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!

you are on the first day of smolov... does your job let you take naps? i think you'll need to do that during lunch or right when you get home.

Well, I looked into it some more...starting Smolov tonight. Thanks for pushing me toward it and good luck on your workouts

GL Doug!! If you need to get a lift in while you're in SF, you're welcome to come lift at my place.

Also, is this the Somlov Jr Bench you went with?

http://iron.forum0.net/t19-official-...nformation-amp

Maybe a little because I've been like 161-163 since the meet. I don't think I'll get over 170 though.

Yes. I work as a kindergarten teacher.

GL. My only advice is don't do it if you still have appreciable form issues. The strength gains aren't worth it if it's just going to further ingrain errors that will hold you back in the future.

Yeah that's the one. And I may take you up on the offer. Are you near Nobb Hill/Chinatown? Also any reviews of Fleur de Lys?

Summer vacation!!!

I'd say my form now is the best its ever been...I hit 425 to depth a couple weeks ago but that was a fluke I think. I'm basing my cycle off of 405 since i know its going to be rough enough without starting out overzealous on my 1rm

I'm actually only doing the intro and the base cycles, not the full routine...giving up on benching to let my shoulder heal and dedicating almost all of my time to getting stronger on squats since it seems like doing anything else while on Smolov is suicide

I went to Fleur de Lys maybe 8 months back with my gf at the time. She loved it, but personally I thought it was overpriced for what it was. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was good, however for the $150 - $200 per person without wine that I ended up dropping, I felt that I'd be better off going elsewhere. I personally prefer Boulevard, and while I haven't been yet, I've heard nothing but great things about Gary Danko. Michael Minna and Spruce are supposed to be really good as well.

Btw - I need to take just a little off my Wayfare Tavern recommendation as I was there last weekend and was underwhelmed by both the service and the food. The steak tartare are incredible, however the fried chicken was meh (a bit rosemary heavy) and the steak and frites, while perfectly done, was a bit cold. This may have had something to do with our ******ed waiter who not only mixed up our order with the table next to us (who ordered the same thing after us yet got theirs first), but also asked how we wanted our leftovers packed before piling plates on them and consequently throwing them away.

Anywho - bit of a rant, but yeah - gotta deduct a few points for that one.

As far as proximity goes, SF is a really small city. Close here means like - 5 minutes whereas far is 20. I'm not close to Nob Hill or China Town as I live in West Portal (thus the ability to have a garage) - but it's pretty easy to get here.

I would not expect to get stronger during the course of the program. It is after you've finished and rested for about a week that people seem to start to see the benefits. So if you can't easily triple 375 right now (405 * .85 + 20 + 10) then I'd say you will definitely miss a lot of reps during the program, which will limit your gains. I chose 345 as my max to work off of, and that is actually around my 5 rep max. The weight that I will be doing 10 triples with on the last day is probably my current 7-8 rep max.

Ok cool. Thanks for all the recommendations. There are just so many quality restaurants in SF it's kind of daunting just to pick a few. I think I've got the Napa leg of the trip pretty well planned out, but that was pretty simple in comparison to SF.

6-22

KB Swings- 1.5px10x3
Foam Folling- hip flexors, IT bands, upper quads
Weighted Pullups- 5 singles at 1p

Hip flexors were a little tight so I got in a quick warmup and rolled them. Also I made a weighted pullup belt over the weekend using 5 feet of chain, some flexible rubber tubing, and a couple of carabiner clips, so I wanted to test it out. Seems to work well, I'm gonna GTG with pullups over the coming weeks and would like to get up to a 2.5p pullup.

Also made a ham, fried egg, and cheese sandwich for dinner. But instead of bread I used chicken breast. It was awesome.

6-23

Squat- 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x4, 225x2, 260x7x5
Close Grip Bench- 45x10x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 185x5x2

4th set of squats were the easiest. Elbow felt bad during bench so I quit it, I need to SMR it at work tomorrow. Will do some ab work tonight too. Looking forward to getting back to my normal rep range over the weekend.

6-24

1p Pullups- 1,1,1,2,2,2,2

6-25

Squat- 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x4, 225x3, 255x1, 275x5x7
Bench- 45x10x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 185x5, 190x5, 195x5

Ugh. 9 am Saturday morning workouts without caffeine suck. Took until the 5th or 6th set of squats for me to feel normal. I'm interested to see how tomorrow is gonna go at 290x3x10.