smolov switching phase?

[BongoBanger]

Just completed the meso today with a nice 45lb pr. (425lbs)

and am now starting the switching phase in a few days, kind of clueless on what to do during it since its really left up for interpretation, for those who ran it before, what were your workouts like during this phase? Did you stay with a form of squats 4x a week? any OH presses or BO rows during this since it is not as taxing on the posterior chain?

[corozco]

During the switching phase I maxed out on deadlifts during the first week, which was probably not a smart thing to do. besides this I did box squats once a week working up to a 3 rep max. Besides this I did no other work for lower body and stuck to my usual DE and ME upper body. I also did a day for back mostly machines since I didn't want to put strain on my back with rows.

Are you planning to use your true max of 425 for the intense phase? A lot of people bring it down a bit but take it from me, just plug 425 in and be ready for some intense stuff

Good gains btw and good luck on the intense phase. 450+ should be very easy for you at the end.

[BongoBanger]

thanks a lot man, im going to do the first say at my 425 to see how i feel, meso beat the balls off me so i think i might keep it at 425 i cant imagine it being much worse.


did you gain on your dl when you maxed out during switching? i was worried about it when i started smolov,

[corozco]

Well my deadlift went up a bit but my speed was affected a bit due to not deadlifting for some time. I managed to pull 580 raw during the switching phase, the most I had done raw before was around 560. Your deadlift will definitely go up by something so don't worry about that.

After the intense phase I tested my suited deadlift and went up 19 pounds since april. 606 to 615. Could have easily gotten 625 but i straightened my legs to soon and got stuck at knee level, speed off the floor was great though, will get it this saturday.

The intense phase is not too bad at first but the second half can get pretty damn hard. Good luck with it and make sure you eat and sleep plenty.

[BongoBanger]

thats good, puts me at ease a little bit. Ive been eating and sleeping like no other, im up 8-9lbs since i started this.

will you be doing collegiate nationals this year?

[corozco]

I just competed this past April at USAPL collegiates as my second ever meet, did not do very good but was an awesome experience. What federation do you compete in?

[BongoBanger]

I just competed this past April at USAPL collegiates as my second ever meet, did not do very good but was an awesome experience. What federation do you compete in?

same here, ill be there this year. i was debating on doing last years but i qualified at 132 and hit 150 in january and decided to just keep trying to get stronger.