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  1. #1
    RX MEMBER FrankRich2XL's Avatar
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    Default Add 100lbs to Squat in 13 Weeks- My Experience with Smolov

    This was something I wanted to document from the beginning, but with the busy holiday schedule and the fact that I actually got sick during the 3rd week of the program, I just didn't have the time or the motivation to log on and do this... But here it is now.

    For as long as I have been training, outside of training for athletics in high school, I have always followed a "bodybuilding" or "hypertrophy" type of training mentality. By this I mean, training a specific bodypart or 2 on a given day and really training for aesthetics over raw strength. Don't get me wrong, I move some heavy as weight and consider myself to be very strong in a lot of your non-powerlifting lifts (I have benched with 200lb dumbbells, bench press over 500lbs, curled 80s and hammer curled the 100s). And with training this way, I feel I have built a decent physique. By no means do I have a top level bodybuilding physique, but that't not really something I am aspiring to have right now. I recently did a photoshoot and at 6'3", 250lbs, my bodyfat was measured with calipers at 5%.

    One lift that I felt I could really approve on though was the squat. Like a lot of young lifters, in my early years I really stayed away from it, opting for leg press or maybe smith machine squats instead. Over the past year though, I really grew to enjoy doing them and had implemented them into my training twice a week at times, doing different variations of them, but still training for hypertrophy over raw strength, maybe doing sets of 3-5 at times. In doing this, I reached a point where when I did test to see what my max was, I was able to get 500lbs for a clean single, but I wanted more. I wasn't getting bored with my training, cause its something that I absolutely love, but I wanted to challenge myself and set a definitive goal to reach. I wanted to squat 600LBS!!!

    Was this possible though? Could someone at the age of 31, who has been training for a decade add 100lbs to their squat? And if so, how long would it take? I went home and simply typed into google, "add 100 pounds to squat", and the entire first page of matches all had the same routine, the Smolov Squat Program. Like I said, I had no experience with powerlifting, so I had never heard of this, but I started to read about the program and some of the testimonials written, and in fact, people had added 100lbs to their squats, in only thirteen weeks.

    I'm not going to go into full detail of how the program is structured, but if you are interested, here is a good link and explanation of how it works.
    http://www.seriouspowerlifting.com/3...-squat-routine

    What I can say though, is when this program will definitely test you. I am now in the 5th week, and feel like I am pushing my body further now that I ever have in the past. The first 2 weeks almost felt easy, its really just about getting you ready and used to squatting 3-4 times a week. I kept my upper body training volume pretty high during those weeks and even into the 3rd week. The 3rd week is really when I started to doubt if I was going to be able to finish what I started, by continuing to train upper body almost everyday in addition to squatting with both heavy weights and high volume, I completely show my CNS, and ended up getting sick, almost loosing all motivation to train. I stuck with the squats though, and really tapered off the upper body work and by the middle of week 4, was feeling 100% again.

    I am in week 5 now and have 3 more squat days left, then almost a full week of recovery before attempting a new PR. My goal is to add 40-50lbs at this time, then finish off the program and get the 600lbs that I started for!

    I plan on keeping this log updated throughout the rest of the program and if anyone has any experience with the Smole program, please share it. Curious to see how others responded to it.

    Here is a clip from last Friday's squat session where I had 7 sets of 5 with 420lbs.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlb_k2hQLS8


    Thanks for reading.

  2. #2
    Managing Dir., Rx Muscle Forums Curt James's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrankRich2XL View Post
    Here is a clip from last Friday's squat session where I had 7 sets of 5 with 420lbs.




    Thanks for reading.
    ...

  3. #3
    RX MEMBER FrankRich2XL's Avatar
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    Update on my progress... I am through the first 6 weeks and the base mesocycle and will not be continuing with this program. The program has you aim for a new PR after 6 weeks in and recommends that you shoot for a 25-40lb increase. My goal on Saturday was to add 50lbs, as I already knew I wasn't going to continue moving forward but still wanted to check and see my progress. I exceeded my expectations and was able to hit 565 for a single rep, attempted 585 but got stuck at the bottom and wasn't able to get it up. More than happy with my progress in just 6 weeks, a 65lb increase.

    My reason for not continuing with the program is the fact that it has been too damaging to my body and has taken away completely my ability to train my other body parts, which is just too important to me. I know the program is designed to have you overreach and should have you feeling uncomfortable at times, which I was able to manage, but in the course of 3 weeks I busted 2 blood vessels in my eyes and it had me looking like I was an MMA fighter. I'm pretty sure this is probably due to improper breathing techniques and the fact that I am straining too hard, but like I said originally, I have never trained as a powerlifter and working on proper techniques is not really feasible when you are pushing your body to the limits.

    Overall, my take on the Smolov is that it is probably the most intense and grueling training program out there. It will test your grit and truly make you dig deep inside at times to find the will to finish the reps and sets. If I was a little bit younger and didn't have other obligations in my life to be worried with, I would probably continue and finish the program, and know that I would hit the 600lb squat I set out for. At this point though, my long term health and ability to train is more important and I will still work towards that number, just make take a tad longer.

    Here is a video of my PR day on Saturday...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKOXdtou6UQ

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