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i'm in the middle of doing smolov, basically a really really tiring squat routine
broke a PR recently and am in my 2nd week of deload
will start posting soon

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Thursday
Deadlift
160 x 5
110+Monster-mini+Minibands x 2
5 sets

Ezbar curl:
30 x 10
3 sets
20 x 13

D.B sidebends:
15 x 10
3 sets

Seated calf raises:
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10

Back extensions:
10
10
10

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SATURDAY
BB rows:
90 x 8
90 x 8
90 x 6

French press:
40 x 12
40 x 12
40 x 12

D.B flyes:
15 x 10
12.5 x 10
7.5 x 10

SUNDAY
Deadlift
160 x 5
100+monster,mini x 2
5 sets

Neutral pullups:
10 x 5
8 sets

D.B sidebends
15 x 10
3 sets

Seated calf raise:
20 x 10
3 sets

D.b top holds:
32s
32s
32s

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Deload Over, Intense mesocycle starts

Monday
Squats
115 x 3
132 x 4
150 x 1 (Fell forwards after the first rep and racked it)
150 x 4
3 sets
150 x 5

Dips:
20 x 10
4 sets

D.B press:
15 x 12
15 x 10
22.5 x 10

Wrist curls:
5 x 10
8 sets

-Joint paint is gone after the deload, weights still feel ok, thankfully not much detraining
-Except for shoulder issues on the first few sets when unracking the bar, everything else was good
-Realized for a while now that i havent put in as much work on the shoulders/upperbody
-I know some of you advocate how rippetoe teaches you to squat (Raising the hips up), but that **** only worked for me on my last max attempt when most of my joints were sore. I tried that today and hamstrings were the first to give out. Took that out for my last 2 sets and everything went better

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Friday

Rack pulls
140 x 3
5 sets

Ezbar curl
30 x 12
3 sets
20 x 10

Was supposed to do the next day of squats, but hamstrings were so sore i couldnt even stretch them properly
Contemplating whether i should change program or finish it off, i already got my PR for this year lol and i dont think its realistic to expect another PR anytime soon. On the otherhand, finishing smolov is more for bragging rights haha

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SUNDAY
Squats:
105 x 3
122.5 x 3
140 x 4
157.5 x 3
150 x 5
2 sets

BB rows:
90 x 10
90 x 6
90 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 5

French press:
40 x 10
4 sets

D.B flyes:
15 x 10
12.5 x 10
7.5 x 10
5 x 10

TUESDAY
Squats:
115 x 4
122.5 x 4
140 x 4
5 sets

Neutral grip pull ups:
10 x 8
10 x 10
10 x 10
10 x 8
10 x 6

D.B top holds (5kg)
34s
34s
34s

Leg press:
10 x 10
12 x 10
14 x 10
16 x 10
18 x 10

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Thursday
Squats:
105 x 4
122.5 x 4
140 x 4
157.5 x 3
157.5 x 4
2 sets

Dips:
20 x 15
2 sets
20 x 10
2 sets

Wrist curls:
5 x 11
8 sets

D.B Mp:
15 x 12
4 sets

Friday
Rack pulls:
150 x 3
5 sets

Ezbar curl:
25 x 10
3 sets
30 x 10
30 x 5
6 sets
20 x 12
20 x 10

Rear delt raise:
5 x 10
5 x 10
5 x 10
5 x 10

Sunday
Squats:
115 x 3
132 x 3
150 x 3
2 sets
167 x 3

BB rows:
90 x 3
14 sets

French press:
40 x 15
3 sets

D.B Flyes:
15 x 12
12.5 x 12
7.5 x 10
5 x 10

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Been wanting to reply to this thread for some while now. You have an interesting training routine. I hope you don't mind the barrage of questions, considering just how long your training log is now. It's gonna get a little messy.

On Smolov, how much did you gain on the squat? I meant your poundage. Were you able to deadlift for days when you weren't doing Smolovs? Also, did your deadlift increase from all the Smolov squattings? You did Smolovs for 6 weeks?

06/04/2011, Friday - Your rackpulls were 140 x 3. But the week before you deadlifted 160. Care to explain why?

Have you been benching of late? Bench press didn't catch my eye here.

What are your goals, actually? Side bends, calf raises, flyes seem like a bodybuilding routine to me. Or are they merely assistance exercises?

On your point of Rippetoe hip drive method, it has worked really well for me. I engage more of my lower back with the hips and that has always helped for my squats. I guess that's an individual thing, but I wouldn't call it '****'.

Okay, that's about it for now.

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I'm actually at the end of the 10 week right now, and probably stopping lol more on that later
The deadlifts were actually part of my deload, there wasnt a guideline to deloading except doing explosive movements like box jumps etc etc but i dont see how high impact movements can be a deload/week of rest lol especially on the joints
Side bends, seated calf raises etc etc are part of the deload, i dont do them on normal days
Rack pulls is something new i'm trying out in my routine, because i feel i've been neglecting the 'upper portion' of the deadlift
I've done 190 x 11 and according to a few formulas i've used, my max should be around 259 lol i know its just an estimate but my max is no where near that, so somethings definitely up (I've relied on it for a while, and so far the last few estimates have been pretty accurate)


As for the D.B flyes, i've been having issues with my shoulders for a while now and its been stalling progress for my bench press, its not so much of joint pain/injury but my shoulders give out really really quick when it comes to the bench press thanks to an injury that happened 3 years ago
I'm guessing right now that my weakpoint could be the shoulders, i've tried heavy pressing movements, military presses but it usually results in an early burn out ( for shoulders) than i have to deload and start all over....
Machine flyes actually helped with mobility, and i'm hoping D.B flyes will be able to get things going
I've tried doing high reps, high volume, going heavy with lateral raises, front raises, rear delt raises but didnt see any change

My deadlift has been progressing a whole lot more compared to my squat and Bench press, so i'm not too concerned about my deadlift at the moment, i've been doing a lot of deadlifts before this so i figured it would also be a good time to my back a break

As for Smolov, so far i've put on 30kg on my squats
but i wouldn't attritube it all to the program
To sum it up, what helped my squats for far is
1) Finding the best and comfortable way for me to squat
2) Finding a programming that works with it

I first tried squatting with a really wide stance, low bar placement with wide hand placement
-Walking out the bar was ok, bar didnt feel heavy on my back, but i had problems breaking parallel
Than i tried squatting with really close hand placement, and a narrow stance (at least thats what my training partner says)
-In terms of reps, i could squat more, but i really felt it on the back and wrists, but getting out of the hole was easier
Fast forward today (Took me a whole year to figure that out)
Low bar placement, shoulder width handplacement and narrow stance works best for me so far (I actually gave this a shot because theres a guy in my University who has a big upper body but skinny chicken legs, the bastard actually squats 210+ in a competition lol, and the way he squats is kinda like that)

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I seem to have lost you there.. but did you imply that you're deloading with the deadlift while on Smolov instead of deloading with the squats? A 30kg gain is pretty awesome though for 10 weeks, considering that you squat above 150.

I keep things tight for my low-bar squat - I squeeze my shoulders blades together, flexing the rear delts (for a shelf for the bar to lay on) at the same time and locking my elbows to my sides. I use a thumbless grip and all else is secured.

I posted this video on the MPG's wall weeks ago. I mentioned that for every thumbless grip squatter you come across, you'd usually see them squat without wrist wraps. One advantage of thumbless grip squatting is that the wrists are not in a compromised position.

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Yes. there is no written rule where you have to deload with the movement your training with. The whole point of deloading is to give your body a break while minimizing detraining. If you try smolov, go through the 1st mesocycle and tell me you wanna squat more during your 2 weeks of deload lol
right after that is the intense mesocycle, and it doesnt get easier