Smolov BM W2D4

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 1x275
• 1x300
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• 3x315
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 1x160
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180
• 3x180

Workout video:

Smolov BM W2D3

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 1x275
• 5x295
• 5x295
• 5x295
• 5x295
• 5x295
• 5x295
• 5x295
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170
• 4x170

Comments:

I absolutely killed today's workout. Everything felt great and I'm almost done with this week, so I'm very excited about week 3 coming up. Set 4 on squats felt phenominal (and set 7 felt a little off, but it's the last set so I'm not too worried about that). On bench, all 8 sets went well and I randomly threw in paused reps for fun. On set 8, I paused the last rep a little longer and it still felt easy. One of the things I like about Smolov Jr is that it gives me plenty of time to work on my form. I feel like my leg drive is getting better and I am maintaining my arch longer. I need to work on preventing my wrists from tilting back. I know I could use my wrist wraps, but I'd like to save those for 1RMs.

Workout video:

Smolov BM W2D2

Squat

• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 7x280
• 7x280
• 7x280
• 7x280
• 7x280

Comments:

My knee sleeves arrived (Titan x-small) and I tried them out, so far so good. The true test will be to see how my knees feel tomorrow and on Saturday so I'm holding off on any excitement until then. This officially marks the half-way point of the base mesocycle so I'm happy about that.

Workout video:

Smolov Jr W2D2

Bench Press

• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 5x160
• 5x160
• 5x160
• 5x160
• 5x160
• 5x160
• 5x160

Comments:

No squats today because my knees are still feeling off, going to give them an extra rest day.

Smolov BM W2D1

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 1x275
• 9x262.5
• 9x262.5
• 9x262.5
• 9x262.5
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 6x150
• 6x150
• 6x150
• 6x150
• 6x150
• 6x150

Workout video:

OHP 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 2

OHP

• 10x45
• 5x65
• 3x80
• 3x95
• 3x110
• 6x120

Workout video:

Smolov BM W1D4

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 1x275
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• 3x295
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170
• 3x170

Comments:

Today was pretty tough but after watching the videos, all the sets seemed to be reasonably quick. I get Sunday off and then it's week 2 on Monday ... add 20 lbs to all lifts for squats and 10 lbs for bench ... should be interesting to say the least.

Workout video:

Smolov BM W1D3

• Front Squat
• 5x45
• 3x95
• 1x135
• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 1x250
• 5x275
• 5x275
• 5x275
• 5x275
• 5x275
• 5x275
• 5x275
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 3x95
• 1x135
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160
• 4x160

Unfortunately no video for today's workout, forgot to put my camera back in my gym bag after uploading W1D2. Today's workout was much easier mentally and physically than W1D2. I'm very comfortable with 5 reps or less and I've squatted 275 lbs enough times to know exactly how today would play out. Bench went well and my shoulder pain seems to be subsiding, so I'm really happy about that.

How I Make Weight for 2 hour Weigh-Ins

First here are some articles that have a little bit of info, then I'll go into what I do:

Interview with Becky Rich

Sweat Pit: How do you make weight for competition?
Becky Rich: Get rid of all of the water! For a long time, you would actually find me on a treadmill or on a stationary bike trying to sweat off the extra pounds. It wasn't until probably five years ago that I realized that was a terrible idea for actually keeping my strength. Now, if I've got more than a few pounds to lose, I will go low carb and do a water load (tons of water and salt at the beginning of the week, then tapering salt, then tapering water), and then sweat off whatever is left. If I have less than 3-4 pounds to lose, I will just cut carbs a little and sweat. To sweat off the last few pounds, I like using a sauna, but if I don't have one available, I will just do 15-20-minute stints in a really, really hot bath.

Matt Gary (Souix-Z's husband/coach)

WannaBeBig.com Sodium loading/cutting thread

For myself, I find that Matt Gary's approach cuts it a bit too close for me, so I follow closer to Becky Rich / WannaBeBig for approach. In August I had to make weight for Raw Nationals for a meet on Friday and this is what I did. Keep in mind this is for a Friday meet, so adjust for your Sunday meet as you see fit:

• Sunday - High water / high sodium
• Monday - High water / high sodium
• Tuesday - High water / low sodium
• Wednesday - High water / low sodium
• Thursday - Low water (1-2L before noon), no sodium, light/energy dense food
• Friday - Weigh-in, rehydrate, lift, eat all the things

I also do low-carb starting Sunday or Monday and keep the carbs off until I weigh-in (with an exception for Thursday as I'll explain in just a bit). The idea is to get your body just flushing water like crazy. First, you load up on tons of water and your body gets used to the increased water intake so your body will flush water it gets because it expects more in the future. The high sodium helps retain some of that water, which is important for later. Then you drop the sodium and the water starts flushing out, taking with it a bit more than if there were no sodium prior. Then when the water is dropped, the body still expects all that water and continues to flush it and by the next morning, you should be sitting several pounds lighter.

I try to get some food on Thursday but I know some people won't eat much of anything. When I eat, I look not at calories but weight. 1lb of veggies is still 1lb that you will have to deal with, so for me personally, I'd rather eat 1lb of peanut butter and take in 2500 calories as fuel for the next day than worry about 1lb of veggies only giving me 150 calories. Same with carbs, I personally like frozen pop-tarts. 2 pop-tarts is about 100g in weight, but 400 calories. Also, caffeine is a slight dieuretic, so you may want to have a caffeine pill / 5-hour energy shot around 2pm or so the day before the meet. I plan on doing that as well as a caffeine pill the morning of the meet to get rid of any extra stool that may be sitting in me / weighing me down.

I probably forgot some stuff somewhere, but this should at least get you started. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Smolov BM W1D2

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 7x260
• 7x260
• 7x260
• 7x260
• 7x260
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 1x135
• 5x150
• 5x150
• 5x150
• 5x150
• 5x150
• 5x150
• 5x150

Workout video:

Smolov BM W1D1

• Squat
• 5x135
• 5x185
• 1x225
• 9x242.5
• 9x242.5
• 9x242.5
• 9x242.5
• Bench Press
• 10xbar
• 5x95
• 3x115
• 6x140
• 6x140
• 6x140
• 6x140
• 6x140
• 6x140
• OHP
• 10xbar
• 5x65
• 3x80
• 5x90
• 5x100
• 5x115

Workout video: