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Achieving a goal requires a plan. If you want to be good at squatting, you have to squat. If you want to be good at bench pressing, you have to bench pressing. Nothing complicated, especially if you have a training plan like Smolov Jr. It's understandable, even obvious. However, every program, even the best one, needs to be supplemented. After all, we are only as strong as our weakest link, so it's important to approach training holistically, despite achieving a given goal. I will present several ways and possibilities for creating a complete training plan from Smolov Jr.'s program, based on the schemes of popular training systems, such as full body workout or push/pull , and on my own powerlifting schedule.
Of course, due to the form, excluding the possibility of individually adjusting the plan, this will be only an outline and general characteristics of training programming. Remember that selecting loads and additional exercises, especially in the case of building muscle strength, is more than a copy-and-paste schedule. Paper will accept everything, and giving someone just a schedule is like giving someone a sheet of music, expecting them to learn to play an instrument. Above all, technique ! As for the weight itself, sometimes you have to add, sometimes you have to subtract. How, when and why depends on the individual training adaptation, the body's regenerative abilities, the use or not of doping agents, supplementation, as well as the approach of the trainee to the performed fight and the given load. Not to mention personal preferences, which is also worth considering when creating a schedule. After all, everyone has exercises that they love and those that they hate.
At the very beginning, you need to choose which lift or muscle group you want to improve, or in short, which version of Smolov Jr. you will write the plan on. Of course, at this point, the possibility of combining the squat and bench press according to the Smolov Jr. program in one training cycle will certainly come to mind, right? I strongly advise against such a combination and, as always in such cases, I will be forced to quote Henryk Kwinto from "Vabank": "No own ideas". I will add that this is one of my favorite quotes and I often use it when working with athletes. Simply put, Smolov Jr. is a very demanding program in itself, giving satisfactory results in a short time, but its intensity should be a sufficient reason to work on only one lift at a time. I have no doubt that it can be done differently. The only question is, at what cost?
Full Body Workout
In the case of training based on the full body workout system, creating a complete training plan is not a problem, regardless of the version chosen, because when building a plan based on exercises for the whole body, we will skip the squat or bench press, respectively, included in the Smolov Jr. program. I suggest doing full-body workouts three times a week, using free weights, the fourth within the Smolov Jr. program itself or possibly with additional exercises, but definitely in a limited form, using machines.
Push/Pull
The situation is similar with the push/pull system. The difference is that we divide the trainings, according to the principles of the system, according to the movement, selecting the appropriate pushing and pulling exercises, for the individual training days of the Smolov Jr. program. The number of trainings can include from four to six units, and depending on this number it will be push/pull in a two-on-two or three-on-three arrangement, with two pull trainings, extended by an exercise in the push characteristic, depending on the selected program version, in the case of four training units, or with one pull training extended by an exercise in the push characteristic, depending on the selected program version, in the case of six training units.
Powerlifting by Radzio Wu Click
It looks completely different with a typical powerlifting supplement, where the choice of the Smolov Jr. program version is crucial. It should be remembered that with this specific plan, we have to work on all three lifts, and the addition of deadlift to the Smolov Jr. program in the version with the squat can really make you think: is it still fun or is it already a must. That is why I suggest performing the remaining lifts, omitted in the Smolov Jr. program, in the heavy/light system, based on the 5x5, 5/3/1 program or similar, in the heavy version, and in the 1/2/3 system or similar technical training, in the light version. The layout of such a training, depending on the version, will look as follows:
Smolov Jr. under squat:
Workout 1:
Smolov Jr. squat
heavy bench press
light deadlift
Training 2:
Smolov Jr. squat
standing press
lifting the barbell along the torso
Training 3:
heavy deadlift
light bench press
Pull-ups on the bar
Workout 4:
Smolov Jr. squat
push-ups on the bars
barbell rowing with the torso bent over
Workout 5:
Smolov Jr. squat
barbell arm curls
abdominal exercise
Smolov Jr. Bench Press:
Workout 1:
light squat
Smolov Jr. bench press
heavy deadlift
Training 2:
Smolov Jr. bench press
Pull-ups on the bar
lifting the barbell along the torso
Training 3:
heavy squat
Smolov Jr. bench press
light deadlift
Workout 4:
Smolov Jr. bench press
barbell rowing with the torso bent over
barbell arm curls
You can find the description of the Smolov Jr. program here
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via my Facebook page , cheers!
Radzio Wu - rugby player by upbringing, weightlifter by passion, powerlifter, Brazilian jiu-jitsu white belt, fat fat guy, coach, lightweight, heavyweight.
