The complete guide to the Smolov squat and Smolov Jr. bench press program

Smolov and Smolov Jr. are amazingly intense, but also amazingly effective approaches to increasing strength in squats and bench presses. This guide will help you use these programs to your advantage.

This guide will cover the following:

• What can you expect from a 13 week Smolov cycle?
• Are you ready for Smolov and Smolov Jr.
• What is the layout of the program and how will you train during each week?
• How do you prepare for a Smolov training session and how do you recover after it?
• What is needed in terms of nutrition and training to maximize Smolov?
• How is the Smolov Jr. bench press cycle structured?
• What are the pros and cons of Smolov?

Introduction

If you're lacking progress on squats and are looking for the "magic silver bullet" to change that, you won't find it here. However, if you're ready, willing and able to go through 13 weeks of pure hell, then here's something that could increase your current maximum squat weight by 25 to 50 kilos.

You may have heard of the Smolov Squat Program - and if so, then the following comprehensive guide will enable you to learn more about this program and the mental and physical preparation required for it - and believe me, you'll desperately need the latter!

This program was developed by Sergey Smolov (hence the name), but it was popularized by Pavel 'The Mad Russian' Tsatsouline. According to Pavel, each of the two four-week blocks includes more heavy knee flexor training than the typical Western exerciser's workout. The entire program is 13 weeks long and is divided into 5 distinct phases:

• Week 1-2 - Introductory "light" microcycle
• Week 3-6 - Basic mesocycle
• Week 7-8 - The conversion phase
• Week 9-12 - Intensive mesocycle
• Week 13 - Phase-out week

The first two weeks will help you acclimatize to the brutal 4 weeks of the basic mesocycle, during which you will train squats four times a week. For most exercisers, this is the phase during which they'll see the most gains, but persevere through the transition phase and the next four weeks of pain and you'll reap even greater rewards - not to mention the oak logs that will be where your legs once were and the newfound ability to attack heavy workouts.

A warning about Smolov training

If you are a beginner or only somewhat advanced, then the Smolov squat program is not for you for several reasons:

Technique

To survive the Smolov squat program in one piece, your squat technique must be excellent even before you start the program. A technique that is "Usable" or "Alright" is tantamount to a guarantee of injury, as you will be performing squats with weights that you are simply not used to.

Most days you will be training at near maximum effort and those with poor or average technique will be hit hard. For those with good technique, Smolov will serve to make that technique even more solid.

Frequency

If you are a relative beginner, then you have not yet learned how to train at your full capacity and are still in the learning zone. To successfully complete Smolov you need to be used to heavy training to some degree and be able to perform heavy squats at least twice a week. The jump from one heavy squat training session to four heavy squat training sessions per week is simply too big for many people.

Mentality

When you get to the basic elements of Smolov, your mental strength will be tested to its limits. If you've spent your training life so far on standard off-the-shelf training programs, then the intensity of Smolov will simply blow you away and reduce you to a whimpering wreck after a week of the first mesocycle. You'll regularly find yourself in a situation where you feel like you're going to fail every single repetition. Beginners and only slightly advanced exercisers will lack the ability to push themselves hard enough to overcome these barriers.

In addition to this, your sore muscles will put your desire to train to the test.

The Smolov Program Layout

Before you start the program, you need to determine your 1RM weight, as everything in this program is based on this percentage. It is advisable to choose about 90% of your existing 1RM weight for reasons explained later.

The purpose of the introductory micro-cycle is to prepare your body for the push that lies ahead. You will work your way up to 90% of the 1RM weight you have chosen for this program before embarking on the 4-week base mesocycle, which will increase your existing 1RM weight by 15 to 30 kilos.

The two weeks of transition will change things up and include squat training with dynamic effort. The intense mesocycle will test your will again and could give you another 10 to 20 kilo boost.

You then complete the program with a week of tapering and a final max test to find out how many kilos Smolov has added to your max squat weight.

(In the following cycles, the number of sets and reps before the @ sign and the percentage of your chosen 1RM weight after the @ sign. So 3 x 8 @ 65% means 3 sets of 8 reps with 65% of your 1RM weight used for this program, while 10 x 3 @ 85% means 10 sets of 3 reps with 85% of your 1RM weight, and so on. If you use 200 kilos as your 1RM weight, then 65% corresponds to 130 kilos, which means that you will perform 3 sets of squats of 8 reps with 130 kilos. It is best to round the values down instead of rounding them up).

Introductory microcycle - week 1-2

Get ready for pain! This microcycle is used as preparation and should not feel too heavy. You will train squats on 3 days during both weeks and the program looks like this:

Week 1

• Day 1 - 3 x 8 @ 65%, 1 x 5 @ 70%, 2 x 2 @ 75%, 1 x 1 @80%
• Day 2 - exactly as on day 1
• Day 3 - 4 x 5 @ 70%, 1 x 3 @ 75%, 2 x 2 @ 80%, 1 x 1 @90%

Week 2

• Day 1 - 1 x 5 @ 80%
• Day 2 - 1 x 5 @ 82.5%
• Day 3 - 1 x 5 @ 85%

It is important to note that during week 1 you will be doing squats three days in a row. The next three days should be dedicated to stretching your legs to speed up recovery, with lunges being a good exercise choice.

During week 2, you can schedule a rest day between workouts if you wish and Smolov also recommends using explosive exercises such as jumps, which should be performed after the squat training session.

Basic mesocycle

I hope that you have adjusted your calorie intake accordingly during the previous two weeks and are sufficiently energized. After successfully completing the first week of the basic mesocycle, you will have increased your weight by 10 kilos for the following week. If you make it through this, you will have added another 5 kilos for the third week of the mesocycle and it will look something like this:

Week 3

• Monday - 4 x 9@ 70%
• Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75%
• Friday - 7 x 5@80%
• Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85%

Week 4

• Monday - 4 x 9@70 + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Friday - 7 x 5@80% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3

Week 5

• Monday - 4 x 9@70 + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75% + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Friday - 7 x 5@80% + 30 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
• Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85% + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3

Week 6

• Monday & Wednesday - Rest day
• Friday - Work your way up to a maximum single repetition
• Saturday - Work your way up to a maximum single repetition

I hope you'll understand why it's best to use a conservative 1RM weight. During week 5 of Smolov you will set several personal bests that you are ready for. For example, if you use a 1RM weight of 200 kilos, you will perform squats with 10 x 3 @ 170 kilos during week 3 and 10 x 3 @ 185 kilos in week 5!

If you start to fail on individual sets during weeks 4 and 5, then you are well on your way to failing this program. However, provided you follow the tips we outline in this article, you will have an excellent chance of completing this program successfully.

Week 7 & 8 - Transition

You'll be grateful for the opportunity to give your exhausted legs some rest, as this is a two-week phase without a regimented set and repetition scheme. Smolov recommends knee flexion training with dynamic effort, it's best not to go over 60% of your new 1RM weight.

In fact, you may prefer to stay closer to 50% and not go over 3 reps on dynamic effort days. Some exercisers follow the Westside Barbell principles and perform 12 sets of box squats with 2 reps, but ultimately it's up to you.

Smolov also advocates negative squats, which involve using a higher weight than your 1RM weight, where you only focus on the lowering part of the movement. In other words, you take the weight off the rack and perform the lowering part of a squat movement until the weight comes to rest on a previously set safety rack and leave it there.

Other explosive exercises that can be performed include box jumps and deep squat jumps. This phase should not involve much more than active recovery, so listen to your body and don't overdo it.

Week 9-12 - Intensive mesocycle

As if the basic mesocycle wasn't intense enough! These are four weeks of brutal effort that Smolov copied from I. M. Feduleyev, a Russian weightlifting coach who used these four weeks as a training block for himself. The intensive mesocycle trains you to the ground and many trainers therefore decide to focus exclusively on the basic mesocycle. However, if you are ready for this intense phase, an extra 10+ kilos could be the reward.

44% of all reps you'll perform over the next 4 weeks will be in the 81-90% range, with some 95% work sprinkled in for good measure. To compensate for this, you will only train squats 3 days per week instead of 4. Due to the exceptionally hard nature of this section, you should again subtract 10% from your new 1RM, otherwise you will almost certainly fail these 4 weeks.

Simply put, 5 sets of 5 reps at 90% of your true max weight will not be on the plan. If you get stuck, reduce the weight by 5% or more while keeping the same set and repetition pattern. As Pavel once said, there will be days when you'll wish you'd taken up stamp collecting as a hobby.

Week 9

• Monday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 4@ 75%, 3 x 4@ 85%, 1 x 5@ 90%
• Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 1 x 3@ 90%, 2 x 5@ 85%
• Saturday - 1 x 4@ 65%, 1 x 4@ 70%, 5 x 4@ 80%

Week 10

• Monday - 1 x 4@ 60%, 1 x 4@70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 1 x 3@90%, 2 x 4@ 90%
• Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 3@ 85%, 3 x 3@ 90%, 1 x 3@ 95%
• Saturday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 4@ 85%, 4 x 5@ 90%

Week 11

• Monday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 5 x 5@ 90%
• Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 2 x 3@ 95%
• Saturday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 3@ 85%, 4 x 3@ 95%

Week 12

• Monday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 5 x 5@ 90%
• Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 4 x 3@ 95%
• Saturday - 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 4@ 90%, 3 x 4@ 80%

Week 13 - Tapering off

By this point you'll be absolutely sick of squats, but if you've done all the reps up to this point then it's pretty certain that you'll set a new personal best very soon. You'll spend Monday through Saturday resting and just sprinkle in a light training session before trying a new max weight on Sunday. If you are an experienced trainee with excellent recovery skills and a penchant for masochism, then you can also follow the Smolov plan for the final week:

• Monday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 2 x 5@ 90%, 3 x 4@ 95%
• Wednesday - 1 x 4@ 75%, 4 x 4@ 85%
• Sunday - maximum attempt

However, it is best to rest as you have pushed your body to its limits over the previous 4 weeks. This means that week 13 should look like this:

• Wednesday - 1 x 4@ 75%, 1 x 5@ 85%
• Sunday - maximum attempt

In the second part, we will discuss tips and advice that will make it easier for you to successfully survive the Smolov squat program and also show you how you can use Smolov Jr. to improve your bench press performance.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/smolov