So today was the re-test. The results are in. Was Smolov effective?!
Well, my initial (underestimated) 1RM was 285. Today’s test put me at an “easy” 335.
Am I pleased? YES. Here’s why…
Last winter I was squatting 385 in a box-squat. My hips were not breaking 90 degrees of flexion, and even then it was all I could do to get that weight up.
Trying to go heavier was out of the question, as was trying to go deeper with that same weight.
Moving up to Seattle, getting established, and celebrating the birth of my son, I wasn’t focused on heavy lifting. I did conditioning workouts – circuits and the like – but nothing like heavy back squats.
It gave me some time to think.
I realized I’d been breaking one of my cardinal rules – I was sacrificing structure (or “form”) for position (or “execution”).
By going really heavy in a “powerlifting” style squat, I was sacrificing mobility and good spine-position in my back squat for being able to get a lot of weight up.
Speed was out of the question, since the whole system was straining just to keep itself together.
Taking a step back and treating Smolov as a form/speed training program, I did it the way I should have been doing it all along – focusing on good form, good speed, and building from there.
Doing squats this way takes any of the guesswork out of the equation – set up correctly, focus on structure, form, and proper execution, and the back squat is no more (or less) dangerous than getting out of bed in the morning.
Skip any of those things, and you’re asking for injury.
I’ve got the rest of this week “off” (which means light workouts with a TON of recovery work) and then I start up the “bridge” program in Smolov.
I’m really looking forward to the rest of the program, and will keep you updated as it goes by!