I finished Smolov Jr for bench a week ago. Bench went from 125 kg (275 lbs) to 135 kg (300 lbs). But I really had to push myself hard on the maxing day, possibly the hardest session of my life lol.
Nice man! Smolov works great for all lifts. I increased my squat 15kg in 4 weeks. Problem is, keeping the strenght is very hard. I lost probably more than half.
I've also done Smolov Jr a couple of times. To keep the strength one way is to only do the sets of 5s and 4s but spread the volume out. Maybe half or 3/4 on each week.
@@henriksvensson126 I agree. You need to do 5x5 followed by at least a set of 3x1 of 90 percent of your new found max a week. A lot of it stays but you need to train pretty heavy at least once a week.
@@zovenomyou mean to keep the same amount of strength after smolov you need to do at least 2x a week bench . 1 session 5x5 and the seccond 3 x 1 ( 90% 1RM)?
he said a week in the video, when I did it I rested 4 days and it also worked well (162.5kg result - 152.5kg before program and 160kg life time pb from 2 years before)
Nice video! I've contemplated running Smolov Jr. for bench but I've seen some people say it's a peaking program and you're actually going to lose majority of the strength you "Gained" over the 3 weeks within a month or so after. Do you know if that's true?
Thanks! It's true in that sense that you aren't able to hit your max on any day after the program. I don't think you "lose" any strength - you just aren't ready to lift those numbers everyday. Probably will be able to hit it again if you peak again. Just my two cents :)
IMO it's true. That amount of volume and intensity is unsustainable long term. So it is likely you'll lose that strength when you return to a more manageable training stress. In my experience, the routine wasn't worth it. When I did it for bench, I did PR, but then I spent the next few months trying to get back to that level that I'd already hit before. Could've probably gotten there faster with sustainable long term programming in the first place. Also, injured myself when I did it for squats. Had to do it twice and injure myself to learn the lesson though.
@@gammelbodagains5374 Awesome thanks for the reply. I'm running nSuns 5/3/1 right now and I'm making great progress, blasting PRs again each week however I'm anticipating that to slow down in the next few weeks so was contemplating running a smolov Jr. cycle. Might reconsider it apart from when I test my true 1RM some time later this year :D
@@NitrooCS it’s not even a peaking cycle it’s a Bulgarian weightlifting novice program for Improving squat technique . It’s just the base mesocycle of smolov 13 week cycle and I would never ever recommend running it . The great Boris Sheiko says he’s never heard of a coach smolov and it looks like a “poorly designed magazine gimmick”.
@@NitrooCS chance of injury is extremely high and that increases as you get stronger and have to use more weight and you will not keep the gains unless you move to something like Sheiko 4 day a week but that will mean neglecting the other powerlifts and your shoulders will get destroyed
I finished Smolov Jr for bench a week ago. Bench went from 125 kg (275 lbs) to 135 kg (300 lbs). But I really had to push myself hard on the maxing day, possibly the hardest session of my life lol.
That's some good gains! Nice work!
brother i've seen you comment the exact thing on like 5 different videos
@@AsifKhan-wc4hhsame lollll
U thinking of running smolov jr?
@@themcarrow3216brother I ran it a couple weeks ago and tweaked my shoulder on the last day of week 3 😣
@@AsifKhan-wc4hh I thought the same XD
Return of the King.
Glad to see you back uploading something haha
excellent video
Nice man!
Smolov works great for all lifts. I increased my squat 15kg in 4 weeks. Problem is, keeping the strenght is very hard. I lost probably more than half.
I've also done Smolov Jr a couple of times. To keep the strength one way is to only do the sets of 5s and 4s but spread the volume out. Maybe half or 3/4 on each week.
@@henriksvensson126 I agree. You need to do 5x5 followed by at least a set of 3x1 of 90 percent of your new found max a week. A lot of it stays but you need to train pretty heavy at least once a week.
@@zovenomyou mean to keep the same amount of strength after smolov you need to do at least 2x a week bench . 1 session 5x5 and the seccond 3 x 1 ( 90% 1RM)?
Well done sir!
Grats good to see you back, and grats on the new kiddo :)
Thanks!
Great! How many days did you rest in between the last day of training and the max out day?
he said a week in the video, when I did it I rested 4 days and it also worked well (162.5kg result - 152.5kg before program and 160kg life time pb from 2 years before)
How much time should i reset between sets in the program?
Until you feel ready. Depending on the day, maybe 2-3 minutes. Higher RPE sets maybe a few minutes longer
all that work for 2.5kg...
It wasn't so much work imo. The PRs don't come so easy anymore 😉 Might have gotten 150kg if I would have gone straight to that
natty life lol
2.5kg in four weeks is amazing progress
Nice video! I've contemplated running Smolov Jr. for bench but I've seen some people say it's a peaking program and you're actually going to lose majority of the strength you "Gained" over the 3 weeks within a month or so after. Do you know if that's true?
Thanks! It's true in that sense that you aren't able to hit your max on any day after the program. I don't think you "lose" any strength - you just aren't ready to lift those numbers everyday. Probably will be able to hit it again if you peak again. Just my two cents :)
IMO it's true. That amount of volume and intensity is unsustainable long term. So it is likely you'll lose that strength when you return to a more manageable training stress. In my experience, the routine wasn't worth it. When I did it for bench, I did PR, but then I spent the next few months trying to get back to that level that I'd already hit before. Could've probably gotten there faster with sustainable long term programming in the first place. Also, injured myself when I did it for squats. Had to do it twice and injure myself to learn the lesson though.
@@gammelbodagains5374 Awesome thanks for the reply. I'm running nSuns 5/3/1 right now and I'm making great progress, blasting PRs again each week however I'm anticipating that to slow down in the next few weeks so was contemplating running a smolov Jr. cycle. Might reconsider it apart from when I test my true 1RM some time later this year :D
@@NitrooCS it’s not even a peaking cycle it’s a Bulgarian weightlifting novice program for Improving squat technique . It’s just the base mesocycle of smolov 13 week cycle and I would never ever recommend running it . The great Boris Sheiko says he’s never heard of a coach smolov and it looks like a “poorly designed magazine gimmick”.
@@NitrooCS chance of injury is extremely high and that increases as you get stronger and have to use more weight and you will not keep the gains unless you move to something like Sheiko 4 day a week but that will mean neglecting the other powerlifts and your shoulders will get destroyed