This article was submitted by Victor, member of StrongLifts.com Forum. Victor did Smolov twice, bringing his Squat up to 240kg.
Gains. The first time I did Smolov, I increased my Squat from 180kg to 220kg. I Squatted 190kg in the Base Mesoycycle. Body-weight (BW) went from 86kg to 88kg. I got leaner and my glutes & legs got bigger.
The 2nd time I increased my Squat from 220kg to 240kg. I Squatted 230kg in the Base Mesocycle. In the Intense Mesocycle I failed with 250kg (could have done 245kg). My BW went from 93kg to 95kg, but I gained fat eating junk food.
Here’s a picture of my legs before & after I did the 2 Smolov cycles. December 30th 2006 vs. December 30th 2007.

Injuries. First time: pain in both arms between my shoulders and biceps from the low bar position. Pain in my upper quads at the end of the cycle. I couldn’t Squat for a month after that. I also had some knee pain.
Second time also pain in my both arms between shoulders and biceps. Torn abs & coccyx pain. I lost motivation. I had no energy left for other exercises. My knees felt sore when doing other sports like running.
Mistakes The First Time.
- I went from 2x to 4x Squatting/week
- I skipped the Introductory Mesocycle
- I filled in a weight too heavy in the Smolov Base Mesocycle sheet
- I tested my 1 repetition max (1RM) 2x during the Base Mesocycle
- I Deadlifted during Switching because I didn’t know what to do
- I didn’t always break parallel, because the weight was too heavy
- I Squatted while injured
- I skipped 4-5 workouts
Mistakes The Second Time.
- I went from 1x to 4x Squatting/week
- I skipped the Introductory Mesocycle
- I didn’t eat enough, because I wanted to lose weight
- Gained fat eating junk food trying to compensate the lack of calories
- I filled in a weight too heavy in the Smolov Intense Mesocycle sheet
- Didn’t know what to do during Switching, got injured doing Pin Squats
- I didn’t always break parallel, because the weight was too heavy
- I skipped sets sometimes, because the weight was too heavy
- I tested my 1RM too soon
- I used too many paused breathing style sets
- I did a heavy rep-out during Switching
My Advice. If you want to do Smolov, avoid the mistakes I made the first 2 times. Here’s what you need to pay attention to:
- Test your 1RM before doing Smolov. That way you don’t end up with weights which are too heavy.
- Stay away from exercises that hit your core, like Deadlifts. Do the Bench Press, Dips, Dumbbell Rows and Pull-ups.
- Don’t worry about your other lifts. Smolov is all about the Squat.
- The Intense Mesocycle is the hardest part of Smolov. Push hard.
I’ll do another Smolov cycle at the end of this year. This time I’ll Squat raw: without belt. Your core needs to adapt without support. And I’ll do full Squats instead of Powerlifting Squats. Wish me luck.
