The Best Yet: Better than Smolov

As previously mentioned, the strongest people on the planet are Olympic weightlifters. If you don't believe me I suggest you look up Khadzhimurat Akkaev and Dmitry Klokov on Youtube. Phenomenal feats of strength are constantly occurring in the sport.

I have been looking at the Russian and Bulgarian Olympic training methods and have had unbelievable results. If you care to research the Bulgarian method you'll find that there is a huge amount of volume training twice a day every day on the two lifts, snatch and the clean and jerk, and front squatting. This is too much for the average lifter. The principal of high frequency and high volume is there, but it is impossible for the body to recover, and it would be naive to think that no steroids were used a decade or so a go, before it was illegal.

The principal I have taken to is high frequency and and high volume. I train everyday, starting with squats (Ass-to-grass). Squatting to MAX everyday has increased my 1 REP MAX by 30Kg in 3 weeks!!!! There is the underlying principal is that there is no such thing as over-training only under-training. To an extent this is true and my body has conditioned itself to the lift. Between sessions you will need enough time to eat and sleep in order to recover and maximise gains, which is why training more than this day is not advised.

Along with back and front squats, I add in Bench press, shoulder/push presses and of course the snatch, cleans separately from jerks. Also I add in pause squats on some days.

I used to think you should know what you are going to do in the gym, what weights, sets and reps. But this never accounts for how you feel on a particular day. Keep your muscles guessing, decide on weights sets and reps on how strong you feel.

I always train even after a heavy night out, hungover, aching, in pain, feeling sick, having a cold or illness. Always train. You'll be surprised at what the body is capable of. On days where I've felt so ill I've hit personal records.

Training through and around Injury - Squat ATG

Apologies for the lack of activity recently, but I have myself been very busy and also injured. I injured my left adductor after a heavy session of squats. At first I thought it was just a pain that signals under training, but continuing to train made it worse.

Basically, the reason why I have the injury is due to muscle imbalance, where my left adductor was not relatively strong compared with my other leg muscles. This was a major blow to my progress.

How have I coped?
Fortunately the injury wasn't too bad, so a weeks rest was taken and I am currently actively recovering. I am now squatting Ass-to-grass (ATG) as opposed to parallel. I am doing this because it sets a threshold that can be met every time so that every workout is consistent in that the muscles that should be worked get worked on every rep. With parallel squats, it can be very easy to differentiate the 'hole' position each rep (It is difficult to keep consistent with the bottom position). ATG squats ensure you hit the very bottom every time. 

As I am recovering, I am having to use substantially lighter weights than before. Same workout principles though, lots of volume, make up for weight with reps. I vary the weight between sets, with reps ranging from 20 to singles.

Olympic Strength

Some of the strongest people on the planet are Olympic (oly) weightlifters. Some of you will be thinking, yeah that's obvious thy're the best at what they do, whereas others will wonder why; considering they aim to improve two lifts - the snatch (SN) and the clean and jerk (CJ). Although Met-RX have The World's Strongest Man Competition, traditionally the Olympic weightlifting champion is considered the strongest man in the world. 

Put it this way, many Oly lifters can get and hold a weight over their heads that is heavier than most people's mixed grip deadlifts.

The two lifts work the entire body, requiring flexibility, a ton of power and strength. Over the next few weeks I'll be looking into a few Olympic training principles. However, I do want to avoid the two lifts as its not something I'm particularly interested in performing myself.

Just an insight into the strength and power these guys/girls possess, take a look at Ivan Chakarov. The following video is almost 2 decades old yet he could casually squat ass-to-grass 3x Bodyweight for a triple - the result of determination, perseverance and damn hard work. Enjoy!

Smolov Jr. Progress & Review

I have juts completed the Smolov Jr routine for Bench, the third and final week has been completed as of today, and I can say that it was awesome. Looking forward to seeing the increase on my 1RM as a result.

What have I gained?
From the program I have definitely increased my Bench power and also my technique. As much as people think they know what they're doing with the Bench press, it is still a very complex compound movement, which requires good form that is difficult to achieve and rare to see in an average gym. I did no assistance work for this program and my gains have been noticeable and quick. My chest has become a lot leaner, although I wouldn't immediately say that it has increased much in size. Strength was my goal, and strength was increased as desired.


I'll attempt a 1RM test next week.

I would also like to point out that I ran this program at the same time as the base cycle from Smolov actual; for Squats. I cannot accurately say it had any effect as to the results of Smolov Jr, but it must be considered that my gains could have been greater if I wasn't giving my all to the Squat sessions before every bench session.


tl; dr
Smolov Jr. for Bench is a great program for fast strength and power gains. Not good for maximised hypertrophy.

Failing: Problem with Smolov

It finally happened, I've butchered the program. Missed Reps, and hit failure. I went to the gym loaded up the bar ready to set another PR, however, this turned out to be a bad idea. I missed the full 9 reps on the first set. Managing only 7 per set. Then I decided to make up for it with an extra set, hitting only 6 reps and then failing, resulting in the bar on the pins. Never felt so shit in my life.

But why? Most of you may think, it's obvious, the weight was to heavy, but no, I believe it was down to other reasons. Which pinpoints what I feel to be another weakness in the Smolov routine.

I had no choice but to attempt my session late at night, this was because I had  a uni/college exam that was in the evening and my efforts were focused on that. This, combined with lack of proper nutrition led to my failed workout. The weight felt light even, but my endurance just wasn't there.

The problem that lies here therefore, is that Smolov doesn't take into account anything else you do in your life, no problems, no stresses, no exhausting activities: This is why certain programs suggest percentages don't work. The day will never come when you can't lift the bar... the day will come when you can't lift the weight you're supposed to lift.


 It was a mistake to even go in and attempt the session even if missing it meant I missed one workout. I feel I may have damaged my left adductor in the process.


I'll go in on Wed and attempt the given session; its important not to let failed sessions, ruin your confidence. Just get back up and get back in.

 

Progress Report - Including Smolov Jr.

So, I'm half way through the second week of the base cycle again, and I am struggling! The 10kg increase is substantial enough to make me hate squatting. Still, I am pushing through every set and hitting 'n' rep PR's every session! I have so many pains right now, but only from undertraining. Not going to give up though, once this week is complete, I feel I will have gotten through the hardest part.


 I actually had a nightmare of a session on Monday, just before I started to warm up I had a heart palpitation which scared the crap out of me as it had never happened before, not least in the gym.   I made my way through the warmup hoping it would decrease with my normal rest after raising my heart rate from lifting. It didn't. So I started on my work sets, which were incredibly hard! I wouldn't advise this, to be honest, but I decided to see what my body could handle - I set a 9-rep PR! But did not enjoy it in the slightest, racking the bar after every set saw me quickly lying on a bench trying to get my heart rate down.

Smolov Jr. for bench has been going great, but like the base cycle of the full program, the larger (5kg) increase on sets this week has been hard to cope with. I seem to have developed a pain in my left arm similar to mild tendinitis, again possibly a sign of undertraining, so I will continue to train my way past it. I've found that the hardest session is the 7x5 (7sets5reps) which is strange as this seems at first, to be the least likely difficult session. Here's a reminder of the Smolov Jr. routine (percentages based off of 1 rep max):

Week 1
Mon: 6x6x70%
Wed: 7x5x75%
Fri: 8x4x80%
Sat: 10x3x85%

Week 2
+5kg on week 1

Week 3
+2.5kg on week 2


Week 4
Sat: TEST DAY

DOMS DOMS DOMS

DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. That intense ache you get in your muscles the next day, or days, after a bout of exercise or workout. It occurs when your body goes through a lot of stress it hasn't encountered, either before, or for a long period. So don't go thinking that if you don't get DOMS when you used to, that you aren't working hard enough, in fact you are! DOMS is a sign of being under-trained!


The science behind it is a phenomenon, with unknown cure. It is basically the inflammation of microfibres in your muscles that occur due to microtearing (associated with a workout), this inflammation causes your nerves to have excess pressure on them causing that sometimes unbearable ache.

From experience, there are 3 forms that I would characterise delayed onset muscle soreness into,  and that would be mild, moderate and severe.

Mild - Awesome feeling, especially in the chest, only lasts for 24hours, feel like you've pushed it.

Moderate - Quite sore may last around 48hours, hurts to use muscles in everyday situations e.g getting in/out of bed, sitting down, opening doors, going up/down stairs etc.

Severe - The mother of aches. Think you've done damage as muscles quickly reach failure when doing everyday activities (even walking), can last up to 4-5days after workout.


The worst areas I have found for DOMS would be legs and core. I've had it so severely in my legs twice now to the point I can't walk properly, and I find my self without the ability to sit down without craning myself with my arms. Calves and Hamstrings cripple you, and you will often find you cannot press your heels on the ground or straighten your legs! Quads can get so badly affected that sitting on the toilet is more of a collapse and walking is near impossible, oh I've been there! Core is horrible, especially when you laugh or cough.

Going into the Smolov base cycle again, with a substantially heavier weight, after a week of barely moving off of a chair gave me some pretty bad DOMS this week. But I had to go in again in order to follow the program! I have never attempted to do this before, usually waiting it out and then going back.

So what do you do if you have DOMS, incapable of everyday activities, yet you have to lift heavy that day? Do you train with DOMS? Answer is YES. It is all part of the adaptation process, get in the gym and give it your all. You'll feel completely incapable of lifting any weight, but you'll never know unless you try. If you can lift on days like that, YOU ARE MAKING PROGRESS! I had DOMS and set a 7-rep PR in the process! Just be sure to warm up sufficiently.