Remembering Smolov

In an earlier blog posting, I mentioned how I made a brief excursion into the Smolov squat program:

5/3/1 into Smolov

Ever since reading about the Smolov squat program, I had always wanted to try this method, which guarantees rapid and massive gains in the squat. According to the Russian author who introduced Smolov to the western reader, Pavel Tsatouline, this program can increase one's squat up to 100 lbs in as little as thirteen weeks. It is a very intense program, and although I never completed it, I gained a lot more strength in this exercise. As well, my legs, particularly my quads, put a lot of muscle on. When I injured my trap on March 5th, 2011 during a heavy all-out single on the overhead press, I decided to let it heal while focusing my energies on the Smolov program. It was a good decision and I wish I had the time to complete it. I returned to the 5/3/1 program to regain balance for the other lifts, especially the dead lift and overhead press, because those lifts needed training for the August competition.

Here is the link to the article which outlines Smolov's program:

The Smolov Squat Program by Pavel Tsatouline

Before embarking on the program, I made sure that I researched as much as I could on others' experiences with it. One recommendation that came up was to limit oneself to the program and one push and one pull exercise for the upper body. I chose the bench press and chin ups to go with the program. It was stated that one's dead lift would go up with the squat, or at least that one would not lose strength on it. I found that my dead lift gained after completion.

I started the so-called Introductory Microcycle on March 8th. Before starting the program, I made a guesstimate that my squat one-rep max might be 480 lbs. All percentages would be based on that number (looking back on it now, that number may have been a bit too high, but I was able to meet all my reps regardless). The Microcycle takes two weeks, and prepares the trainee for the high volume squatting to follow. I had never squatted three days a week before, and my legs were constantly sore. The trainee is also supposed to practice jumps and lunges, although according to my training log, I didn't do too many of these. For one, I wasn't too sure of which jumps to practice, as the article is somewhat vague on this detail, but I did some basic vertical jumps onto stairs, a few hops and so forth. I recall getting an odd look from a girl who was in the gym one day while I practiced hops. It's not too often that one sees a big guy jumping up and down.

The Microcycle went well, better than I thought, and I was eager to start into the meat of the program.  One complaint coming from people who had done Smolov, and experienced difficulties during the program, was that they skipped the Microcycle and did not benefit as well as they thought they would have. Patience is key with any program, and I made sure that I followed this routine to the letter. I was quite prepared for the Base Mesocycle, which I started on March 21st.

The Base Mesocycle lasts for three weeks and each week sees the trainee squatting for four days! The days go as follows with reps, sets and percentages:

Day One --> 4 x 9 at 70%
Day Two --> 5 x 7 at 75%
Day Three --> 7 x 5 at 80%
Day Four --> 10 x 3 at 85%

For the succeeding two weeks, it's the exact format, but on Week Two, you add twenty pounds to the weight you were doing on Week One, and on Week Three, you add thirty pounds or ten pounds extra to Week Two.

My legs were constantly sore during those three weeks, so sore that sometimes it was a struggle to climb up onto a truck or loader at work. I was fortunate in that I never experienced knee or lower back pain, which is sometimes encountered during this program, but I did have sore elbows. I made sure that I kept nourished at all times, and it was during those weeks that I started drinking 2 litres or half a gallon of milk per day. Also, my legs were growing quicker than I had ever seen a muscle grow on me. Taking a shower and opening the curtain so that I was in view of the mirror, I was amazed at the size of my quads and inner thigh. My calves also grew thick, despite not being directly worked.

It was posted on the strongman discussion board that I follow that the August competition would entail events which seemed to focus on dead lift strength (silver dollar dead lift, frame carry), so I switched back to 5/3/1 after the Base Mesocycle to train the whole body. If I had time, I would have liked to finish this program to see how much strength I could actually gain in the squat. Although I never tested my one-rep max when I finished the program on April 9th, I was very impressed when I did ten reps at 405 lbs on April 30th during a 5/3/1 workout. According to the one-rep max calculator, that would push my one-rep max to 540 lbs. As well, on the last day of the Smolov, I performed 10 sets of 3 reps with 440 lbs, which was up until that point, the heaviest workload I had ever done while squatting. If followed through to completion, I could see a potential 60-80 lbs increase in my squat.

I don't think I am done with Smolov. This winter would be a good time to give it another shot, the earlier in the winter, the better. That way, I can return to focus on the whole body lifts in the spring.  I just may do that....