete

Squat: 10x3 @ 345 lbs 3-5min rest
Incline Bench Press: 135x10, 185x8, 205x6, 225x4, 235x3

Only got 3 hr of sleep last night and was up at 6am to hit the gym. Not a lot of recovery time between last night's workout and today's. I was all right though. A little fatigued but not bad, and I really feel no soreness at all. This is good, because it means I'm holding up pretty well and although fatigued, still recovering decent. Next week is going to be a real test.
I was really happy with my performance on incline bench as I haven't done any bench variations in over a month. My shoulder had been bothering me when doing horizontal presses, so I've just been doing overhead work and it seems to have helped. I rarely do incline bench, and I think this is actually the most I've ever lifted on it despite being pretty smoked from the squats.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week Two Day One

Squat: 4x9 @ 325 lbs
4 Way Neck Machine: 40, 90, 120 lbs x 15 reps each direction
OHP: 95 lbs x 10; 155 lbs x 5
Push Press: 205 lbs x 3 PR!

Today was actually pretty easy. Each set was rough, but despite being dehydrated due to being slightly sick and not timing meals right, they each felt easier than last week's. Hell, on the first set, I felt like I could have blown through and gotten 20 pretty easily, and on the last set I completed it pretty easily also. Rest was about 5 min between sets. Based on my progress so far, I'm very confident in my ability to finish this sumbitch and put up a huge new PR.

For those who are curious, here is my current supplementation:
GNC Ultra Mega Gold Multivitamin
GNC Double Strength Fish Oils x 4/day
GNC Triflex Sport
Precision Engineered ZMA
EAS Phosphagen (Creatine Monohydrate) x 5g/day
Proteins:
Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass
EAS Myo Whey
GNC PM Protein

*Yeah, I work at GNC, so that's why so many GNC products

 

[stewy37]

Been moving all week and jsut got internet back. Smolov is a buttkicker, but I'm still recovering well. Actually, I'm recovering better than I did last week. I have no soreness, just slightly heavy legs.
Anyway, here are the workout this week:

Smolov Week 2 Day 2- 14 August 2007
Squat 5x7 @ 340 lbs
Pretty easy day, but out of time to do anything else.

Smolov Week 2 Day 3 -16 August 2007
Squat 7x5 @ 355 lbs
Incline Bench Press worked up to 245 lbs x 3
Today was tough. Rest was 5-6 min between sets.

 

[mschatz]

good work stewy!

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week 2 Day 4
Squat: 10x3 @ 375 lbs

Week 2 done! I'm smoked. About halfway through, I was really not wanting to be there. I didn't eat enough today and paid for it. Anyway, time to rest up and prep for week 3. I'd type more, but I'm tired and am going to eat and than get some sleep.

 

[stewy37]

good work stewy!

Thanks man. I'm glad there's only one more week of this before getting a break, because I'm freakin drained today. We'll see how I recover for Sunday. Of course, next week I won't be dealig with moving, so there wil be a lot less extra stress.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week 3 Day 1

Squat: 4x9 @ 335 lbs
4 Way Neck Machine: 50, 90, 130 lbs x 15 reps/direction
Standing OHP: 95 lbs x10, 135 lbs x8, 185 lbs x1 strict + 3 Push Presses
Push Press: 185 lbs x 4
Dips: BWx10

Holy Crap! This week is gonna suck. My lower back is smoked, my legs are stiff, I'm ravenous all the time, and my knees are starting to get a bit sore. Oh well. Only 3 more workouts until I get a break and then it'll be time to see how much this has paid off. Gotta add some pull movements back in this week. My bicep is ready to get worked on and fully functional again.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week 3 Day 2
Squat: 5x7 @ 350 lbs
CHINS: BW (approx 225 lbs) x 10, 10, 10, 9

Awesome workout. I consumed a ridiculous amount of calories yesterday and got about 7 hrs of sleep. I felt great going in and absolutely destroyed the squats. My rest time was about 3 min between sets, and only 2 min for the last set. It was rough, but not even close to as hard as Sunday was.

My bicep is healing up pretty well. I decided to see if it could support me during CHINS and it did. I knocked out 4 respectable sets but when I went to start the first chin of the 5th set, and I felt it tweak a bit about halfway up. i dropped off the bar and decided to call it a day.

Anyway, looking forward to finishing this week up strong and than blasting a new PR nest week.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week 3 Day 3
Squat: 7x5 @ 375 lbs
Incline Bench: 135, 185 lbs x 10; 225 lbs x 4, 3; 185 lbs x 8

Felt great for the squats, but they take a hell of a lot out of you. My rest time was around 3 min for most of the sets, but 5 min on sets 2&3. After getting done squatting, I'm ready to get out of the gym lately. Also, tonight I have mma, so I'd like to be able to perform somewhat decent there.
Anyway, one more day and than a break.

 

[stewy37]

Smolov Week 3 Day 4
Squat: 10x3 @ 395 lbs
Deadlift: 225, 315, 365, 385, 415 lbs x 1

Hell Yeah! Basically done with the Smolov base meso-cycle. I am so looking forward to this rest week and excited to see just what I will be able to put up next Friday.
I felt great this workout and figured that I would pull heavy singles after squatting since I still had energy. Unfortunately I got really hungry about halfway through the deadlifts and got a bit too ambitious and went for 465 lbs. I think I could have gotten it, as all the previous deads went up real easy, but I had a complete mental lapse. Right as I went to pull, my mp3 player quit on me. I lost focus and instead of thinking about pulling the weight, I thought "Man, I'm fucking hungry!". Needless to say I didn't make the lift. Anyway, 'm pretty pleased so far and excited to see just what the results will be.

 

[stewy37]

29 Aug 2007
SMOLOV RESULTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuGoLrmYHYk

30 Aug 2007
1 Mile Warm-Up Jog
Neck Machine Front and Rear: 40, 90, 120 x 20, 15, 10
Standing OHP: 95 lbs x15, 135, 155 lbs x5, 175 lbs x3
Push Press: 185 lbs x 5, 205 lbs x 1, 215 lbs x 1 PR
Dips: BW x 10, +45 lbs x3x10
Triceps Pushdowns: 90 lbs x3x10

This starts my next training phase, or more accurately returns to what the Smolov cycle interrupted; a focus on conditioning while improving strength. Prior to the smolov I was adding mass, but now I am starting to cut weight. I'm at about 220 lbs right now and I feel I can lean out to a very strong 200 lbs or so, than come back up cleaner and while keeping my conditioning strong.

*Note* I only did front and rear on the 4-way neck machine, because I have a pretty good case of cauliflower ear in my left ear.

 

[Deleted member 56619]

I guess this porgram is legit as hell, 45lb increase in 1 month? Thats nuts. Awsome work man.

 

[danman77220]

Holy hell 45 lbs! I'm aching to give this program a try. I think I will once I hit 315...

 

[stewy37]

Thanks guys. I'm definitely pretty happy with the results. I will say that my legs are still tore up from this even with the rest they've gotten. I can't really see myself doing this again, as it really does interfere with the rest of your training, but for 4 weeks of hard work, it was worth it.

 

[stewy37]

1-Mile warmup run 8 min/mile pace

Crossfit "Fran"
21-15-9 Reps
95 lb Thrusters
Pullups (Modified to be non-kipping)

Time: 8:58

Since putting on about 20 lbs this summer, it has affected my pullup performance. I knocked out the first 21 pretty easy, but on the subsequent sets was limited to sets of 2-4. It made it difficult to keep my heart rate up as high as it should for this workout. Also, my bicep isn't yet 100%, so the jerking of kipping pullups is out of the question for now.
I like this workout. It's great for when my time is limited like tonight, and when my pullups are up to par it whups my ass. Anyway, it's a good start back in to conditioning.
I'm also going to be running more often for warm-ups, as my run performance is nowhere up to my old standards (which honestly weren't that high). I've barely run since getting out of the Marine Corps, but there is no reason I shouldn't be able to just up and run 5 miles or so at around an 8-10 min/mile pace.