The week has come and gone. Some things to put in writing
lest I forget.
Training This Week
Found a gym at Braddell Heights CC to train at. Ended up
training there all week. Did week 5 for 531 to get back into the groove of things.
Also added in DE squats. Starting next week I’ll run the full 531 cycle 1
beginning from week 3 together with DE bench and DE squat. Basically this will
be a 6 day training week as follows. Hopefully things will work out.
Monday: 531 OHP
Tuesday: DE bench
Wednesday: 531 deadlift
Thursday: DE squat
Friday: 531 bench
Saturday: 531 squat
531 top sets will be pushed hard. Singles won’t be taken. Heavier
assistance work will be done. Less volume per session due to time constraint
but frequency will be increased.
Diet this week has settled down somewhat. Sleep even though
slightly less still appears to be ok. Recovery overall is satisfactory. Will see
how things go in the coming week when the intensity is ramped up.
Another thing to note is the lack of caffeine before
training. Since training is now in the evening, I avoid taking caffeine
beforehand because I want to sleep after training. And normally it takes close
to 6 hours before the effects of caffeine wears off for me. And I don’t have 6
hours to spare because training is at 1900hrs and sleep at 2200hrs. Unless I
take caffeine at 1700hrs but then it becomes rather pointless because the full
effects kick in approximately 30 minutes after ingestion. At the 2 hour mark, I’ll
be stimulated no doubt, but not enough to train hard. So ironically, training
has been hard because without any stimulants even the warm up is a bitch to do.
But it’s good because I get to better gauge my training intensity and I can
fall asleep when I get home.
Smolov Evaluation
Tested squats on Saturday, 19/1/13, at Bishan gym in the
morning. Took 4 scoops of ON amino energy and creatine prior to squatting. This
was taken at 0945hrs, roughly 2 hours after breakfast which was at 0800hrs. Breakfast
consisted of 2 scoops protein, 2 slices wholemeal bread, 1 slice cheese and 1
slice ham. Decided to skip the 4 eggs because I wanted quicker digestion so the
stomach will be better able to absorb the PWO supplement whilst still having
sufficient energy to train.
Did the shoulder savers warm up as usual followed by warming
up on squats using 531 squats week 5. Belted for the set of 130kg for 5 reps
and for the 3 singles taken at 140kg, 150kg and 160kg. Thanks to my training
partner for pointing out my form on the 140kg single, which led to a fantastic
150kg and that gave me the confidence to take 160kg. Basically, I focused on
controlling the weight even more on the way down (descending even slower than
usual), getting tighter and tighter until I hit depth and then exploding right
up. 160kg was a real grinder but I’m not complaining man. That was a solid 10kg
PR with 3 weeks of smolov. And a span of only 5 weeks between my 150kg PR and
this.
A few more points about smolov. It’s not for beginners, definitely,
or anyone who is not proficient or confident in his/her squat.
A minimum squat max
of 150kg should be possessed because the base mesocycle calls for an increase
of 15kg over the course of 3 weeks and if your squat 1RM is too low, the
increase becomes too significant relative to your 1RM. Because bear in mind
that all loads are taken as percentages of your 1RM but the 15kg increase is
not. That one is an absolute value so relative to your 1RM it had better not be
too large a percentage.
Another reason why it’s not for beginners is because the frequent
squatting will probably lead to some injuries or strains here and there. And as
a beginner, one might not have sufficient experience troubleshooting these
issues. Of course, with the help of the internet and or other more experienced
lifters, this problem can be negated.
The next point has to do with work capacity and recovery. Squatting
4 times a week is not joke. It is best to have prior experience with high
frequency training.
Smolov is a squat program and it has served its purpose in
my opinion. However, this will come at the expense of your other lifts. For the
upper body lifts, it is possible to train them in conjunction with smolov. This
is important because your strength won’t decline and your technique will be further
improved. Only trade-off I found with smolov was with my deadlift. Not deadlifting
for 3 weeks left my deadlifting technique all rusty. But not to worry because now
I’ll be tackling it head on again.
