My deadlift max has jumped 15kg without performing a deadlift rep

Half-way through the Smolov squat cycle and the results are looking positive! Last week I finished the Base Mesocycle, which meant it was time to test my 1 rep max.

When testing your 1 rep max, you need to warm up and at the same time not fatigue yourself. This often means 1-2 reps max of a lower weight working your way up to peek. Use your intuition of how you feel to gauge the increments of adding weight.

Be smart by testing with a training partner who can spot you. There’s nothing worse when pumping iron than crumbling under weight and getting stuck. You’ll probably break a bone, tear a ligament, and get a shot of humiliation. One guy I know tested his dumbbell bench press and got a few fractures on his face.

My overall goal for the 13 week cycle was to add 25kgs (55lbs). I wanted to go from 100kg to 125kg. I started the testing aiming for 110kg having warmed up from 70kg. Bam, 110kg felt easy. Perfect form. So 10 more kilos went straight on the bar. The barbell came off the rack. It felt good on the shoulders. Down I went into the lowest point of the squat position. Straight back up I came, yet half a foot up… I was stuck for 0.1 of a second. I momentarily freaked out yet managed to complete a rep with good form.

I may have been able to do more, but as with most testing and especially the squat, it’s better to be safe. I was satisfied anyway.

So there you have it. 20 kilos to my squat in 8 weeks when I haven’t increased my squat for almost 2 years. I thought it was impossible. Who said you have to believe to achieve…

Curious about my deadlift, I tested that as well and added 15 kilos to it when I haven’t deadlifted at all since starting the squat program.

Maybe it’s possible to add 100lbs to your squat in 13 weeks. My new goal is 135kg.

There’s 6 techniques aside from stretching that improve your body’s ability to recover
(photo courtesy of Flavio@Flickr)

The Smolov squat cycle is the toughest training program I’ve done to date. Squats are simply brutal because they hit every big muscle in the body. Combine that with 2 days between heavy squats and you get lifts with sore muscles.

Training breaks down muscle tissue. Recovery is where 95% of your time is spent and where your results come from. The pumped feeling and look you get after the gym is only from heightened blood flow. Post workout your muscles are actually at their weakest. Ah, the gym: the only place where people go to spend money with the intention to get further away from their goals.

This post covers what I do to minimize soreness and improve my results after intense training. All athletes, gym-goers, and others whose body is of importance for physical performance should follow these protocols for faster recovery.

1. Hydrotherapy

That’s a fancy name for hot-cold oscillations. If you’re hardcore, do ice baths and hot showers, but most of us normal people with feelings can use a cold and hot shower instead.

This is where an adjustable shower head comes in handy. Turn on only the cold water and put up with it for 40 seconds. If you’re scared of cold water like me, apply it directly on the muscles you work out instead of your whole body.

Next, turn up the water temperature to a safe hot level. Do that for 3 minutes. Go back to cold again for 40 seconds and alternate however many times you think is necessary.

Get out of the shower and I guarantee you’ll feel tingly and invigorated all over! I recommend you do this each time you have a shower, not just post workout. You’ll just feel better.

2. Stretch

Stretching disentangles muscle fibers much like pulling on a wrinkled shirt. Aligned muscle tissue means better performance and nutrient flow. It also helps flush out lactic acid like hydrotherapy. And more commonly known, you’ll keep a healthy range of motion in the muscle.

The standing glute stretch is one of my favorite stretches. Hip stretches are generally a great idea for anyone who regularly sits a desk to get good posture and manage lower back pain. You can search Google for good stretches if there’s a muscle group you don’t know how to target or you want to try a different stretch.

3. Foam roll

Foam rolling is self-myofacial release. It’s basically a cheap and easy self-massage. You can learn more about it here.

I’m not going to lie, foam rolling is painful. The more painful it is for you, the more indicative you need it. The trick is to find a sore spot and hold it for several minutes until the pain goes away then move on until you find another muscle knot. During the Smolov squat program, I’m trying to roll my quads for 30 minutes a day because they’re the most painful part for me.

I was going to include a massage as a recovery tip but few people have the luxury to afford a regular one. The effects are the same. Maybe you can treat yourself to a massage as a reward for finishing a training program. Whatever helps you justify the pleasure.

Watch the great video below for ways to best use a foam roller.

The video begins with some ways to use what’s called a trigger ball shared in my next tip.

4. Use a trigger ball

A trigger ball is a little prickly bugga you’ll come to hate. It’s basically a small rubber ball with spikes that costs a few dollars. If you don’t have one, it’s worth the investment, but a tennis ball could supplement it if you’re a beginner.

Use it much like a foam roller. I primarily use it on my glutes because it hits the area so well. Here’s a video of beasty NFL trainer Joe DeFranco using a ball for myofasical release in the glutes:

If the first exercise is too painful, you can put your foot on the ground to lessen pressure.

5. Eat a cow

Or down cycles of quality protein to rebuild damaged tissue from exercise. I supplement with Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard straight after workouts and before bed. ON Gold is touted as the number one supplement on bodybuilding.com for years. Not bad for a product in a volatile industry.

6. Move around

Sport nerds call it “active recovery”. I call it “don’t sit on your ass”. Increased blood flow carries vital nutrients to hasten body repair. 30 years ago doctors prescribed rest for everything. Sprained your ankle? Rest. Had your arm operated on? Rest.

Research today has found rest (read, unused muscles) to be detrimental in full recovery because of muscular deterioration and immobility. Break your wrist, get your arm in a sling, and you may get a frozen shoulder from not using your shoulder! My Dad had lumbar vertebrae surgery last week and had to exercise 3 hours following the operation.

7. Sleep

Train hard then on the following nights sleep for 4 hours and you’ll notice extended soreness and muscular fatigue compared to 8+ hours of uninterrupted sleep. For tips to get a good sleep, I actually have a post on that!

Smolov Updates

It’s fitting to include a post on recovery as the second update to my Smolov squat experience because as mentioned in the first update, recovery seems to be key in this cycle (like it should be in most training programs).

The first week was difficult squatting with sore muscles. I’ve never done that before as I’ve always allowed muscle soreness to go away before lifting. I’ll admit I’m guilty of not following everything in this post to improve recovery. Bad boy!

I lifted 85 kilos quiet comfortably at the end of the first cycle. I feel I could break my 1 rep max of 100kg already. Sweet!

Just quietly, I’m one day behind because I (innocently) thought the second cycle started a day later than it did. Shouldn’t matter. The extra day of rest won’t hurt.

If you missed it, you can checkout the first post of my Smolov squat experience.

Day 1 of my Smolov squat experience

My legs are shaking already. I almost quit the Smolov squat cycle as soon as I started. More about my interesting day 1 completed today later in this introduction post.

What is the Smolov Squat Cycle

It’s a hardcore squat routine (Russian of course) designed by Sergey Smolov. When I say hardcore, it’s hardcore. You can read more about the cycle from Mehdi Hadim over at StrongLifts.

The cycle goes for 13 weeks. See my entire 13 week plan. It’s basically split into 4 cycles of squatting, squatting, and more squatting.

I started on the 28th of September 2011. I don’t know if I’ll stick to the full 3 month program – who knows what will come up on my calender – yet I’m committed to at least the first cycle, which is 4 weeks. Posting about it here almost live is sure to motivate me. I certainly don’t want to quit in-front of my blog readers

The Goal

I’m no bodybuilder or powerlifter. Look at me:

Okay, it’s not really me. A day 1 pic is at the start of this post.

I’m 6’9″ and have struggled to increase strength and size (er-erm, muscle size) for years. As you see in my plan linked above, my current 1 rep max for the squat is 100kg. That’s ass to parallel with pretty good form. It ain’t easy moving all that weight the distance I have to lift it!

Though some people have supposedly added 100 pounds to their squat, I have a goal of half that. So the low down is: my current 1rm is 100kg (220lb) with the goal of 125kg (about 275lb).

Why 55 pounds in 3 months? I may be limiting myself by setting a smaller goal, but it’s believable to me. This is based on SMART goal-setting. It’s pushing my attainable factor as I’ve never made those gains before, but I believe it’s possible.

If I squat 125kg by the end of the year, I’ll do something to celebrate with you! Ideas?

Day 1 Reflections

I haven’t squatted for 8 months because of the basketball season here in Australia has just ended. I could of squatted light in-season, but chose not to because I figured I’d retain most of my strength and size over the period, which did happen.

So day 1 began today in my small home gym. It’s a good period for me to start because you should do the cycle when you have no other physical requirements like sport otherwise you’ll over-train.

As I lifted the barbell for my second set of the day, I felt soreness on the inside of my left and right hamstrings. “What! Already? You’ve hardly started and you’re already questioning whether you should do the second set which is suppose to be easy.” Not a good sign.

I paused with the weight on my shoulders considering if I should do the second set. I didn’t go ahead. At least not yet.

In the past I would’ve called it a day. But I knew I had to do something different if I was to get different results. I don’t know my limits, I don’t know what would happen if I kept squatting. Would I tear my hamstrings? Possibly, but it didn’t feel that severe… so I pushed on and completed the day. Phew.

Straight upstairs I went to swallow whey protein and recover feeling satisfied and relieved day one is complete. My hamstrings are already sore 2 hours post workout. It seems half the battle of this cycle is going to be recovery. Plenty of stretching, foam rolling, and hydrotherapy in the shower is in plan.

I would of surely completed day 1 easier had I done a week or two of squatting earlier. That’d be my first mistake.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I’ve never squatted with really sore muscles. Apparently you need to as part of muscular adaption in the first cycle.

What to Expect

I don’t know what to expect other than guaranteed soreness and de-motivation. But here’s the plan: I intend to post an update at the end of each week. Seeing that I’m doing for at least 4 weeks, that’s 4 updates. The next update will cover my first week.

What will be in my Smolov journal? Brute iron being pumped, most likely whinging of my soreness, training advice, recovery techniques, random videos, and probably even recipes. Is there anything you’d like to see or read about?