Bigger, bigger, bigger

d-gal

So I always wanted to start one of these but I have never got the time since setting up Results. But i said I would give it a go before the new year. And now to celebrate this great occasion I am giving the Smolov Squat program a go for the next 3weeks
The plan is training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday - the Smolov program is going to performed in the morning and then other bodyparts will be performed later in the day - general strength and hypertrophy.
I have guessed my max squat is 140kg - can do 130 x 5 well enough - pathetic but if I am being honest due to my bad flexibility its something I avoided for the first few years of training.

Smolov program:

Week 1: 4x9x98 5x7x105 7x5x112 10x3x119

Week 2: 4x9x108 5x7x115 7x5x122 10x3x129

Week 3: 4x9x113 5x7x120 7x5x127 10x3x134

d-gal

Did the 4x9x98 in the squats in the morning today, easy enough, can see tomorrow being the same thing to be honest.

Trained back in the late afternoon, did not go flat out
Weighted pull ups - 3x6
Bent over rows - 3x6 - 110kg (very easy)
One arm row - 3x6 - 56kg db
Lat pull down - 3x12 - 100kg (looking for just a bit more blood flow with an easy weight)
Was going to do rack pulls but again didn't want to go flat out coz of Smolov for the next 3weeks

Inspector Coptoor

best of luck with the Smolov.

I've only ever done Smolov Junior for Bench (twice) and for deadlift.
It;s not easy.

d-gal

5x7x105 today..legs are sore

later in the evening few of the guys were practising for a superstar event...8 events...one was benching 50kg for as many reps in 1minute. Gave it a shot and got 48 reps, fairly happy but then one of my trainers banged out 69reps in 50seconds and said he would stop at that number!
Was supposed to do chest and biceps but just did not have the time with work...got a nice pump with the mini comp
Roll on thursdays squats

Hanley

What's this "superstar event" all about??

d-gal

Hanley wrote: »

What's this "superstar event" all about??

just an old school event on in Galway City Gym..even has sit-ups in there as well...think it has treadmill (with a crazy incline), rower, pull ups, benching etc. Minute rest in between each event so it's a killer!

d-gal

So 7x5x112 today. Was a bit weary of it as I was sore on Wednesday and woke up with worse DOMs this morning. So i decided to experiment a bit before doing the squats. Took my usual pre workout drink and decided to hop up on the power plate fro 10 minutes, nice high intensity. Fairly sore on the legs but it did the trick. Bit of foam rolling after and what do you know they were the easiest sets to date! Took a minute max between sets and even the 7th was easy.
Now before I get blasted about the power plate I will openly admit I have bad mouthed this machine calling it a waste of time etc. I don't really think it is the ultimate weight loss tool but I do think it is a great warm up/cool down machine. I genuinely realise why more and more athletes are using it before/after training, ala the all blacks etc. If anyone has access to one then do a killer leg session the day before, go on the power plate and then do another leg session!
Jayoo and Brian feel free to call up and give it a shot, its an interesting experience!

d-gal

10x3x119 yesterday, fairly handy and my legs are not sore today which is a great bonus for the coming two weeks. Video taped 6th and 7th sets and was quite happy with depth and form. Hitting parallel and getting a really solid drive up. Using high bar position but might experiment with a low bar position for monday.
Besides the squats had a great friday, tested 3 clients. 44 year old client was doing a weights circuit for me and successfully power cleaned 40kg for reps for 5 rounds. She (oh ya did I mention its a female) also knocked 8pounds off already a good frame.
the two other clients (male) between them lost 3 stone and 11 inches of their waist in total in 3 months. Both were around the 14stone mark when they started. Shows what good consistent hard work does. Nice motivator for everyone

podge57

Good luck with smolov, I finished the base mesocycle a few weeks ago and got a nice PR at the end of it

From my experience, the 5x7 day is the hardest

d-gal

podge57 wrote: »

Good luck with smolov, I finished the base mesocycle a few weeks ago and got a nice PR at the end of it

From my experience, the 5x7 day is the hardest

Looking at the first week that was the hardest day, anything over 5 reps n squats always suck!

d-gal

4x9x108 today - flew thru them, legs are getting bigger which is great and the rest of my body is loving the recovery I am giving it compared to usual
On the first set I tried the low bar position (have not done it in a long long time) and found it extremely awkward, must practice it a little more often. Any tips or advice on it? I am not up in GCG enough to see one of the powerlifters so could be a while before I get a few hands on tips

d-gal

This was my first really tough day..did 7x5x115. I was tired going into it and my god I was fooked by the end of it. The last two sets were a real struggle. My left knee buckled a little on the 6th set so don't know if it is injured or its just my legs are fatigued.
Glad to have the day off tomorrow, looks like thursday is going to suck alot more than Friday

d-gal

Day off for squats so decided to test out my max rep bench for the next program.

8 x 1 - 20kg
6 x 1 - 60kg
4 x 1 - 80kg
2 x 1 - 100kg
1 x 1 - 115kg
1 x 1 - 120kg PB
1 x 1 - 125kg PB!!!

Delighted! Previous best was 115kg which was tested around 3 months ago. Have done no sort of program relating to bench strength, I actually dislocated my clavicle 2 months ago so was taking it easy. Maybe assistance work for my triceps and strength work for my back has paid off. I actually thought I would have a chance at 130kg if fresh, might try that next week even...will video!
Looking forward to squats tomorrow

d-gal

to be honest I am starting to hate this smolov pr!ck at the moment

7x5x122 done, enough said

Hanley

d-gal wrote: »

to be honest I am starting to hate this smolov pr!ck at the moment

7x5x122 done, enough said

Savage going D!! Just stick in there. If you can survive the mid point, everything gets easier.

d-gal

Did 10x3x127 yesterday, was not fun at all. Had a 70 year old former powerlifter give me dogs abuse for the whole lot of it, was great! At 8 sets I thought I was gona give in, then he mentioned did I hear Dave Foster squatted 305kg last week! only a year older than me too!
Needless to say I finished the last 2 sets, walked into the dressing room and puked twice. Lets just say I cannot wait til this time next week

d-gal

4x9x115 today, wasn't that hard but I know it's gonna suck for the final 3 days

d-gal

5x7x120 was tough today! Got good depth but fuck me I nearly passed out on the last set. Looking forward to taking a couple weeks of squats after Friday!

Might try one or two crossfit workouts over the xmas. Got under 4mins (think it was 3.58) on fran not so long ago but I am a bit heavier now so it would be tough to get near that.
Actually videoed Casshern88 during the week, he died doing it but would not give up. Couldn't get the kipping rhythm at all! Went way to deep on the first round of thrusters, burnt himself out and his second round was the bulk majority of time! No doubt he will improve with a bit of work I really wanna do one now! :pac:

Casshern88

d-gal wrote: »

No doubt he will improve with a bit of work I really wanna do one now! :pac:

Dam right, ill beat your time once i get technique issues sorted. :cool:

Hanley

Vids of Fran if you do it... Need to see what I'm hating. Haha!!

d-gal

oh lads I have a new site as well
www.resultsireland.com

check it out, sign up and let me know what you think!

d-gal

Not looking forward to tomorrow at all, legs killing me today!

Did a little chest and arm work today just to keep the blood flowing. Even though I am bulking a lot of veins still showing thru which I am really happy with.
Was 88kg but now up to 95kg over the last 2months, good solid weight as well. Had my diet looked at over the last 6months and after a lot of tinkering by me and my nutritionist got the foods and supplements down to a tee and it paid dividends! Will keep bulking til end of January and then rip down until April. Hope to get sub 6% bodyfat. Currently around the 14% mark.

d-gal

127 for 7 sets of 5 today, last couple of sets were really tough, mentally more than anything although I got a bit dizzy on the last set!
Roll on 134 tomorrow and then I am done and dusted! Casshern got a ridiculously good 150kg squat today, ass to the grass style so I will be looking for a minimum 150kg parallel in 2 weeks!

d-gal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un1C5b4j008

Last set of 127 x 5. Quite happily hitting parallel. Big achievement for me since I had tendonitis as a kid and had both my legs casted for the best part of a year! Watch my eyes after the 4th rep, stars in front of me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQiK6_lxz7s

Benching 100kg for 8 on wednesay, happy enough with it and goo hit a few more reps I say...looks like my ass is jumping off the bench on the last few, usually doesn't feel like that so will watch it next time out

Hanley

Nice benching!!!

I dunno about the squats.. maybe the angle's playing tricks, but they look a fair bit off parallel?

Inspector Coptoor

yeah, i'd have to agree with hanley on that.
bit off parallel alright.

100kg x 8 at your BW is very good going.

d-gal

Hanley wrote: »

Nice benching!!!

I dunno about the squats.. maybe the angle's playing tricks, but they look a fair bit off parallel?

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

yeah, i'd have to agree with hanley on that.
bit off parallel alright.

100kg x 8 at your BW is very good going.

Cheers lads.

Now that I look at it the angle is at a huge dip on a bench so might be throwing off, looks off parallel in it to be honest. If you look at my right leg rather than my left it looks like hitting the 90. I just know when I hit a certain hole of the safety bars that its 99% of the time parallel...and others analyzing it of course. I will get a video of the 134 from the side tomorrow and hope it will be a bit clearer

Hanley

d-gal wrote: »

Cheers lads.

Now that I look at it the angle is at a huge dip on a bench so might be throwing off, looks off parallel in it to be honest. If you look at my right leg rather than my left it looks like hitting the 90. I just know when I hit a certain hole of the safety bars that its 99% of the time parallel...and others analyzing it of course. I will get a video of the 134 from the side tomorrow and hope it will be a bit clearer

Good stuff!!

If you look at the angle of the rack it's sorta going from the bottom of the frame to the top, which is probably throwing off your apparent depth, that's why I was a bit miffed!!

d-gal

Hanley wrote: »

Good stuff!!

If you look at the angle of the rack it's sorta going from the bottom of the frame to the top, which is probably throwing off your apparent depth, that's why I was a bit miffed!!

Ya true.
The bar is fucked as well from all the heavy lifting its taken, only average bar, waiting on Mick to hook me up with a Pendlay (sp?) for the new year! Anything over 120kg on the bar and your thrown off balance as well. Even 1 of the guys was BOR'n 220kg for reps and it was still putting him off balance even with only the little movement. Worth the investment of a few 100 euro for some quality lifting, makes all the difference!

d-gal

So last day of the program 134 for 10 sets of 3.
A good warm up, 1st set tough, 2nd and 3rd finding my groove a bit better. 4th set feel a little twinge in my left glute and hip. Test some b/w squats, seem fine, do the fifth set and afterwards get a searing pain in the same place. So all in all I do 5 sets and can't do the other 5!!! So annoying and disheartening, especially on the last day of the program.
I wouldn't mind but I said on one of the threads that I hadn't got injured in the whole of 2009...this would of been my last serious training session before the New Year! ****in typical, **** **** **** **** ****

d-gal

Resting the legs this week and drinking alot
Shoulders yesterday to keep things ticking along.

Seated military press
3 x 7 - 70kg
1 x 3 - 90kg

Crossover cables lateral raises - 3 x 8
Rear cable raises - 3 x 8
Cable rope face pulls - 3 x 8

Hanley

How's the glute? Still gonna test your max out next week?

d-gal

Hanley wrote: »

How's the glute? Still gonna test your max out next week?

Tried it yesterday, did 140kg no problem, tried 150kg but did not go deep enough so didn't count it, will give it a couple of weeks of training before I attempt it properly, just wasn't confident enough coz of the injury

d-gal

Getting back on track, started with shoulders and biceps today

vid of doing 90kg for 3 for military press, thought I had it for 4 reps but nope!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTtbbqe1bis

d-gal

Started Smolov intense phase yesterday. Just calculated with 140 due to the injury

Monday: 90kg for 3, 105kg for 4, 120kg for 3x4, 120kg for 5

Today - 3 rounds for time of deadlift (9reps), hang cleans (6reps) & push press (3reps) with 60kg. Took 2:15 too do.

Did 3 sets of pull ups (6reps each) & 3x5 each side of 20kg KB snatches


on the Ketosis diet at the moment as well. It sucks, wasting all my hard work of bulking but I need to start cutting again. 4-6 weeks of this depending on what weight I hit.

Hanley

Not looking forward to starting the intense phase to be honest...you'll be finishing up by the time I get started so I'll be watching closely!!

d-gal

Today sucked, this diet will be quiet hard to keep up if I continue with smolov!

Was going to do complete ketosis for 4 weeks but am going to carb up at the weekends before I kill myself

Day 2 of intense phase done - 125kg felt very heavy and struggled thru the 3 sets of it. 2 sets of 5 at 120kg were fairly brutal as well.
Did some tricep work after and even that felt crappy so overall bad day!

Have done this diet for 3 days now, weighed in at 15.3...I am now 14.9! My metabolism is ridiculous, find it nearly impossible to bulk but so easy to get rid of bodyfat (and excess water I suppose), have already noticed a big difference in my arms and stomach

d-gal

Sorry for lack of updates, got thru smolov last week, somehow, not really sure how!

Due to hectic work schedule today (16 hours - lovely) I completely forgot to takedown my weights/reps for smolov. Hoping to do them tomorrow!

Did the following instead
Deadlift (130kg x 5) s/s with pull-ups (5) for 4 sets
Cable rows (full stack for 5x10)
Pull aparts (3 x failure) (good technique)

I have said previously I hate deadlifts and I feel im going to have a hernia but I ma going to have to work on them due to a lot of problems with my back, good discussion with a physio today and getting some video analysis of my whole back during exercise this week, should be interesting. Long story of it, anyone wants its explained I will go further on details

itsallaboutheL

MOAR details.....