Smolov for Front Squats

..and it goes like this.

Recently, I wrote a post regarding my love for the Smolov squat program, called Drug Free Steroid-like Gains for the Squat. A few weeks ago I concluded my run doing the base mesocycle using front squats. I have looked around the internet and have not found too much information about using front squats with Smolov. So here is a basic run down of what I learned, and can share with you, if you are deciding on whether or not you want to do it.

First off, I had all intentions of doing the Intense cycle with the front squats, but knee pain for some reason became an issue. I had no pain what-so-ever during the base cycle, so I was a bit perplexed when it happened during the first week of the Intense phase. What can I say? I had to listen to my body.

Here is my 1-rep max (1RM) test before starting the base mesocycle, this was after doing a few months of an intermediate version of 5x5 I have adopted.

 

That was 275 pounds for a pretty smooth rep. I set my 275 pound max for my 1RM input into Smolov. So my training cycle looked like this:

Week #	Monday	Wednesday	Friday	Saturday
1	195x4x9	205x5x7	220x7x5	235x10x3
2	215x4x9	225x5x7	240x7x5	255x10x3
3	225x4x9	235x5x7	250x7x5	265x10x3
4	Rest	Rest	Rest	Test 1 Rep Max

Here is my 1RM test at the end of the four weeks:

So, that was 325 pounds for one rep. Not too shabby, 50 pound gain for just three weeks of hard work.

I have read a lot about coaches not recommending front squats for over 5-6 reps... Coaches like Charles Poliquin, who know way more than I, advise against front squats for high reps and to treat them like Olympic movements (low reps). Their reasoning is that the upper back can not sustain the load for high reps and you risk kyphosis (upper back rounding) as the muscles fatigue possibly leading to injury or dropping the bar on yourself.

I personally never had a big issue with it. In the beginning I did have a little bit of forward lean (more than needed) from muscle fatigue but this quickly disappeared after the first week and I was pretty upright on all of my sets. I kind of want to take the road of saying your body will adapt to anything. I certainly feel like this was the case here. As with any time I have ever done Smolov, my form becomes exponentially better with squats. My front squats were no exception, even my training partner commented on how well my sets looked more controlled and grounded.

So on the days of 4x9 and 5x7, don't fear them, you will adapt and get stronger. I really feel like my upper back got thicker and stronger in the process. I did add in band pull-aparts to aid in upper back/scapular strength. I did 3 sets of 50 reps with a micro mini band.

As far as additional work, I trained my upper body three days per week. I usually did them on the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday training days. This is what I did:

Monday:
Bench Press 5x5
DB Row 4x5
Band Pull Apart 3x50

Wednesday
Overhead Standing Press 4x5
Pull-Ups 1 x Failure
Face Pull 3x12
Ab Wheel 2x15-20

Friday
Bench Press 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Chest Supported DB Row 4x8
Band Pull Apart 3x50

Saturday
Ab Wheel 2x15-20

That is pretty much it.

I stretched a lot, as I always do. I feel better physically when I do. About three to four days a week I would walk about 2 miles with my girlfriend and our dog. I never once felt "overtrained" through the process. My diet was pretty casual, probably around 3,000 calories on most days, I didn't track it. I just ate normally, which for me is in the 3,000 ball park, sometimes a little less. My weight did not budge at all, I hovered around 175 to 180 pounds. I do feel I lost some fat, as I visually looked leaner in my mid-section. Again, I did not take measurements as I didn't really care.

Smolov for front squats works just fine, and I would recommend any intermediate or advanced lifter trying to bring up their quad strength to give it a go. As I mentioned before, I did not do the Intense phase, so the might possibly be another animal. It is much harder, if not impossible, to cheat on front squats. So that would certainly play a factor in the Intense phase as a lot of the reps are simply grinded out with nothing but sheer will power and heart. It is more difficult to do that with front squats. Using the base cycle is a quick three work burst to your performance, give it a shot!