Smolov Conclusion - Skills Test

1/25/13

Weight - 209

Today was an extremely busy work day, had clients running back to back from morning to night. Didn't eat a thing prior to working out, but still felt really good going in to this mock meet. I decided to max out bench press and deadlift as well as the squat so I had accurate numbers for my next phase of training. It was a successful session, and a great ending to the Smolov Experiment.

Squat - 525, which is a 25 pound beltless raw personal record

Bench - 405, went up semi-easily and very acceptable within the context of not having pressed at all for the last 6 weeks. Elbow felt good as well.

Deadlift - 585, also beltless PR

Now that I have these numbers I will be using them for training percentages, with the next step being the Sheiko Experiment (http://www.manhavenproject.com/sheiko-training-plan/)! Boris Sheiko is a Russian powerlifting coach who has come to fame by bringing elite competitors to the international stage regularly over the past 20 years. Sheiko wrote a book on powerlifting and also released a number of meticulously designed programs that he has used to prepare a number of lifters of varying skill. I will begin #29, which is an introduction to his training regimens, which could be summed up by one word - Volume. This will be a great deviation from anything I have done in the past 6 years as a powerlifter. My training in the past has been heavily influenced by powerlifting and strength coach guru Louie Simmons (Westside Barbell Club) and Ivan Abadjiev (Bulgarian national olympic weightlifting coach) and manifested by my frequent use of Intensity (High load, >85% of an absolute 1 rep max) during training sessions. As I developed this style granted me great results, and I broke personal records left and right for several years.

Since my injury in 2008 I have had substantial difficulty in maintaining this style of lifting for extended periods of time without incurring injury in some point or another.  This is what leads me to the Sheiko experiment. Sheiko uses a variety of sub-maximal loads (50-85% of true one rep max) with differing set-and-rep prescriptions to stimulate the body without exposing it to such high loads that injury is a high risk. Another characteristic of this training is that each training day is a whole body lift and the competition lifts comprise the bulk of the program. That means every day there will be squatting, bench pressing and deadlifting with room for little else. The repetitive nature is similar to Smolov in that the body must accustom itself to these movements and become very efficient. At least, that is the idea.... Several elite American lifters (Wade Hooper, Eric Talmant) have used these workouts as the basis for their success and I am willing to give it a try - just to see what happens.

Oh and by the way, I've picked a new meet. Actually two. The first is the Orange County Powerlifting Championships on May 17 in Pine Bush, New York and is a USAPL sanctioned meet. USAPL (USA Powerlifting) is one of the most accredited powerlifting organizations in the country, and this will be my first time lifting for them. The second meet is the Vermont Powerlifting Championships in November sponsored by 100% Raw Powerlifting.

Cheers!