Grant Voshell's Log

If you're having problems sliding around on the bench, then for the love of God, chalk your upper back and ass when benching.

Chris Anderson wrote:

If you're having problems sliding around on the bench, then for the love of God, chalk your upper back and ass when benching.

No, I do not have that problem anymore. I have been chalking my upper back and shoulders for a couple of months now. Another problem I had was tightness/lack of flexibility in my back. I simply could not bend into position. Nowadays, it feels pretty good getting under the bar.

April 18, 2013

Squat:
5x Bar, 135, 185

Bench:
3x Bar, 95, 135

Just went in and worked up to about 50% today. Speed, explosiveness, and form felt great on both lifts which gives me some comfort knowing that my legs are coming back. I also weighed in at 180.2 which was about 2-3 hours after a medium size dinner consisting of a burrito, rice, and beans meaning my weight should be good. All-in-all things are looking pretty good up to this point.

April 21, 2013

Paused Bench (2+ seconds):
5x Bar, 95, 135, 160

ATG Squat:
5x Bar, 95, 135, 185, 200, 240

Deadlift:
5x Bar, 95, 135, 185 (conventional)
5x 225, 255 (sumo)

I was pretty sore most of the day so I went in to move around and loosen up and I am glad I did. I was pretty stiff through the first couples of bench sets but I was gaining back some mobility. When I squatted and deadlifted, everything felt warmed-up, good and loose, and relaxed. The top weight for each exercise is roughly 60% based on the new PRs from the meet yesterday. I will probably do something like this for the week just to let my body recover and prepare for the start of a new training cycle next week.

Whoa, you did stuff today? You are more of a man than me.

agleckler wrote:

Whoa, you did stuff today? You are more of a man than me.

Yeah, I did. It is just my body and I know what works well for it. For me, and quite a few people, just doing something light and easy the following day or 2 days later helps me not feel so sore and stiff.
When I played rugby, my body was always sore the next few days unless I went out and ran a mile or two. Whereas my dad, for example, can go play softball tournaments for 3 days straight and when he comes home, he takes a hot bath and relaxes then the next day he is fine. It just depends on your body.

April 22, 2013

Paused Bench (At least 2 seconds):
5x Bar, 95, 135, 160, 185

Squat:
5x Bar, 135, 185, 225, 240

Not really doing a whole lot this week because I have been extremely tired these past few days from the meet, traveling to and from the meet, plus school work. I will probably take tomorrow off just to rest up a bit more. I plan on starting some sort of routine next week. It is still uncertain what program I am going to follow but I am currently working on it with Kyle "Master Chief" Keough.

So I have been browsing around trying to kind of decide a routine to do. I am thinking of doing smolov for my squat because squatting on a regular basis has given me huge results these past few weeks plus it allows me to lift heavier weights more often which i think is another reason why my squat has climbed so much.

For my bench, I am trying to decide between smolov jr and something of an intermediate 5x5, similar to madcow. Right now I am leaning towards smolov jr for two reasons: 1-smolov jr runs the same days as smolov so that would save me some time and energy 2- I have running programs with principles similar to a 5x5 for a few months now so a new change will be welcoming. If for some reason after the smolov jr cycle I find that my bench has not increased much or at all, I will probably go back to something like a 5x5 unless I find something else.

Obviously with smolov, I will not be able to deadlift at all. However with my stance as sumo, I should expect decent gains on deadlift because sumo is basically squatting with the bar in my hands. Also, they essentially use the same muscles, so an increase in one should be an increase in the other.

I will start in the middle of Week 2 of the introductory phase for smolov tomorrow. As for bench, I will just do some paused incline this week with some volume behind it and start smolov jr next week.

Were you planning on trying to do smolov for squats and smolov jr for bench during the same training session? Running both during the same training cycle is extremely taxing, but doable. But I wouldn't recommend trying to squat and bench during the same session on a regular basis unless you want to be in there for 4 hours and fail a bunch of reps. Either go in every day of the week (you'll have to double up one day) or split up the squat and bench between morning/evening sessions. And yeah, running these programs, both your squat and bench will shoot up... it's inevitable considering how grueling they are. I think the key to a successful smolov/smolov jr. cycle is avoiding injury. I know Kyle, Nate, and I all have some experience running the two together. Any weakness or preexisting tendency towards injury will be exposed and magnified by the amount of volume you'll be doing. Your bicep, for instance, will probably require a lot of attention.

But yeah, running the smolov combo will make you awesomely strong... it's a no-doubter. It's probably not something you can keep up over multiple training cycles, though, and the gains you make on it might be somewhat subject to detraining once you stop doing so much volume, so if you're planning on doing the meet in July, try to time that properly.

I also did the "intense" cycle of smolov and found it to be much easier, by the way, since the volume is cut down, but I don't know if it's as efficacious as just repeating the base cycle. I'd probably skip it if I were to do smolov again.

Logan Joseph wrote:

Were you planning on trying to do smolov for squats and smolov jr for bench during the same training session? Running both during the same training cycle is extremely taxing, but doable. But I wouldn't recommend trying to squat and bench during the same session on a regular basis unless you want to be in there for 4 hours and fail a bunch of reps. Either go in every day of the week (you'll have to double up one day) or split up the squat and bench between morning/evening sessions.

I guess I had not thought about that. If I doubled up, then Fridays and Saturdays should not be a problem since I am out of class at 2:30 on Friday and obviously no class on Saturday. If I did this then I would pretty much be forced to squat and bench on Mondays and Wednesdays. I have a break between classes in the morning of those days so I could just go in and bench, eat lunch, go to class, then go back and squat.

I also do not have class until the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays so squatting and benching on Monday and Wednesday evenings would be long and taxing but at least I have a lot of time until my next class.

I think I will try the in between classes next week and see how that goes because I have kind of wanted to try that but never had a good reason. During the summer, I will default have to squat and bench in the same session because of work and the traveling distance to my gym. I will keep you posted and let you know how it goes these last few weeks of school.

Just so you're aware, Smolov and Smolov Jr are peaking programs, so though you may hit a significant PR at the end of the three weeks, it's unlikely you'll retain 100% of that strength a few weeks later. Based off personal experience, it would be better to run these closer to a meet as a peaking cycle rather than three months out. If your current methods have been working, I wouldn't change them because I'm a firm believer in not trying to fix something that isn't broken. And like Logan said, stay on top of your pre-hab and re-hab work or any weaknesses you have will start to manifest.

Nathan Poage wrote:

Just so you're aware, Smolov and Smolov Jr are peaking programs, so though you may hit a significant PR at the end of the three weeks, it's unlikely you'll retain 100% of that strength a few weeks later. Based off personal experience, it would be better to run these closer to a meet as a peaking cycle rather than three months out. If your current methods have been working, I wouldn't change them because I'm a firm believer in not trying to fix something that isn't broken. And like Logan said, stay on top of your pre-hab and re-hab work or any weaknesses you have will start to manifest.

If you were to run Smolov, I'd recommend running the full Smolov squat cycle. These are peaking programs, and the full cycle will run you up until the next meet if you were to skip the introduction cycle. I had the problem of running base cycles weeks and weeks out of my last meet, and I wasn't able to sustain the training--my body just got too achy--and had to stop about five weeks out. I didn't detrain a lot, but I did lose a little on my lifts.

See, I had zero luck with the intense cycle but every time I ran the base cycle it did wonders. Different strokes for different folks.

Agreed with all this. Just be careful and make sure to take care of your body. I had the same problem as Kyle except worse, where I detrained pretty bad after running smolov jr for bench.

April 24, 2013

Squat (ATG/Below Parallel):
Warm-Up
3x 235, 285, 345

Bench:
6x5 185 (Narrow, Normal, Wide)

Face-Pulls:
3x15

Lat Pull-Downs:
2x10

I think I rushed through my squat sets today which is why 345 was a bit of a grind. Either that or it was because I was beltless. Benching was solid but I am definitely sore. I paused the first and the last rep for a second or two. I also benched at different widths. Narrow was about 1-2 fingers closer and similarly for wide-grip. I will probably adjust my squat max in the smolov spreadsheet. It is currently 405 so I might drop it to 400 or 395 (400 is good because it has clean percentages).

With that in mind, the spreadsheet has me testing my last max on July 12 which is 1 day before the July meet, thus the peak is just perfect. Going along with what Poage said, my squat responded pretty well to the high intensity before this last meet so I am hoping that the intense cycle works out in my favor. I plan on just running the whole cycle just to say I have done it and I will know what portion of it worked and did not work for me later down the road.

As for benching, I am still open and welcoming suggestions for a program or routine. Something that has me benching at least once a week is preferred. If it could last me 6-8 weeks that would be awesome because then I could possibly run a smolov jr bench cycle to peak for the July meet.

I'm a little late to this, but I think it depends on your motive. If you want to run smolov/smolov jr because you are impatient with you gains, this is a bad habit to start (especially since you have been progressing VERY fast). I've seen a very common trend of people getting impatient and hurting themselves. That said, there's nothing wrong with the program, just be prepared to keep your recovery protocols top notch

KevinAlvy wrote:

I'm a little late to this, but I think it depends on your motive. If you want to run smolov/smolov jr because you are impatient with you gains, this is a bad habit to start (especially since you have been progressing VERY fast). I've seen a very common trend of people getting impatient and hurting themselves. That said, there's nothing wrong with the program, just be prepared to keep your recovery protocols top notch

^This was me.. I think I've finally learned my lesson. I know everyone works differently but remember constant slower progression beats rapid progression and stalling any day.

April 26, 2013

Squat:
3x 185, 235, 285
5x 340

Bench (Narrow, Normal, Wide):
6x5 190

Bicep Curls:
5x 75, 95
4x 115

Today ends the introductory cycle of smolov. I still might adjust the "max" weight a bit; currently at 400. The 5x340 felt okay, probably an RPE easy 9 and I definitely felt like I had another 1, maybe 2, left in the tank.

Benching feels pretty solid and I feel like I am getting used to volume again. I am playing around at different grip widths because I heard "Kaz" mention that benching a little narrower by 1-2 fingers will help with the explosion off the chest; obviously a weakness of mine. The first and last rep were definitely paused while 2,3,4 were TnG and very explosive.

Being Kaz generally helps with bench press.

April 29, 2013

Squat:
3x 185, 225, 275
4x9 280

Bench (Narrow, Normal, Wide):
6x5 195

There was much sweat paid today, comrades. Today was the first day of smolov and I gotta say, it caught me a little off guard. I kept the rest intervals from 3-5 minutes. The first set was hard but I cranked it out. The second was obviously harder and the third was awful. However, the fourth one I kind of experienced this sort of surreal or "lifters high" if you will where the pain, stiffness, and soreness just kind of went away and I just went through the fourth set no problem. Did anyone have an experience like that on smolov? Nonetheless, my body hates volume and I see some DOMS on the horizon.

Bench, to be short, felt a little off today. The bar felt a little heavy but I felt like I had built some endurance and motored through the sets. As always, the first and last rep were paused while 2, 3, 4 were TnG and focusing on explosion.

May 1, 2013 - Happy May Day Everyone!

MORNING
Incline Bench (2xNarrow, 2x Normal, 1xWide):
5x 170

I was surprised how much my shoulders were hurting/sore during and after this. I guess my shoulders are a little weak and hopefully doing some incline will help with that

AFTERNOON
Squat:
Warm-Up: Progressively added plates and quarters
5x7 340

The amount of sweat that was perspired during this smolov session was aberrant. I think it was the high volume sets because reps 1-5/6 all felt fine but 6/7 were tough and a couple were a bit of grind. Rep 5/6 was my threshold as in "HOLY SHIT, I hope I can finish these last ones!" Reps 1-5 were an RPE 8+ so obviously the 7th rep was pushing it.

My legs were a little sore walking into the gym today and I felt like I was at about half a tank of gas. Hopefully these DOMS start to dissipate at the end of the week when the intensity goes up.

May 3, 2013

Squat:
Warm-Up: 135, 185, 240, 280
7x5 320

Bench:
6x5 200

Bicep Curls
Brachialis Curls
Overhead Skull Crushers

The smolov session started out a little ugly today. My form/stance just did not feel right during the first 4-5 sets. After that, I noticed I was putting quite a bit of weight on my toes and not driving through my heels which made a huge difference and I will be sure to make a cue for this. The sets were tough, of course, but definitely doable. The 4x9 is the worst day so far and I am kind of dreading next Monday.

Bench was just okay today. I could not get a decent set up to save my life: my feet were too close together, I was too far away from the bar, my back would cramp, and so on. Nothing too terrible but enough to through me off a little. Nonetheless, I still got it done and I feel pretty strong doing these with the various grips. Surprisingly though, my "Normal" grip feels the worst. I might reevaluate my grip as the meet gets closer.

Are you just doing your own programming for bench right now? Also I feel like I've asked you this before but are you living in Iowa City or Des Moines this summer?

Seth wrote:

Are you just doing your own programming for bench right now? Also I feel like I've asked you this before but are you living in Iowa City or Des Moines this summer?

Yeah, I am not on any particular program for my bench however, I am following linear 5x5 principles. I threw in the different grips just for personal preference. I will be in Des Moines this summer. You said youre going back to Adel, right?

Bench before you squat. Your bench work while Smolov-ing shouldn't be stressful whatsoever, so you should still have plenty of energy to go after your main work of the day.