dmw

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by dmw

Friday, June 27

Bench Press

6 x 135
6 x 135
6 x 225
6 x 225

Squats

6 sets of 5 at 270. 7th set was supposed to be the last set of 5, but I failed after 3 reps.

I'm pretty upset. This was hard, but it really hit me on sets 5 and 6. I probably started the last set too soon - should have rested longer. The first 3 reps of set 7 were really singles, with 20 seconds of hard breathing in between. On the fourth rep, I tried to come back up when I hit parrallel and didn't even change bar speed- I just slowly kept going down til I hit the pins.

I'm really upset that I've made it this far without missing a lift and came up short today. I didn't know what I was supposed to do in the event this happened, so I ended it. I guess I could have re-racked the weight and tried two more singles, but I think the purpose is doing the sets, which I pretty much screwed up anyway, taking so long in between reps in the last set.

I'm still going to try tomorrow, hoping that since it's 3 reps a set I can do it.

Fuck.

like paul said.. dont worry about that shit at all. the important thing is that you got all 10 sets on the last day.. the 3rep stuff translates better to a 1rm better anways.

LOL @ the 20 second rests.. i did the same thing.

The hard work is all done for the meso-cycle.. when you go for a heavy single again, its going to be one easy workout that is fantastic as you will hit a huge pr.

Your planning on doing the intense phase right? that will be interesting for sure. Ive thought about doing it.. maybe one day.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

nice work..

are you not supposed to max out next saturday on smolov?

The calculator in the link you sent me said something about a three week break from squats! I'm up for tweaking, though- and I'm definitely going to do some deads and whatnot in the next few days. I read somewhere a guy said the Smolov routine put 30 pounds on his deadlift and he hadn't trained it during that period.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

like paul said.. dont worry about that shit at all. the important thing is that you got all 10 sets on the last day.. the 3rep stuff translates better to a 1rm better anways.

LOL @ the 20 second rests.. i did the same thing.

The hard work is all done for the meso-cycle.. when you go for a heavy single again, its going to be one easy workout that is fantastic as you will hit a huge pr.

Your planning on doing the intense phase right? that will be interesting for sure. Ive thought about doing it.. maybe one day.

I'm glad to hear you had to pause between sets as well- since it just laid out the plan and didn't say that could happen, I was a little worried. Not that I wasn't working hard enough, but that I was just not in good enough shape to do it.

Yeah, I really think I'll try the intense phase. I'm looking to force the issue on squats! I'll just have to remember to keep my stance wide, as that really helped on the last day of 10 x 3.

Thanks for dropping back in here- I was anxious to hear what you thought.

[pjb923]

Nice work! I'm looking forward to seeing what your new max is.

Then you need to use your new max when you calculate the weights for the intense phase. But it's only 3 days a week of squatting, so it should be easy.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by pjb923

Nice work! I'm looking forward to seeing what your new max is.

Then you need to use your new max when you calculate the weights for the intense phase. But it's only 3 days a week of squatting, so it should be easy.

I'm looking forward to it too. Although, since I'm a lighter lifter, I don't think it's going to be too big.

But yeah, I'm going to use the new max and relish the light, 3 day per week protocol.

[Frank.S]

I would have dropped in sooner but i was stuck in montana in a town of 1000 people with no working vehicle for a few days

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

I would have dropped in sooner but i was stuck in montana in a town of 1000 people with no working vehicle for a few days

I always tell my wife we should move to Montana because the land is almost free. She tells me I'm stupid.

So, do you think I should take the three weeks off from squatting before testing the max, like it said in the link for the calculator, or test it sooner? Keep in mind I'm off training for a few days at the end of next week no matter what. I could actually test this weekend, or middle of next week, then use that number the next Monday that I can start back.

[Frank.S]

It was my understanding that you are supposed to test a max single (or near max) on the friday or saturday after the smolov. Then take 2-3 weeks off of heavy squats. although, i dont remember but I think i just went back to squatting 1x-2x per week and was fine and made some gains.

I think that if you took 3 weeks off heavy squats and did really damn fast speed work, and maybe box jumps, you could add even more lbs to your squat just because smolov makes you strong, but all those heavy reps seem to make you a little slower. If you have bands, id use them here.

Anyway you do it, your squat is going to go up your work capacity should be great now.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

It was my understanding that you are supposed to test a max single (or near max) on the friday or saturday after the smolov. Then take 2-3 weeks off of heavy squats. although, i dont remember but I think i just went back to squatting 1x-2x per week and was fine and made some gains.

I think that if you took 3 weeks off heavy squats and did really damn fast speed work, and maybe box jumps, you could add even more lbs to your squat just because smolov makes you strong, but all those heavy reps seem to make you a little slower. If you have bands, id use them here.

Anyway you do it, your squat is going to go up your work capacity should be great now.

That's what I'll do then- it matches my schedule great. I'll test my squat Friday or Saturday- work in speed squats and some fast pulls (power snatch?) to go with deads over the next couple of weeks and stay away from heavy squats until the Monday I start the intense phase (2-3 weeks).

Thanks for the input- I like having a second opinion!

[dmw]

Tuesday, July 1

Bench press

5 x 135
8 x 135
7 x 225 (8th missed)
5 x 225
4 x 225
12 x 135 closer grip

Dips

bw x 12
bw x 8

Tricep rope cable pushdowns

12 x 120
10 x 130

abs

Thought going in that I might get a rep PR at 225 with 8 and almost did, but literally failed inches shy of lockout. That set took a lot out of me and the rest of the sets and dips were tough. But, I like the thought of keeping a day like this for bench because I really think if I can get 3 sets of 8 at 225, my max of 265 will be surpassed pretty soon. And again, this is with limited bench work the past 3-4 weeks after dealing with shoulder pain before that for a month or two, so I'm excited about bench prospects.

I do have some neck pain, I think from straining on reps the last day of Smolov, but I don't think it is something that could keep me from pulling Thursday. Then, Sat. or Sun. I'll test the squat max.

[dmw]

As is typical with me, a little tweaking is in order. Family schedule and softball game tonight combined with the slightest kneck soreness means I won't pull today. I think I'll go tomorrow and I could do my squat max test, then follow that up with some deadlifting.

Nice and sore from bench, which is the first time in a long time.

[Frank.S]

smash your old squat PR tomorrow

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

smash your old squat PR tomorrow

Man, I hope. I'm going to set up the day around going when I feel best to go in and give it my all.

[bigDman]

good luck... Kill your old squat record

[dmw]

Originally Posted by bigDman

good luck... Kill your old squat record

Thanks! It'll be posted tomorrow.

[dmw]

Friday, July 4 (Happy birthday, America)

Squats

warmed up plenty, then started singles at

225
275
315 tied previous PR at this depth
335 PR
340 PR
315 one more time

Deads

Pulled some because I've missed them and haven't done back work in a while

3 x 225
3 x 315
1 x 365
1 x 405
1 x 425

The deads were all easy. Nice to do after my slow ass squats.

Squats went well. I kind of had 350 in the back of my mind as a nice number to try to hit, but I don't think I could have. The 340 was SLOW going up. It stalled for what felt like 5 seconds. My knees came in a little, but I noticed and pushed them back out and it finally went up. I feel like depth was pretty good on 335 and 340. Certainly deeper than my previous 325, which I looked back in this log to find- back then my depth sucked.

I figured 315 as my best legit squat to date before today, so after the first round of Smolov I added 25 pounds. Not bad. The big difference continues to be my increased ability / comfort holding the weight on my shoulders. I feel like if I can get used to fighting through slow reps like I did today, I'll get more gains during the next Smolov phase, which I'm going to do.

[dmw]

Powerlifting Heads-Up#

(edit- the link doesn't save the number, I'll have to enter the 340 every time to see what I need to do each day- or print it out)

Hopefully this will show up, but it's the intense phase of Smolov that I will try. Just looking at the numbers I'm going to say right now I don't know if I can do it. I know I can squat several days a week, that's not a problem. The worrisome part is the number of sets of 3 at over 300 pounds! Oh well, my squats suck, so giving this a whirl will at least ensure that I'm working on them a lot!

The next couple of weeks leading to this phase I'm supposed to lay off heavy squats- so I'll do some light speed squatting, deadlifting and benching. Squatting such a high % of 1RM 3 days a week for 4 weeks means I'd better get my bench and dead kicks in whilst I can.