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The Smolov Base Mesocycle: My experience

C

collegiateLifter

New member
I've already completed the introductory phase (after a long layoff) and one workout of the base mesocycle. I'm gonna post workouts shortly, and I'm looking for comments/help especially from ccj or anyone else that has done part of the smolov routine.

I know I am at nowhere near as good of fitness/preparation level as the russians that this routine was made for, so I am gonna have to tweak the volume a little bit.

Currently I'm thinking of cutting down the 5 sets of 7 to 4 sets of 7 as well as the 7 sets of 5 to 5 x 5 and/or doing this program over an 8 day week instead of the 7 as the program outlines.

Upperbody work will be minimal, but at such a level that I hope it will be able to allow me to gain some/ maintain what I currently have.

My goals for the next 4 weeks are to add a good 5-10lbs of lbm and add some serrious poundage to my full oly squat.
 
As I mentioned before, I was comin off a layoff; then did the intro phase to get my legs back in shape, but i had some kind of freak, but shortlived tendonitis from a day of basketball, so I only recently started with upper body work.

I am trying to keep all upper body work submaximal i.e. not to failure, to minimize how taxing it is on recovery. I borrowed some of the minimalistic concepts from DC training as well.


This is last saturday's workout
----------------------------------------
standing BB curl
65lbs 9,4,3 RP

Standing DB press
50's x 7, rest 2:30
50s x 4

oly SQUATS
4sets x 9 x 210lbs

rested 4:30, then 5 min and then 9min between 3rd and 4th sets.... legs were pumped up.

Noticed some pain in the outer part of the underside of my left knee-- basically a hamstring tendon I'm guessing. I think i let up and 'rested' at the bottom position a little bit and that pressure is what caused the discomfort. Doesn't neccessarily hurt when squating though.


btw my starting bodyweight is ~232, was fluctuating a bit. we'll see if it goes up significantly like it did for CCJ; my currently OLY squat is ~300lbs.
 
workout 2

this was monday's workout
---------------------------------
Bent over BB rows*
140lbs 8,3

rope tricep pushdowns
40lbsx 11

CG chinups
3 x BW rest 2 min
2 x BW

SQUATS
4sets x 7x 225

rested 4:15 then 7:00 then 9min on squats. For some reason my legs became extremely pumped up, more so than with the 9's and i couldnt get that to go away. On one reps i heard an uncomfortable 'pop' in my left knee but then i completed that rep and the following reps pain free and they felt fine.

I was havin a bit of trouble finding my groove while squatting on monday though; it didn't quite feel right.

Also that hamstring tendon was really bothering me later on monday nite, but felt better after some icy hot. I then put in an order for some Jack's Blue Heat late monday nite.

*A note on the BB rows.... I was trying to do them in the manner mentioned on animalmass's thread, but was having some definate difficulties. Although i could feel my lats helping straighten my upper back, i felt like my hip extensors were involved a bit too which is not a good thing at all.

------------------
on tuesday my hamstring tendon felt largely better and i also did some high rep, very light weight leg curls to get the blood flowing.

Over the past several days I've noticed that I am alot more hungry than normal and I have been poundin down the protein and food.

Also i've been gettin 9+ hours of sleep and i can tell that i need it.
 
Zander1983 said:
That is intense stuff. I think CCJ had some similar experiences with his legs pumping up?
Click to expand...

yea i recall that too. Avoid the pump at all costs is the directions.

Here's tonights workout.
-----------------------------------------------------
Hammer curls w/ flexed wrists
30's x 10

Squats
5x250lbs
4setsx5x240lbs
-------------------------------------------

I was supposed to do 5x5 with 80% tonight so that'd come out to 240lbs but i accidentally put on 225 then two 10s and 2 1/2's instead of a two 5s and 2 1/2s on the first set.

Rest period was 4:30 after the first set; would have been shorter but right when i was about to go squat again i realized there was too much weight on the bar so i had to go fix it. Then 5min between 2nd and 3rd; 6mins rest between sets 3 & 4 and 4 & 5.

Left hamstring tendon was ok but still a bit achy after the squats. I should be video tapin these sessions as I think have pretty good form, but it doesn't feel quite right when squatting, like I am out of my groove.

I really like 5's and 3's a lot better. Anything over 6 reps on squats and I really start huffin and puffin.

Other changes that I am goin to make on the program.... I decided that it is gonna be an 8day week as opposed to 7 and on 'day 4' I am going to do 8 sets of 3 as opposed to 10 sets.

-------
I am now already 1/4 done with the program.
 
tonight's workout.

------------------------
Mild incline bench
4x165lbs rest 3min
4x155lbs
*my shoulders need some rest and just feel shot. Benching as a whole felt pretty shitty

Squats
8setsx3x255lbs
-------------------
three 3min rests, two 3 1/2 mins and two 4min rests.

Finished with a little bit of rotator work at the end.

I noticed that on my 3rd rep of latter sets at the very bottom my hips would rise faster than my shoulders, and i would try to correct this later in the movement.

Left hamstring is still a bit aggravated but overall better than a few nights ago.
 
tonight's workout, day 1 of Week 2
------------------------------------------
1 arm arc D-bel rows
11x30's

Squats
3setsx9x230

Flat elbows out etensions
10x 30's
-------------------------------------------
between squat sets i had a 5 and 8min rest period... was huffin and puffin pretty hard, and real nauseous after set 2.

the 9reps at 230 was pretty tough. Before the workout i decided that in suit with the rest of the week, i should go for ~25 reps total reps today as i do 25, 28 and 24 on the other days, so i only did 3x9 instead of 4 sets.

However, after my 3rd set of squats, I almost went for a 4th just to prove to myself that I could do it. I gave it some thought and decided it would be smarter to just do 3 sets.
-----------------

another side note: I have been stretching my quads and hams pretty hard after squats, after every workout.
 
collegiateLifter said:
Before the workout i decided that in suit with the rest of the week, i should go for ~25 reps total reps today as i do 25, 28 and 24 on the other days, so i only did 3x9 instead of 4 sets.
Click to expand...

Did you reduce total volume for a set percentage across the entire program? That would've been the way to go.
 
Here's yesterday's workout (6/17)

day 2 of week 2
---------------------------------------

Squats
4sets x 7 x 245lbs
-STRETCH quads and hams after 4th set.

close grip ez bar curls
70lbs x 11,3,2
---------------------------------

rest intervals for squats were 3:30, 4:30 and 6min. Not sure how to describe it, but yesterday's session felt a bit easier. Not a walk in the park, but not nearly the struggle i had last week with the 9's and 7's nor 2 days before with week 2's sets of 9. Definately wasn't huffin and puffin as hard. Leg's were a bit pumped up though between set 3 and 4 so i had to let them deflate some. Left hamstring tendon was a bit agitated by the 3rd set of squats, but overall much less so than it was in the past.

On another note, i have been sleeping better and havin more pleasant dreams this week as opposed to week 1 which was restless and more nightmarish.

I've also undertaken some swimming, fractional relaxation, icing, catching a few sun rays, and other things to help mildly with restoration and work capacity over the past week and a half.
 
been gettin behind on posting my workouts.


here's day 3 of week 2 (6/19)
--------------------
Squats
5x5 x 260lbs

incline BB bench 6,2,2 RP
--------------------------
finished up with some rotator work.

pressing felt really bad. some wierd popping in my shoulder.

on squats rests were 3:30, 4min, 4min, 4:30.

My low back was really bothering me this workout. It was hurting on tues the 17th when i had to stand in line at the DMV for 3 hours. Overall squatting did not feel right at all, particularly my pumped up and painful lower back.
 
here's day 4 of week 2.
----------------------------------
Squats
8setsx 3reps x 275
-stretch quads and hams-

seated overhand cable rows
135lbsx 8,3,3

jm press
120lbs x 8,3,3

standing BB curls
67.5lbs x 8,3,1,
-------------------------------

other than standing bb curls, everything went pretty well.

I put on some linament on my lower back before working out and squats overall felt a lot better. I was also grunting a lot this workout lol, but i made the squats seem easier.

Rest periods for the squats were 5x 3mins, 2x 3:30, and one 4min rest period.

cable rows felt real good and i was focusing on tryin to round my mid-upper back and using my lats, not my lower back at all, to do the lifting, like mentioned in the dual factor article. Felt real good, so i can start crankin up the poundage on this.
 
CoolColJ said:
maybe it's in kilos? :)
Click to expand...


actually you are right.

The site certainly doesn't say to put your squart 1rm in as kilos though. Infact the helper says sets x reps x weights.... weight generally lending itself to a unit of force like pounds, versus a unit of mass like kilograms.

However, since all of my plates are in pounds, this rather negates any utility that the program might have.

is it easier to mutlipy .85 times 300 and then add 20 or 30, or is it easier to convert my 1rm to kilos, plug it in, then convert that days weight back into pounds.....


'bout the same for me.

-------
as they say no good deed goes unpunnished right ? :D
 
Last edited:
alright wow.

the excitin and belated conclusion.


I finished up the base meso, all up to the very last workout of 8x 3's, which i skipped because i was sooo extremely burnt out.


I felt extremely beaten down, and was very burntout most of this month of july.


I was disapointed with my maxing out as well, and the best i got was a 3RM of 300, which was my old 1rm.

My feeling about this experience are mixed for sure.
 
wait a few more weeks, your body will recover and your 1RM will shoot up.
Think of this as concentrated loading, then after 14 days you will be way stronger.
Delayed transmutation :)

Like I suggest it's better to modify it - the junior version makes more sense.
 
Last edited:
thanks but my last workout was 6/28 and just in the past week or so I've got out of the burnout feeling so i think i missed the transmutation train.

The program did get me in a feel for my squats and accustomed to heavier weights.

I did have some really bad days of maxing out where on one day i felt totally out of my groove yet still got 300x3 then days later my best single was 310 x1. I still think i should be able to do atleast 330 once I manage to get back in the groove.

Looking back, I probably should have just done the jr ver... as it was i did some pretty large mods but maybe not enough.

Currently though i've got some serrious mixed feelings as i think i put in extreme effort for (sub)par results.
 
transmutation can last up to months!!!

Your strength will come, just wait for it. Just do some lower volume moderate intensity stuff for now and then, retest again in 2-4 weeks, I bet you max goes up 25lbs at least :)
 
collegiateLifter said:
I did have some really bad days of maxing out where on one day i felt totally out of my groove yet still got 300x3 then days later my best single was 310 x1.
Click to expand...

It happens all the time. You can't expect to perform at your peak consistently. However, if you train smart you can ride the waves really well.

On a positive note, you've learnt an awful lot from this experience. Its all part of the process :)
 
CoolColJ said:
transmutation can last up to months!!!
Click to expand...

haha somehow i missed that bit when i read through Science and practice.

CoolColJ said:
Your strength will come, just wait for it. Just do some lower volume moderate intensity stuff for now and then, retest again in 2-4 weeks, I bet you max goes up 25lbs at least :)
Click to expand...

been doin that essentially, although I may have even detrained a bit in the process of some long layoffs. Gonna get into dc training soon though.

Zander1983 said:


It happens all the time. You can't expect to perform at your peak consistently. However, if you train smart you can ride the waves really well.

On a positive note, you've learnt an awful lot from this experience. Its all part of the process :)
Click to expand...

true true. Thanks for the positive comments guys.
 
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