*** The 2017 Gym Rats Thread ***

[tom_e]

I had my back freshly waxed this Saturday bro, keen?

Has anyone run Smolov Jr for bench and squat concurrently? Squat on bench rest days, bench on the squat rest days?

I could be, it's been a while...

I've ran Smolov just for squats and to be honest it's flipping brutal even just cramming all the food in my cake hole I was struggling to keep weight on and that's unheard of for me, not sure I'd want to try running both unless I could spend any time not in the gym sleeping with short periods awake to cram in Dominos.

 

[PermaChanged]

Was that the full Smolov or the Smolov Jr program? I've never had a problem with feeding enough calories, ex 26st man remember

 

[tom_e]

Good point that was full Smolov rather than Jr IIRC.

 

[icecold]

Has anyone run Smolov Jr for bench and squat concurrently? Squat on bench rest days, bench on the squat rest days?

 

[PermaChanged]

Care to clarify? If I'm a sadist can I?

 

[tom_e]

To be honest I think you'd need to be assisted to even have a chance of making it out of the first couple of weeks alive nevermind unsnapped.

 

[neoboy]

I feel faint just thinking about squatting twice a week at the moment.

 

[GSVBagpuss]

Why do you want to do Smolov though? I completely understand the appeal of a cool Russian name as I ran it (Jr) for my poverty bench and did see a few gains, certainly in terms of drilling form

I like squatting twice a week and have toyed with doing more but I would probably only have one really heavy day

 

[PermaChanged]

Why do you want to do Smolov though?

People generally seem to see a good amount added to their 1RM over a relatively short time period, this is why I want to run Smolov.

 

[Freefaller]

3x a week squats here.

 

[Martynt74]

I'm sure it's in here and lost but can anyone suggest a decent workout plan? I've not been for about 5 months and mainly piggybacked with a few other guys and went most days working a single body part each session and since there were 3-4 of us then it took an hour or so for each session.

I've now just joined a gym back home an went the other night but was quite lazy because it was busy and after doing some biceps/triceps and a few flys i gave up and went for a run instead. I'm now thinking i need much more structure and going with a pre-planned routine rather than rocking up and using whats available.

The other annoying thing about the gym (and i'm sure it wasn't like this last time i went), there is a lot less space for free weights to be able to do deadlifts/rows.

I'm fairly confident with most exercises but my issue is knowing the best combinations. Is there a decent routine for getting back into things?

As for goals, it's mainly to build up a bit of strength again, i've put on quite a bit of weight since i've been home but i'm thinking a run to/from the gym will help fulfil my cardio needs.

EDIT - One thing i also seemed to notice was just how weak i seemed to be. On the fly machine (couldn't get a bench) i was struggling with it set to 25kg, yet i used to use 20kg dumbells and around 50/60kg when i used the machine. Surely i shouldn't have dropped this much?

 

[tom_e]

Stronglifts

 

[Martynt74]

Cheers, that looks simple enough and other than the fact i'm not a huge fan of squats i accept they're a key part of exercise. My only concern is the affect on my legs and whether i can continue to run as often as i'd like.

What kind of rest times would you suggest? I can't quite get my head around how it would take 45 minutes to do 25 squats, 25 presses and 5 deadlifts.

 

[tom_e]

Your legs will quickly adapt to be honest it shouldn't affect your running too much.

To begin with I'd just wing rest times, finish your set wait until you feel ok then go again. Once you've gotten back into the groove you can look at focusing on bringing them down and getting them more consistent.

 

[GSVBagpuss]

To start you might only need 15s rest and do persevere with squats as they make you more awesomer in every way. Apart from heavy deadlifts I suppose

And I ride two hours on the bike most days and squats just made me faster

 

[GSVBagpuss]

3x a week squats here.

How do you program that?

 

[ChrisD.]

Any tips on keeping that nice arch in my lower back when squatting? Towards the end of the sets it seems to straighten up a little. Maybe drop weight and concentrate on that and move up? Not talking huge amounts here but I notice it.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

3x a week squats here.

I can't do more than two squat sessions without compromising my deadlift. Maybe when I am off work for the summer, but not at the moment.

 

[Freefaller]

How do you program that?

using System;

namespace squat
{
    class MainClass
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            string training;
            string goSquat = "Do Squats! ";

            Console.Write("Are you training today? ");
            training = Console.ReadLine();

            do
            {
                if (training.Equals("y"))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(goSquat);
                    break;
                }
                else if (training.Equals("n")) ;
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("You should be training lazy mofo!");
                    break;
                }
            } while (training == "n");





        }
    }
}

 

[Freefaller]

I can't do more than two squat sessions without compromising my deadlift. Maybe when I am off work for the summer, but not at the moment.

I don't do balls out all 3 sessions. I do 2x 8-9RPE and then 1x 5-6RPE with more squat variations such as front squats, overhead squats and so on. I'm going to buy a safety bar squat bar, as when I used to squat with that my deadlift potential increased by about 15%. SBS are great for that posterior chain work which are essential for squats and deadlifts.

Squats are life.

I deadlift once a week, but again 8-9RPE. My weights are low at the moment, squats around 140-150 and deads around 180-190.