My Smolov Experience

I have never been big and never will be. My genetics have dictated that I will have a slight frame, quick when I was young and good at endurance when I got older. But this has never stopped me training to be strong.  Pound for pound I consider myself above average when I am in good shape.  But I have always had a rubbish back squat.  Never really analysed it just never paid them any attention. I can plead guilty to benching hard and heavy then running 5 miles in 30 minutes. That will affect the make up of the leg muscles.  Crossfit introduced me to real strength training.  Heavy, really heavy, with an intensity that makes you feel dizzy and not wanting to do another set.  With this I saw my numbers creep up to new PB's but when trying the Crossfit Total my back squat was always the weakest. I could bench more than I could back squat!

Lately I have eased off the intensity in the metcons and have been experimenting with intervals and training cycles. More of that in a future post.  My latest trial was the Smolov back squat routine.  Having recognised there was plenty of room for improvement it seemed a natural decision to commit to this and I do not use the word commit lightly.  Its 13 weeks of lifting heavy and perfecting your technique.  The web is swimming in sites, forums and blogs about this routine.  Keywords linked to this are intensity, blood, guts, vomit and big results.  It sounds almost cartoon like.  So you have to keep a balanced mind about this. One of the most consistent quotes is that big lifters can add 20-30kg to their 1RM while smaller lifters can add 5-15kg.

The routine is spread over 13 weeks.  You start by establishing your current 1RM.  Then you are taken through the introductory microcycle. This includes certain stretches aimed at improving your squat. Improving your squat is so very important.  Lets face it any lift can be improved with perfect technique. So get it right at the start then you can maximise your results.  You then progress to 4 weeks base mesocycle. You are taken on an ever progressive heavier squat.  The sets are high and the reps low, but you can end up doing up to 35 reps in a session.  At the end of this you revisit your 1 rep max.  I started with 90kg (told you I was rubbish) and PBed with 98.5kg.  I was hoping for more and on reflection I was too cautious and took too long to start hitting heavy singles and did not take enough rest between attempts.  I took five attempts but really three would have suited me better.  Lifting heavy on your limits is exhausting.

After this you enter your new 1RM into your spreadsheet and the next two phases are calculated.  The next phase is called the switching microcyle.  This I found really odd.  It is a mixture of 1 rep squat negatives, light power cleans and heavy box squats.  Lets look at each one and try to understand their relevance.  The heavy negatives, in my case were up to 10kg over my new 1RM. Its really odd loading up a bar on your back that feels heavier than anything you have ever lifted and knowing you will not be able to get back up.  You ideally need a good squat cage for this I did not at the time and practised bailing out at the bottom by throwing the bar back and me rocking forward. It actually was not too difficult and made a spectacular noise  as I was using iron plates!  The eccentric phase of the muscle is twice as strong as the concentric, we see negatives used a lot in teaching strict pull ups and press ups with great results. The strange thing with the squat is that the rear posterior chain contract both in flexion and extension, Lombards paradox. But just having that amount of weight on your back soon became not a problem. The power cleans, to me, these just seemed like light relief from all that squatting!  You move through a dead lift and snap the hips open with a little dip landing cleaning the bar.  Speed seemed to be the important element here.  Box squats, these are all over training cycles these days but they were new to me. It seemed to be about a momentary relaxing of the rear posterior chain then explosively engaging them to get up off the box.  This phase to me was all about training muscles to be used under super loads and coaching your nervous system to recruit those muscle groups, which is a massive part of lifting heavy.

The final phase is the intense mesocylce.  This looks like a hotchpotch collection of single sets of 3 and 4 reps with multiple sets of 3, 4 and 5 reps.  But basically its a structured warm up towards lifting heavy. The numbers can be intimidating towards the end you are lifting for multiple reps and sets just under your new 1RM.  You are lifting 3 days a week.  I always took 2 days off between day 2 and 3. I found the sessions exhausting. I had been resting 3-5 minutes between sets in earlier sessions but now I was happy to rest up to 10 minutes!  Andrew Stemler said to me the secret to good strength training is doing nothing!  He is so right. It was common to finish a set and immediately have to sit down, dizzy. I could feel my heart pounding like I had just run 800meters flat out and this could take up to 3 minutes to calm down.  Intense! Towards the end I started contemplating what my new 1RM could be.  You can doubt whether you could add another 10kg.  I got an early indication when rushing through a session and instead of squatting 80kg for 3 reps I loaded the bar with 100kg.  At the time I thought I must be really tired and then recounted the discs.  This was a massive boost for me and clear sign of good things to come.

You finish with an easy week and then a weeks rest then it is time to revisit the 1RM.  I was wrongly training in a gym without a squat cage and had to rely on a friend spotting me.  This did affect my confidence but I failed at 112.5kg and ended with a new PB of 110kg, a massive 20kg increase.

Lessons learnt.  It is well established if you want to get good at something do more of it.  This routine ticks that box by the bucket load.  Do not take too long before hitting your 1RM lifts, they are massively depleting.  Rest, rest, and rest some more between sets.  Train in a cage, feeling safe is essential when lifting heavy, you do not want to be distracted.  I was asked did this effect my other training.  Well I stopped all metcon and only practised bodyweight stuff as part of my warms ups.  I did not lose any size improved my lower body flexibility and getting back into the WODS did not prove too difficult. Heavy squats hit every muscle in the body, especially the facial muscles, they hit the nervous system and create an oxygen debt that takes time to recover from, while working your core stability like nothing else.

If you have the time and facilities this routine requires then I can only recommend it. There are alternatives out there and most strength routines are based around cycles of increasing intensity combined with recovery periods.  Is it the best strength routine? I simply cannot answer that. Are squats the best strength movement? Yes.

You can find the spreadsheet here. CLICK 

The Diary Of A Caveman

The “CrossfitLondon UK Lent/Palaeo/Zone/Try somethingdifferent diet challenge” lasted from 22nd February to the first weekend in April a not too insignificant amount of time.  People were invited to choose a diet and try their best for the period of Lent. Lent being the traditional Christian period of abstinence other periods of abstinence are available and in fact there was nothing religious about the challenge. Although people do get very Evangelical and often preach about such subjects. The challenge started with a weigh-in, measurements taken along with some calliper and body fat composition measuring and the obligatory before photographs.

I opted for a Palaeo style diet it seemed the hardest challenge to do and therefore the most appealing and rewarding, in my eyes. I have had it pointed out to me that I am an extreme character, all or nothing, no in between.  On reflection I have to agree.  I did not make the measuring and weighing. But I knew I was carrying surplus pounds my size 30 jeans were struggling and I could see the changes in my body composition. 

On my diet I cut out rice, pasta, bread, milk, cheese, other dairy, cereals, beans, tea, coffee, alcohol, chocolate and all types of deserts and greatly reduced potatoes (maybe once a week). I had one weekend off for a pre planned birthday party.   The first couple of days I was exhausted and in bed by 9pm asleep! I put this down to the zero caffeine but my girlfriend pointed out that I should check my calorie count. I had been consuming only 1200 calories a day. I should be at least double that. I addressed that by eating loads between meals. The Zone diet would have avoided this.  

A typical day would look like this:

Breakfast; 3 egg omelette with some sort of meat, usually chorizo.

Lunch; meat usually chicken, fruit usually berries, sardines, banana.

Dinner, meat or fish loads of either salad or vegetables.

I drank nearly exclusively only water for the whole period.  If I cheated it was orange juice. 

I snacked on nuts, fruit and seeds constantly.  

I decided not to do all that alternative Palaeo substitutes. Palaeo pancakes, palaeo muffins, palaeo cup cakes, palaeo ice cream etc. In my eyes it’s cheating. Austere is where it’s at.        

So what were my experiences? 

Well you have to constantly plan and think about your food and look for alternatives. Pop into Pizza Express and look at the menu! When eating out I found myself asking for alternatives and or leaving food on my plate.  Which I hate doing.  Going out with friends and watching them getting drunk was odd.  It made me feel strangely superior and in control and saved me a small fortune. I have lost weight and my jeans fit me again (sigh of relief) on the training side I have not been following my usual program as I am currently experimenting with the Smolov squat routine, probably poor timing but I seem to be making progress. Look out for a future post on this.  I feel great generally, sleep really well and I too have noticed improved dental hygiene I guess it’s the lack of tannin and sugar. Plus I have also noticed my shoulder inflammation issues have gone.  I did/do have low days when I wanted that chocolate fudge cake and a nice coffee after a good meal but I am very stubborn and always got passed it. If I craved something sweet, a chilled orange did the job just great. 

What changes will I keep?

Tea and coffee definitely will be massively reduced I was a 10 cup a day man sometimes. I substituted mugs of hot water, strangely comforting. Alcohol too (although not 10 cups a day!) my extreme personality meant that when I drank, I got on it! I like not feeling shit, sorry Janie (I will come back to that later).  I already had cut or greatly reduced bread, rice, pasta and potatoes and will continue with this. Plus my desire to end every meal with a desert has been conquered too.

What are the lessons?

Very early on I came to realise that Palaeo’ was a misnomer.  I am a bit of an amateur anthropologist and already had some understanding of what Palaeolithic man lived like and more importantly what we do not know. I intended to write extensively on this but you can read about it here instead and more here too. Both excellent articles.

But just to summarise most vegetables if not all on your plate are “man made” that is they have been selectively grown and harvested to produce something that is disease resistant, looks pretty and tastes good. Most wild vegetables don’t comply.  In fact they taste bitter and foul, its part of their survival system. Where as, wild fruit are pretty and taste good, they need to be, so that they are consumed in order to reproduce.  The idea of meat everyday would not be realistic, even every week.  Hunter gatherers are opportunistic and seasonal.

Palaeo’ man and woman eat to survive we eat to enjoy and thrive often way beyond what could be considered normal.  Athletes whether Crossfitters, bodybuilders, soldiers, etc, take their bodies and smash them to pieces and rebuild them to improve. These adaptations constantly require huge amounts of nutrient dense foods, Palaeo’ man would not have this luxury.

But there is a massive amount of ever growing evidence that starchy grains are not good for us and that sugar is the problem and not fat. I use these terms in their broadest definitions. These poor choices are not helped when dieticians and governmental bodies along with associated educators are still harping on about the high carb’ low fat diets.  Food for thought, take a look at this.

I have learnt a lot about myself and peoples perceptions of me.  I was amazed at how many people would say “Diet!? But you don’t need to lose any weight” I have mentioned this in other posts but people instantly associate the word diet with weight loss. I think this says a lot about our culture.  Diet obviously is not just about weight loss.  I have also learned that those close to you often regard the changes that you make as slightly negative and view them from a point of view of “How will this affect me?”  I have learned that I can go out and socialise and have fun without alcohol, some find this worrying, interesting… 

Diet-The simple truth, Or How I See It

The word diet comes from the Greek, meaning "way of life" The Vegetarians are a good example.  The word vegetarian comes from the Latin to be lively and vigorous.Their early beginnings identified diet was only a part of living a healthy life.  Naturist place an importance on being relieved of the burden of clothes and enjoying outdoor sports and activities, very Paleo. So what am I saying.  Those who know me will know I am not a big fan of the diet, supplement or nutrition industry. It full of BS and self serving quacks.  This too applies to aspects of the fitness industry.

I recently bumped into a friend at work. He is a qualified PTI with a services back ground.  We got talking about our own training and diet and got to comparing notes.  He has recently come on board  the good ship Crossfit and has been looking at the zone diet and other low starchy carbohydrate options. He has recently been working with a colleague looking to get fitter and lose some weight.  They will not mind if I describe them both as old school.  So diet was not high on the list of things to change, at least not radically.  So maybe cut out some alcohol, snacks and puddings but increase the aerobic training particularly pounding the pavement.  Now most will see some results especially if you are new to exercise. The body has an amazing way of responding to such early stimulus.  However they both have an extensive background in being and staying fit.  So were a little surprised to find that they were not getting the results they wanted and expected.

A review led to some research and Crossfit and Zone/Paleo were discovered.  A short stint on a low starchy carbohydrate diet after a period of adjustment led to some very encouraging results.  Energy levels changed for the better and the excess weight soon shifted.  It was even discovered that the time in the gym could be reduced and the same results could still be enjoyed.

Their experiences have led me to review my diet. I believe I have hit a time in my life where I cannot rely on just good genetics to save me from my excesses.  And I do like my excesses!  Since summer 2011 I have noticed changes. Its no coincidence to say I have also changed jobs, moved in with my girlfriend and spend less time in the gym. But I have experienced phases like this before and not paid dearly for it, alas no longer.  Diet IS a massive part of my wellness now so it was with some relief when Andrew of Crossfit London UK organised the 40 day Zone/Paleo Lent Challenge.  This was my chance to hold hands with other passengers and soak up the shared experience and make changes.

I will being trying my utmost to be strict Paleo'.  Has it got a face? Zoneing is too much hassle in my eyes, I don't even own a cup!  I even considered doing one meal a day with snacks either side apparently this would have been normalish, but the odd day of no food was also normal!  So instead I am going to eat small and regular but ultimately clean.  Dairy, tea and Guinness will be missed but its only 40 days!  I will be posting regularly on Crossfit London UK and also by twitter @Spikeyfruit. My girlfriend is also joining in so I am excited about that. But we will declare the 25th February as an amnesty, its her birthday party.

By the end we hope to have a great opensource resource of recipes, answers, experiences and results, both good and bad.  Now I am off to gather some firewood. But first some pancakes.