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.