Going forward a big chunk of my programming is going to center around Smolov or SmolovJr cycles. I've done one SmolovJr bench cycle and while I wasn't impressed with the immediate results, it definitely helped to get me past a brutal sticking point and opened my eyes as to the merits of higher volume programming.

My PRs are:
Squat- 370
Bench- 235 paused
Deadlift- 441

I'm not too far behind those numbers right now. I'd like to squat 415, bench 265, and deadlift 500 in 2011.

My first squat cycle:

	Tuesday	Thursday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	245x9x4	260x7x5	275x5x7	290x3x10
Week 2	265x9x4	280x7x5	295x5x7	310x3x10
Week 3	275x9x4	290x7x5	305x5x7	320x3x10

Won't be able to lift tomorrow so I did the first day today despite being a little tired from maxing yesterday at the meet.

6-20

Squat- 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x9x4
Cable Row- 8x3
RD Flyes- 15x3
EZ Bar Curls- 87.5x5x4

Squats weren't bad, just annoying. Got a nice lower back pump after the 3rd set.

Are you going to DL while you do Smolov? Or are you hoping that increasing your squat will bring your DL along with it?

you're a moron

Plans for food intake?

I may just have to copy you when I get back from DC.

Definitely not while doing Smolov for squats. Everything I've read says that's a very bad idea. I'm at a point where the difference between pulling 410 and 440 is just confidence and technique, both of which you only gain by deadlifting. So once this first cycle is over, even if I gain 30 lbs on my squat I would expect my deadlift to be flat to slightly weaker.

I did deadlift when I did a SmolovJr bench cycle before and it went fine, so I'll probably try that again at some point.

Harsh.

I assume you mean for lifting the day after the meet. I didn't want to, but it was really my best option since I can't lift Tuesday or Wednesday and I might get some DOMS from the first day. Also I felt surprisingly good yesterday and 245x9x4 is more of an annoyance than a workout.

Probably going to eat about 300 more calories a day, most of which will be from carbs. I've been eating ~50 grams of carbs a day for awhile and I think continuing to do so would probably kill me by the end of the second week. IMO sleep will be much more important though, need to be in bed by 9:30 on weeknights now.

Do it. I'm already looking forward to when I can do another bench cycle and get my bench to 255.

Given this, are you planning to increase your DL by just DLing when you're Smoloving it up on the bench? Do you expect this to be good enough to reach 500, or do you plan to follow something like Dean-Phillipi (sp?) for the DL?

I don't plan to compete again for awhile, so I don't really care what my deadlift is. Obviously I don't want to be pulling 365 and squatting 405 in a few months, hence my intention to pull a little when I'm doing a smolovjr bench, but if I squat 405 and deadlift 405 in a few months I'll be ecstatic.

The deadlift is a very elastic lift for me and it responds very quickly to high volume moderate intensity (like 5/3/1), so it probably wont take more than a month or two to get my deadlift back to its normal level versus my squat. Normal level meaning that my deadlift is generally 50 to 70 lbs stronger than my squat when I've been doing both a fair amount.

are you on any "supplements?" I've looked into Smolov before, but I don't think I'd be able to make it through without some help

I wish. I would snapcall a safe (both health and legality wise), effective, and not terribly expensive cycle. Sadly you can probably only hope for 1-2 of those qualities at a time. I take creatine when I remember to and take ZMA before bed if it works out with my meal timing, which is pretty rare. I'll take caffeine or jack3d before workouts if I'm feeling run down.

I used to think Smolov was crazy too, until I did the SmolovJr cycle. By the end of the second week you definitely feel constantly fatigued, but your performance is much better than you'd expect, which I think is pretty cool. Also I went pretty conservative with the numbers and used 345 as my max when it's probably more like my 3-4 rep max. I could go do 320x3x10 this afternoon if I had to, so I'm not really worried about missing reps or not finishing as long as I do my soft tissue work and don't get injured.

what lower body and ab work, if any, are you going to do in addition to squats?

Lol additional lower body work. I take the ****ing elevator to my office, and it's on the 3rd floor. I guess the 50-100 1p swings to warm up before foam rolling on off days might count?

Abs will be the same as what I always do. Hanging leg raises, standing wheel rollouts, weighted planks, weighted swiss ball situps, etc.

Could always look at one of those aging doctors for test replacement therapy if you are on the low end of the scale and your insurance covers it.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I'm guessing you plan on gaining a little weight? Good luck!