Smolov Junior Round 2 with the Russian Bear

Yes I was crazy enough to do this again. Just felt I needed something to really push me beyond my current capability. 

Here is the original junior cycle I ran last year which moved my squat from 205kg max to 230kg. 

The link to the first article I did on Smolov Jnr. 

http://strengthtrainingforyou.blogspot.com/2014/07/smolov-junior-squat-programme-review-14.html 

Here is the cycle that I just ran in preparation for the IDFPA Single Lifts. 

This time I did a few things differently which defiantly facilitated my squat during Smolov. 

1/ I kept a high volume training cycle for a number of weeks before the Junior cycle. This would ensure that the Smolov programme wouldn't beat me down too much and wouldn't "shock" the system. 

2/ I stayed between the 85-89% more frequently. This ensured I was lifting heavy weights for one rep once a week. More for technique and confidence boosting really. One example was I lifted 200kg for one rep for 6 weeks prior to running Smolov. The last day of Smolov I was doing 205kg 10 Sets of 3 reps. I'm pretty confident that if I didn't do those singles each week I would of been more worried going into those sessions. 

3/ Improved my recovery. Out of the 12 sessions. 9 of them i slept in thermal leggings covered in tiger balm. I foam rolled and stretched as much as I can. I took warm ups for long periods especially for week 1 as my body was aching bad from the training but once physiological adaptions occurred the doms reduced I didn't feel I needed to warm up as long. 

4/ Got more sports massages and did more myofascial release post workout. This was just to speed up recovery and reduce DOMS. Used a very "kinky" object for this. It was very helpful but now I have a Mr Gray reputation in the gym now cause of this haha. The said object is something similar to this....but with four balls....with more spikes..... next point!!

5/ I improved my squatting technique prior to this. Reduced butt wink, braced my abdominals better. Sat back into my hips more which assists the low bar squat I use. Also I narrowed my stance to make use of my quadriceps more. 

6/ I introduced my dynamic warm up drills for my hips specific to squatting. Such as banded walks and banded squats. Bands went around knees encouraged me to push my knees out activated Glutes and hip Flexors. 

How each week went/felt in preparation for the IDFPA single lifts. 

Week 1 

Monday 6x6 160kg

Wednesday 7x5 175kg

Friday 8x4 185kg

Saturday 10x3 195kg

Overall felt pretty good bit sore overall 

Week 2 

Monday 6x6 165kg

Wednesday 7x5 180kg

Friday 8x4 190kg

Saturday 10x3 200kg

Soreness reduced, right hip tight not due to injury but due to belt positioning. Weights feeling fast. 

Week 3 

Monday 6x6 170kg

Wednesday 7x5 182.5kg

Friday 8x4 195kg

Saturday 10x3 205kg

No tightness or soreness just a but fatigued overall. Last day was good finished with 6 reps of 205kg on the last set. 

Deload week: I felt pretty good over this week a lot better than the previous time I ran Smolov Jnr. No aches or pains just watched what I ate slept more. The work was done had to just put it on the platform. 

Competition 

Game Day, I was itching to squat literally just wanted to squat all day hahah 

Warm up was great very fast and light. 

Bar 10 reps

60kg 5 reps 

100kg 3 reps 

130kg 2 reps 

150kg 2 reps 

180kg 3 sets of 1 rep 

200kg one rep 

Then the Lifts 

210kg (flew up was so surprised at how easy this was) 

230kg (equal my all time PB and it was very easy as well) 

246kg (this was a 16kg PB, to beat the World Record which I got. Bit of a grind but very happy).

Video of my 246kg. 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=849993058398593 

This was to re take the lead and get back the world record I lost from Barry Piggot who squatted 260kg. 

However It was not meant to be for me. I attempted 260.5kg, I was happy that I managed to get it out of the whole but need more strength and failed the lift. Still got 3 years in Juniors I have no reason to not be lifting 300kg raw squat when I'm 23. 

Aftermath 

Smolov Jnr delivered again and I will take it up a notch and do Smolov 13 Week Squat Programme. This will be done in preparation for the 4 Nations on August 1st. The high volume nature of Smolov seems to suit me just have to find out of the 13 week one is a bridge too far or is what will take me to the next stage of my lifting career. 

After the comp my left knee as a but fatigued but other than that no real injures or pains. Was injury free through l of it. 

Here is my first two cycles of Smolov 13 week cycle starting April 11th. 

Introductory Cycle

Base cycle 

I hope you found this helpful 

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7 

Irish International Swimmer: Conor Ferguson

Continuing with the theme of guest athletes. All my readers, you are in for a treat. We have a talented young athlete from Ireland. .

Conor Ferguson, European Youth Olympic Competitor and Youth Commonwealth Medallist Swimmer. He swims for Ireland at Youth level and has big ambitions for the future.

Here is his story,

Take it away Conor:


My journey so far..
I started off my journey in Templemore swimming club at the age of 8 and at the age of 11 I moved to Larne swimming club to be coached by Peter Hill. I became an Irish champion at the age of 12 and by the age of 13 I took my first U16 ulster record and three British titles. I broke my first Irish junior record (18&U) and Ulster senior record at the age of 14 in the 100m and 200m backstroke at the Canadian age group championships and set the 5th fasted time in world for my age in history. From this point I realised what I wanted to achieve in this sport and that is to become an Olympic gold medallist.

At the age of 15 I competed for Ireland at the European Youth Olympic games in Tbilisi, Georgia and came 2nd in the 100m and 200m backstroke, I then travelled to Singapore to represent Ireland at the 5th Fina World junior Championships (18&U) where I came 11th, 12th and 13th in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, after this competition I travelled straight to New Zealand to train for 3 days before I competed in Samoa at the Youth Commonwealth Games where I came 1st in the 100m backstroke, 2nd in the 200m backstroke, 2nd in the 50m backstroke and 3rd in the 4x50IM mixed relay. This year I have represented Ireland at a senior level in the Luxembourg euro meet where I picked up 3 junior gold medals, a bronze senior medal in the 100m backstroke and and silver senior medal in the 200m backstroke. I then competed at the Swim Ulster Dave McCullagh meet and I qualified for European junior Championships in July and European Senior Championships in May where I will represent Ireland. I missed my Olympic A standard by 0.29 of a second in the 100m backstroke but I still have many competitions  that I can try to achieve this standard. During this meet I broke 6 records: 2 which are Irish senior records in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

Training

Currently I am training 24 hours a week: 18 hours in the pool and 6 hours in the gym. A typical training session in the pool would consist of a warm up, some HVO sprints (anaerobic work to get heart rate raised for main sets), 2 main sets : one specific for 200m backstroke followed by a cool down and one specific for 100m backstroke also followed by a cool down, then we would work on technique so I would work on specific Backstroke drills. After this is completed we would do a swim down. A typical session like this would be around 5500m and takes 2 hours. It is also Important to be at every session 15minutes before it starts to complete any rehab to prevent injury occurring. I do my gym sessions at Crossfit Castrum in Belfast and my strength and conditioning coach is called Steve McQuillan who is an ex swimmer who has represent Ireland. We would work on being explosive as we are trying to develop power on my start and turns in the pool. Popular exercise would be weighted Muscle ups, Weighted pull ups, cleans, snatches, squats etc.

Diet
I wake up at 5:00am on weekdays and would have scrambled eggs, 2 slices of toast and a small bowl of cereal for my breakfast. I then would train from 6 to 8 and afterwards have porridge with a banana and an apple. At 11am we have break in school where I would eat 2 chocolate muffins and some toast from the canteen. At 12:30pm I have my lunch which would consist of a sandwich( chicken, bacon and mayonnaise) an orange, a packet of crisps, a biscuit, a breakfast bar and a yogurt. After school, 3:30pm, I would have another sandwich (tuna and sweetcorn) and then go train again. When I get home from Training I would have my dinner which usually consist of pasta, meat and vegetables. Before I would go to be I would always have a glass of milk. During the Day I would carry my water bottle around school with me because it is crucial that I stay hydrated during the day. I would monitor this by how frequent I go to the toilet.


More links to my current success and aspirations below;

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/swimming/conor-ferguson-is-out-to-rule-the-world-of-swimming-34123303.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/35745377

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/34610100

Thank you Conor for this interesting insight into your training, diet and current winnings.

Best of luck and I hope you qualify for the 2016 Olympics, if not 2020 is a guaranteed spot for you!!

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7 

The Training of a former University and Under 23 Irish International Rower: Discussed by Jonanthon (JP) Mitchell

I’d first like the thank Andrew for letting me share on his blog, he has been asking me for a long time and despite my initial scepticism that his readers would find what I have to share interesting or useful he has ground me down. I once had aspirations to row at the Olympics and the information I’m going to share is focused on the training I was doing at the time to achieve that goal. The reasons for why I stopped and what I currently do for training can be left for another time and place. I will run through a typical training cycle and try and insert some science to explain why things were like that and the training goal behind it.

JP at the front of the pair

My training ran in 4 week cycles, weeks 1-3 ran progressively harder by increasing the volume then the 4th week worked as a deload. In our deload week we would cover 160km of pure rowing with additional distance being added on the bike or running. A typical 3 week work block would have run as 180km, 195km and 210km. At the start of the season these would have been slightly lower and in the depths of winter slightly more. The idea was each micro 4 week cycle would be slightly higher volume than the one before. We also followed a weights program which ran opposed to the rowing, so our heaviest weights week was the deload week for rowing and the deload weights week matched out heaviest volume.

To establish a strong base or fitness and allow continued improvement in rowing technique we spend between 70-80% of our training at what is called UT2 (oxygen utilisation zone 2, or simply put a level you can train at for 2 hours and even more simply you could hold a conversation while at this level). This allows great communication between coach and athlete and also amongst crews so movements can be brought together into one seamless rowing machine. This intensity of work was split between boat work on the water and the Concept 2 Indoor Rower (universal measurement of rowing output) which allowed blood lactate level testing to ensure we were actually working at the right level and to measure improvement. In general we would do a 12-18km row either on the water or indoors first thing at 8am. Depending on the day of the week we would do a second session around 11am with anything from 12-24km.

JP stroking the pair

If you imagine fitness as a giant equilateral triangle, the base is created by UT2 level, the wider the base, the higher potential top level performance. In general we had 3 days a week were we went above this level, into UT1 (oxygen utilisation zone 1 or a level you can only maintain for 1 hour) or AT (anaerobic threshold, also know as pain, lots of pain). In these sessions it was generally repeats of 20min or 30min pieces and the intensity was regulated by our rate (the number of strokes taken a minute). These were designed to push the body and minds ability to tolerate lactic acid (the burn). As the year went on we would move the rates higher so in September pieces would be done at 18-20 SPM (strokes per minute) and by summer that would be 36+SPM. Regarding our weight training we would do this 3-4 times a week on the days of lowest rowing intensity and it would be the last session of the day, focusing on the major lifts, power cleans, squats, deadlift, bench pull with accessory work in bench press, general shoulder prehab and hip focused exercises. I competed as a lightweight for most of my career so the focus was not on gaining size but making the most of the size I had.

It is hard to concisely summarise a 12 month training program but this was followed 6-7 days a week with 2-3 sessions a day depending on the intensity and volume. While every nation has their own training program most follow this basic structure. Rowing is a power endurance sport, from a scientific point of view the goal for international competition is to produce the highest average wattage over a 2km distance. Rowing has East Germany to thank for it’s morally ambiguous research methods which have shaped how club and elite level athletes train create this basic training structure. They proved in dominant fashion how high volume, low intensity based training could form superior athletes to other methods of the time.

JP second in from the far right

Thanks JP for writing this. Those who are interested in what JP is doing now, he has set up his own Crossfit Gym in Ballymena Northern Ireland. Link to the facility is below;

JP's contact details;
Website www.crossfitballymena.com

FB www.facebook.com/crossfitballymena

Isntagram @crossfit_ballymena

Twitter @CFBallymena

Snapchat JP Mitchell91

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7