YO!

I recently realized that I don’t share a lot of “personal” strength training on this blog. Well, that’s about to change!

I’ve started a new “category” for this blog called “Joshtraining.” I’ll log my own training here, for you to voyeurize.

That said…For the past four weeks I’ve been doing the Smolov Squat program.

Without boring you, the Smolov Squat program is a 13-week program designed to add a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight to your 1-rep max squat. This LINK will give you a download of the program. It’s from the StrongLifts site, which has a great overview of the program.

That said, I started with 285 as my 1RM. Yes, that’s not my true 1RM, but my girlfriend and I just had a baby boy, and sleep is rare these days. Considering that and the other demands on my body, I decided to low-ball my 1RM.

The program starts out with two weeks of 3x/wk squatting. It’s not too bad at all (especially when you low-ball your starting number). Week one and two were similarly easy. But week 3 is a butt-kicker. Yesterday I did 5 sets of 7 reps with 245 pounds on the bar…tomorrow is 7 sets of 5 with 260, and Saturday is 10 x 3 with 270.

These are brutal numbers.

Even having significantly low-balled my 1RM figure, I’m eating like a horse. Yes, Erik Blekeberg is right squatting makes you better at life.

I’m not sure what effect all of this volume will have on my true 1RM. Next week is a re-test, followed by a two-week “switching phase” which in turn is followed by a four-week “intense mesocycle” (if you can imagine what “intensity” will look like after squatting four days per week…).

My goal is to hit 405 by the end of the year. I’ve never “officially” hit a 405 squat. Never made it a priority. So here goes…wish me luck!