Is Overtraining Misunderstood?

I have always battled with accepting the idea of overtraining, also called overreaching, and applying the concepts to my training. In case you are not familiar with this concept, overtraining is essentially a physical, behavioral, and emotional reaction when physical activity exceeds the bodies ability to properly recover from physical exertion. It can cause loss of strength and muscle mass, inability to sleep, irritability, and negative changes in the brain-- among many other effects. In otherwords, it is believed that it is possible for someone to exercise harder than their body will allow which in return causes a bunch of bad shit to result physiologically.

Now, I am not debating the fact that overtraining causes a physiological effect, it does, it is why we get stronger. I am questioning the idea that it is bad, and more importantly, what percentage of the training population should be concerned with overtraining. I am also not an expert in neuroscience, nor neurobiology, but I come from a physics background and one thing that taught me was to find out why things happen. What causes them to work or behave like they do... I don't like taking much for face value, rather I try to find holes in the logic of something, like a statistic for example. If all you ever did was believe everything at face value, you will live your life being severely misinformed. Take this wonderful statistic for example:

100% of people who drink water will die.

That is not a lie, at all. It is 100% true! Seriously, everyone who drinks water will die, right? Of course. This happens all the time, we're only looking at a very small slice of the puzzle. If you read this statistic at face value you will not want to drink water, because apparently everyone who does, parishes. The same can be said for overtraining, why does the body have certain responses to overly intense physical exertion? Instead of simply accepting that the body having this response is automatically bad for you, let's explore it...

If Overtraining Is Such A Prevalent Concern...

 ...then why are the so many people who push well beyond this so called physical limit to become more awesome? My first example is undoubtedly the most badass military unit on the planet, the United States Navy SEALs. I've had a fascination with this group of guys since I was a kid, I've always admired them. Let's take a look at the training one must undergo to just be considered for a spot on the SEAL Teams-- BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition / School). On a small slice of land in Coronado, California, you will find a school called BUD/S. This is a 24 week school one must endure to move on to further specialized training. The attrition rate is generally around 80%. Sure, I will acknowledge that some of these are due to stress and overuse injuries. However, this is where I will address the issue that one most build up and train their body for a given task. You can't take raw metal and expect it to perform like steel, it most be tempered.  Plus, shit happens.

Drown proofing. Its like swimming but with your hands and feet tied.

If you're curious or don't know a lot about this training, I encourage you to read about it. There are tons of books on it. For the sake of this article, let's just look at Hell Week. This particular week falls into the first phase of training and is five and a half days where the trainees only get 4 hours of sleep for the entire week, they run about 200 miles during these days, are still expected to perform evolutions, all the while doing everything else like swimming, carrying boats on their heads, etcetera. How's that for overtraining? There is a reason the President gives these guys the high end jobs like killing Osama Bin-Laden, because they put out and get results.

Let us also take a look at elite level olympic lifters, or even amateur level olympic weightlifting. It is not uncommon for these men and women to squat twice a day, 7 days per week, also while performing the competition lifts like the snatch and/or the clean & jerk. Some gyms even advocate working up to a max every day for their athletes, which defies all conventional wisdom you see in 99% of the gyms across the globe. That basically gives an uppercut and roundhouse kick to the notion that you must only train a body part when it is not sore and never train a muscle group two days in a row. If they took this soft and pansy-like mentality you would not see the impressive numbers being put up today in olympic lifting meets all around the globe.

Chest and back splits? Nope.

Benoît Lecomte swam 3,716 miles in 73 days across the Atlantic ocean... you read that right. In 1998, this badass was followed by a boat that emitted a 25 foot electromagnetic field to ward off sharks. I great white shark followed him for 5 days. To prepare for this great feat, he swam for 5 hours a day, 6 days per week.

Shaolin Monks balance on their heads for hours to strengthen their necks for fighting... 

Just chillin' and taking a load off.

The Princeton Crew Quintathalon rows twelve miles, bikes seventeen miles, then runs a 10k, then rows another 15k on a rowing machine followed by about 50 stair sprints... 

Those are all just a few examples. A fantastic analogy said by owner of Average Broz Gymnasium, John Broz:

  

"If you got a job as a garbage man and had to pick up heavy cans all day long, the first day would probably be very difficult, possibly almost impossible for some to complete. So what do you do, take three days off and possibly lose your job?

No, you'd take your sore, beaten self to work the next day. You'd mope around and be fatigued, much less energetic than the previous day, but you'd make yourself get through it. Then you'd get home, soak in the tub, take aspirin, etc. The next day would be even worse.

But eventually you'd be running down the street tossing cans around and joking with your coworkers. How did this happen? You forced your body to adapt to the job at hand! If you can't' squat and lift heavy every day you're not overtrained, you're undertrained! Could a random person off the street come to the gym with you and do your exact workout? Probably not, because they're undertrained. Same goes with most lifters when compared to elite athletes."

– John Broz 2002

 Well said. 

What about injuries. Well, injuries happen, it is part of the game. I've never met anyone that has accomplished something great that did not have some unfortunate event happen to them. You name the situation, you'll probably find something that stood in their way-- its the way it works. World record holder in powerlifting Matt Kroczaleski is a great individual for this discussion. He believes people can come back from pretty much anything... He has this to say,

"None of us ever want to experience a serious lifting injury, but many will. The longer you stay in the sport and the stronger you become, the greater the odds that at some point you'll be faced with a serious injury. Due to my strength level and approach to training, I've suffered more muscle and tendon tears than just about any active competitor I know.
I've torn my left calf, right quad, left pec, left lat, my groin on both sides, my lower back numerous times, both biceps, right triceps once, and my left triceps three times including the most recent tear which required surgical repair of the tendon.
Three of the injuries resulted in me being wheeled into an operating room for surgical repair and many others required an extensive rehab. I've also separated my right acromio-clavicular joint, dislocated my right shoulder, and even pushed myself to the point where I caused intracranial bleeding – on two separate occasions."
 -Matt Kroczaleski
 

Matt Kroc

Look up videos of Matt "Kroc" training, you'll be impressed with his intensity. 

I come from a climbing background, so one more fantastic story to mention is Joe Simpson's and Simon Yate's first ascent of Siula Grande in the Andes Mountains. A 20,813 ft alpine route they did in 1985. There is a book and a movie published on this incident, called Touching The Void. After their successful ascent, on their descent from the summit Simpson slipped and broke his right leg by crushing the tibia into the knee. Bad weather was closing in on them and they had ran out of fuel for their stove so they could not melt snow for drinking water-- thus they could not could stick around. In an effort to descend down on a very steep portion of the descent, Yates had to lower Simpson over this area because of his injured leg. During this process, Simpson and Yates could not see or hear each other because of the howling weather and terrain. Yates had unknowingly lowered Simpson into mid-air over a cliff. Simpson had tried ascending the rope to free himself of hanging in mid-air, but his hands were too frost-bitten to properly tie the knots to do so and inadvertently dropped the Prusik cord. So, here Simpson floated. Unable to be lowered any further, unable to go up, and unable to communicate. They remained in this position fora few hours and the snow around Yates' belay seat began to give way, cold weather began to take its toll, and Yates' had no idea what had happened to Simpson. Yates had to make a decision, because both just sitting there exposed each of them to death. 

Siula Grande, Peruvian Andes Range. Not too many hospitals close by.

Simon Yates decided to cut the rope which sent Joe Simpson falling into a deep crevasse. Yates dug a snow cave and waited the night out and descended the next day. Upon his descent, he realized what happened to Simpson and called out his name, but heard no reply. Assuming that he had died in the fall he ventured back to base camp. Simpson however was very much alive. Despite having a broken leg, falling onto a ledge in a crevasse, and going unconscious for a period of time-- he was still alive and regained consciousness. Simpson managed to lower himself deeper into the crevasse and eventually found his way out through a steep snow slope. He then spent three days without food and very little water crawling 5 miles back through a glacier navigating more crevasses to base camp returning only moments before Yates' depart for civilization. 

With that story in mind, I think it is safe to say most "experts" would have deemed this situation as a certain death for Joe Simpson. He literally pushed his body to his absolute limits, for the sake of staying alive. His body had two options, stop and die, or keep pushing. I couldn't imagine the amount of will power this feat required. I relate this to anything else when it comes to pushing the body, the majority of people do not have a clue as to what they are capable of as a human. If a doctor told me I was going to die unless I added 100 pounds to my squat in a month, I can guarantee you I would be squatting every day, multiple times a day, to make this happen. Apply some extreme unconventional logic to everyday things and it can certainly change how they appear.

So What Is Going On In The Body?

 Now that we have seen some defiance in the logic of what constitutes the "norm," should we really be worried about taxing the central nervous system and the body? A great article I read a while back broke it down like this. I don't remember where I read it, but it has stuck with me.

When we train our bodies with weights, or whatever, there is more than just your muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are being trained. Our brains are being adapted as well. When you warm up in your routine to lift heavier weights, you are not only warming the muscles, stretching soft tissue, introducing more synovial fluid into the joints, or raising the body temperature- but you are priming the nervous system for the tasks at hand. Your brain directly responds to training by the chemicals it uses to make your body work, in short, it changes its structure chemically from physical stress. The central nervous system  (CNS) does not operate like the electrical impulses in a power cable you would plug into your wall to charge your computer. It operates by chemicals to the nerve impulses, or neurotransmitters to synapses. Synapses allow a nerve cell to pass a signal (chemical) to another cell. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals in which pass the signal across the synapses. These chemicals are what make everything work in the body. The electrochemical reaction is the reason electrical impulses are detected, because they are a byproduct of this process. A big reason why we get stronger when we train is because the nerves develop more receptor sites and a greater amount of neurotransmitters are made to result in a stronger impulse. 

When a greater than usual stress is placed on the nervous system it gives it a reason to adapt. So if you start a routine of squatting heavy every day, and you previously did not do this, the body will then realize it isn't prepared to handle the work load. Thus it will began to make changes in order to survive from the demands placed upon it. So, the brain will shut down certain functions in order to go through this period of adaptation. This is the reason for some of the side effects of overtraining. Serotonin is a major component in muscle contraction and how hard it contracts. Serotonin is also the main hormone that effects our happiness, mental outlook, willingness to go train and do things. A lot of this is used when lifting maximal weights and thus why this effects our mood. 

So when this sudden demand gets placed on the body serotonin receptors get shut down in order to be upgraded. This period of adaptation can take days or weeks, and a person will feel the effects of it. Serotonin also regulates appetite, sleep and your cardiovascular system. Which is why these are also effected during this time of change. Naturally, your brain is giving you signals to stop whatever it is your doing so it doesn't have to make these changes. The human body and brain are always  looking for the easiest method for survival, it is why we get pleasure from things like sleeping, eating, and being lazy. This is exactly what you don't want! You want to push through this process in order to put the greatest demands on the body to receive the greatest adaptation. 

This is why high volume, high intensity, high frequency programs are so difficult; such as Smolov or Bulgarian lifting methods. Because they do not make you feel good! However, it is also why they work like no other program. A lot of people lift weights and exercise because it makes them feel good, they are essentially addicts like a drug user is. When you lift lighter weights serotonin is raised but their is no adaptive response from the brain. So all you get is the feel good affect much like someone who is snorting a line of coke.

Conclusion

This is hopefully something you can consider in your training. I firmly believe in understanding why we feel and react the way we do to certain aspects of our lives. The body is very complex and I am not in any shape or form saying there are not more pieces to the puzzle. Though, in my personal experience in training I've managed to send my training volume through the roof by forcing myself to train through some very bleak moments. Moments when I was tired, sore, and felt like my body couldn't take anymore-- I was back in there doing it again, and again. Surviving these moments has adapted my body to be able to handle greater training loads. I firmly believe if you don't have swollen hot joints, you can probably train, regardless of how you "feel."

Easy Delicious Homemade Pizza

One of my favorite foods during training cycles and really any other time of the year is pizza. I love pizza. However, I am not a huge fan of the run of the mill chain pizza joints such as Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, or Dominos. For me, they are entirely too salty, have sub par ingredients and usually leave me feeling like crap. Here is a simple recipe I use for making my own homemade pizzas. Everyone I make them for enjoy them more than the above restaurants and I still feel awesome after eating a whole one by myself.

You can use whatever toppings you want obviously, but for a pepperoni pizza here is the macro nutrient break down for one whole pizza:
Calories: 2333
Fat: 80g
Carbs: 273g
Protein: 127g

Take off the pepperonis and you'll drastically reduce your fat and sodium. Some of my favoritre topping combos are:
Pepperoncini and Ham
Bacon and Red Onion
Green Peppers, Onion, and Pepperoni
Ham and Pineapple

A huge part of the taste of the pizza are the ingredients! If you buy cheaper ingredients, expect a cheaper tasting pizza. Even still, one pizza probably cost me about $5 to make. I will list exactly what I use.

Ingredients You Will Need
-1 pack of Martha White Pizza Crust Mix
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 Cups of Sargento Mozzarella Cheese
-8 oz. of Dei Fratelli Pizza Sauce
-Might need a little bit of flour. See steps below.
-Hot Pepper Flakes (optional)
-Toppings of your choice (again buy quality ingredients)

Tools You Will Need
-12 inch pizza pan (or there abouts, whatever)
-2 Medium sized bowls, preferably at least one metal one.
-1 Fork
-An oven.
-A good attitude and a little patience.
-Some Amos Lee playing in the kitchen.

Steps To Making 2000 Calories of Delicious Pizza

• This step can be the hardest, but gets easier the more you do it. Find a medium sized bowl and a fork to mix your crust in. Open crust mix and pour into the bowl. Pour a 1/2 cup of hot water into the bowl along with ~1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix vigorously (ha! love that word) until it appears to be all stuck together. There are two possible problems at this point you will run into, don't fret both are easy to fix...
• Problem one, you didn't pour enough water. So, your dough is a big dry blob resembling a wet ball of chalk or there are a bunch of pieces in your bowl and it isn't all stuck together. Simply add a little water, little, as in like a teaspoon. Work the water into the dough with your hands. 
• Problem two, your dough is too sticky. If your dough is sticking to your hands and everything else you'll need to add a little flour. You can be generous with it, it really isn't going to hurt anything. I do it over the sink to save clean up time. What you will be doing is using the flour while you knead the dough. 
• So once you have your dough mixed and you will need to knead it for a minute or so to get it pliable and such. The consistency you're looking for is a smooth even texture. Doesn't have to be perfect, its just fuckin pizza.
• In your metal bowl, pour a little more olive oil to cover the bottom of the bowl. Put your dough in it and cover the dough with the olive oil, cover the bowl with a lid.
• You will need to let your dough rise. There are many ways of accomplishing this, all you're wanting to do is let a little heat to the dough. What I do to speed up this process is I use my kitchen sink. Put a drain plug in the sink drain and fill enough hot water in your sink to place your metal bowl (with the dough in it and covered with a plate or something) in the water. Be careful not to let the bowl tip over and the water ruin your dough. Use as hot of water as possible. Which is why we use the metal bowl, conduction... Science is awesome. Let your dough rise for about 20 minutes or so. It'll be noticeably larger and slightly spongy. While your dough is rising, preheat your oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit.
• Next, place your dough in the center of your pizza pan and spread it out. This takes practice to develop your own technique. Basically start by pushing out from the center and evenly spread out from the center to the edges of the pan. Another technique is by putting a bunch of dimbles in the dough with your fingers and then pressing the dough and repeating this process over and over. If you need clarification, leave a comment or email me.
• Once you get your dough pressed on the pan, I personally preheat the dough. This helps get your crust slightly more done than if you put everything on raw dough, it basically avoids having overly soft crust that has no integrity to it. Place the pan in the oven for about 6 minutes on the center rack. The dough should be slightly more yellow when you pull it out and no longer be spongy, it will be easier to spread your sauce.
• Spread your sauce. I will use about 8 ounces to a pizza. Spread it out evenly with a spoon. Not enough sauce will drastically reduce the flavor of the pizza, too much will leave your pizza crust wet. Try using 8 ounces and see how it works for you. 
• Shake some hot pepper flakes if you like a little heat and spicy flavor to your food.
• Cheese! Fuck yes, cheese is awesome. I use about 2 cups per pizza. Again, not too much, not too little. When the cheese is cold, it is okay to see some sauce underneath, when it melts, you will have an even layer of cheese that covers the sauce. Spread it evenly, okay we got that...
• Next, put your toppings on... whatever toppings you like. Be creative, be simple, do what you want because you know what? Its your fucking pizza!
• Now place your oven in the pizza... or uhhh... place your pizza in the oven. You'll bake it for about 8 minutes. Times will vary of course so keep an eye on it. You're wanting some browning around the edges and all of the cheese melted across the pizza. If it looks like it is ready to eat, holy shit, it is probably ready to eat.
• Pull your pizza out and let it cool for about a minute or two, this way your slices won't fall apart from the cheese still cooking. Slice it into whatever sized slices you want and enjoy. 

This whole process takes me about 45-60 minutes to do, because most of it is waiting on the dough to rise and everything to cook. So you have a lot of down time to clean up your shit, that way when you're done eating you can sit your ass down and relax. It might take a couple times to dial the whole dough handling thing, but it really isn't a big deal. You'll eat pizza more often if you learn to make these and they're a whole helluva more healthier for you too. If you like beer! Some great beers that go well with the pizza, I think, are...

 Highland Brewing Companies Oatmeal Porter is a robust beer that is dark with malty and hoppy balance, with a hint of chocolate roasted flavor. Nom nom nom!

 

Red Oak is an old style amber lager that is very smooth and is very unique to any lager I've had. Nom Nom Nom!

New Belgium's 1554 is another brew darker in color. This is probably one of my favorite beers. It is consider a black ale and the original recipe for this beverage was lost during a flood in Fort Collins Colorado in 1997. The brew masters traveled to Belgium to find the recipe again through antiquated scripts... Which is an amazing thing about beer, it is like experiencing history when you can sample some of the old recipes from many, many, many generations ago. Pretty cool. Cheers. Oh, yeah enjoy the pizza!

Strength Standards: Are You Strong?

Self Made.

 These are what I believe constitutes a strong male. See where you rank!

Squat
2.0 x body weight - Great
2.5 x body weight - Excellent

Deadlift
2.5 x body weight - Great
3 x body weight- Excellent

Barbell Bench Press
1.5 x body weight - Great
2 x body weight - Excellent

Bent-Over Barbell Row
Equal to Bench Press

Strict Overhead Press (standing)
.75 x body weight - Great
1 x body weight - Excellent

Power Clean
1.3 x body weight - Great
1.7 x body weight - Excellent

Pull-Ups
20 reps at body weight- Great
25+ reps at body weight - Excellent


Dips
60+ reps at body weight - Great
80 reps at body weight - Excellent


Single Leg Squat
If you can do them- Great
20 reps at body weight - Excellent

 Prowler Pushes
10 x 40yd x 90lbs sprints - Great
Anything above that! - Excellent

400m Sprint
<60 seconds - Great
<51 seconds - Excellent

500m Swim (any stroke)
<9:00 minutes - Great
<8:00 minutes - Excellent

This is not by any means derived from a national strength and conditioning source or competitive list directly.  We all have different contributing factors that may make us weaker or stronger in a given area. However, I believe these are very true judgements of someones athletic ability. Here is my reasoning:

The Squat. The only other exercise that might beat this is the front squat, where your numbers will be slightly lower. Both exercises are a true test of someones total body strength, stability, flexibility, and mobility. In order for someone to reach proper depth they must encompass all of these traits. It is outstanding the number of gym goers who lack the ability to perform the squat with a heavy load. Remember, it is not a squat if you do not reach parallel or lower, meaning hip crease below the knee joint.

The Deadlift. Seriously, how strong are you if you can not pick up something heavy off the ground? The deadlift is another excellent test for someones total body strength. It requires tremendous leg, back, grip, and core strength to perform this exercise using heavy weights.

The Bench Press. This is the famed exercise you see 90% of the population perform. Some coaches argue that the bench serves no purpose in the athletic arena... I agree and disagree with this. I believe it is an important exercise for overall shoulder stability and health, plus building upper body mass. There literally is not another exercise you can perform with the same poundage in the horizontal pushing plane. For that reason, I believe it is a great measure of upper body strength-- however, it is one of the lesser important ones. I personally do not focus on my bench, I treat it more as a supplemental movement. A lot of folks get into trouble with this exercise for not performing equal back work in proportion to there bench. Which brings me to the next one...

The Bent-Over Barbell Row. I feel this exercise should be performed with the torso at almost 90 degrees to the floor. Too often I see guys performing "rows" with an almost complete upright posture... this is a shrug at best not a row. Most trainees can not perform this exercise because they lack sufficient hamstring, glute, and lower back strength when the weights get challenging. What I always try to remember is that your row should be a mirror of your bench. Your back muscles are unbelievably strong and can take a lot of volume, if you lack this in your training regimen, injuries will eventually occur.

Strict Standing Overhead Press. This exercise is extremely difficult for me, and most others. It is slow to progress if performed correctly and is very taxing on the body. For shoulder strength this is an admirable exercise. No leg drive!

Power Clean. Another difficult exercise that tests total body power. Albeit there is a huge learning curve with the technique of it, once learned it can be a game changer for an athlete's or gym rat's strength development. It also builds a ridiculous back.

Pull-Ups. This is one of those "man exercises" that every guy should be able to do. Most guys, like other super challenging exercises, use excuses on why they can not do them. There is not an excuse. I've seen 250 lbs big boned guys perform 20 pull-ups and not even break a sweat. Like the squat, this is an exercise that simply a lot of guys can not do. If you cannot pull your own body up multiple times, this should be a huge indication of your relative strength to weight ratio.

Dips. Simple, it is another test if you suck at the bench! Dips are another excellent exercise that evaluates true upper body strength and endurance.

Single Leg Squat. I can still remember the first time I tried a single leg squat, it was humbling to say the least. I perform them periodically to make sure I can still do them. I use a box when I do them so when I squat down my free leg does not touch the ground. This way I can never cheat and all of my body weight stays on the working leg. These, in my opinion, are a better option than box step-ups for that reason.

Prowler Pushes. If you have done them, you know why... These always make me feel extremely out of shape!

400m Sprint. I am a huge fan of the 400m sprint. It tests both anaerobic and aerobic functions of an athlete. If performed as an all out effort one most utilize both components. I believe long duration runs are not meant for humans to do. It breaks down joints and causes atrophy in the muscles. I could write an entire article on this subject, for later perhaps.

500m Swim. Swimming is widely influenced by technique. I throw this one in here because swimming is a fundamental skill for humans. If you can not swim, you can not independently function on 71% of the planet. For this test, any stroke will do. Just like sprinting, squatting, doing pull-ups-- swimming falls in line with these skills, because they are all just that, skills. However, swimming is also a great test of how a person performs in a semi hypoxic environment and can control their breathing under physical stress.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, we all have our personal limiting and contributing factors. Keep in mind too, when I write "great" or "excellent," it can be relative. You know? If you come close to "great," that is pretty friggin awesome. Keep shooting for higher goals. We all have other things going on in our lives. I personally just keep striving for more in my life. Whenever I find I fall short on something, I try to take a hard honest look at myself and ask if I am making an honest effort or if I am just accepting my weaknesses. Sometimes we must accept a weaker quality of ourselves, but I truly believe that 95% of the time, we can transform those in to strengths.

Drug Free Steroid-like Gains for The Squat

The squat is commonly regarded as the king of all exercises-- for good reason. If I were locked up in a cell and was told I could only perform one exercise, it would be the squat. There is nothing else that will train the entire body and test the fortitude of a person more. It is simply the only exercise that has taught me a lot about myself and has continued to help pave my way through personal excellence. The squat is like a beacon when stranded out at sea-- it keeps me on course. It never fails to remind me where I am as a human

A lot of people hate squats. I did too at one point in my life, pretty much my first couple years of seriously getting into lifting. I never did them, I hated the way they made me feel, and how it seemed like it would take 2 weeks for me to recover from doing them. It was always such a humbling exercise; it crushed my ego. I can still remember when I could barely squat 205 lbs with marginal depth and form... how embarrassing...

Fast forward years later and I got a reputation at my old gym as the "Squat Master." I certainly felt like I did not deserve such a name, and still don't. There are plenty of people who are much stronger squatters than me. One quick search on YouTube will send you into "Inadequacy Ville."Although, having been given such a name raises the issue of why I was given that name-- because no one else took squatting as seriously as I did. It is as simple as that. When I was at Appalachian State University studying physics, in my free time I did only a few things. One of those things was squatting, and it was there I discovered a very powerful squat routine in Russian origin...

Squat! Again!

Meet Sergey Smolov 

S.Y. Smolov, Russian Master of Sports, designed a 13 week squat routine that is commonly referred to as simply, Smolov or the Smolov Squat Routine. It was originally made popular in published works by Pavel Tsatsouline and has since become more popular over the years. I did my first Smolov cycle in 2008 and started with a 275 lbs 1RM (1 Rep Max) and ended with a 350 lbs 1RM. I was ecstatic to say the least because that is a 75 lbs increase in 13 weeks! I can still remember how amazed I was and how the hard work really paid off. However, I got more than just a 75 pound increase in my squat-- oh yes. My squat form got ridiculously better. My entire body was more muscular and I dropped fat, even while eating a ton of calories. My deadlift increased despite not deadifting any. Most importantly, I learned what true hard work was and I learned I could push my body far beyond what normal people do in the gym. After finishing Smolov, it really makes everyone's workout routines look like a child's game-- seriously. Smolov is fuckin intense. The best way I can describe it is a religious experience.

If you read around the interwebz, you'll find all sorts of conflicting information about the routine. Some people say it was designed for lifters on steroids and it is too much for a natural lifter to handle. I'm here to tell you that is bullshit. I've never touched a steroid in my life and I have successfully completed Smolov twice, with great results and no injuries. Did my body hurt? Yes. Did I feel like squatting on really any of the days? Nope! Perhaps, I'm like a sadomasochist and I enjoy the punishment... I'll tell you this though, there is no where else in my life that challenges my mind and body like this program does, which is probably why I love it-- not to mention, you are rewarded with outstanding muscular and strength gains. 

The Mad Commie Cycle
Smolov is broken up into 5 mini cycles to comprise one 13 week macrocycle.
1. Introductory Microcycle (2 weeks)
2. Base Mesocycle (4 weeks)
3. Switching (2 weeks)
4. Intense Mesocycle (4 weeks)
5.Taper (1 week)

**Set/rep schemes are read as (1RM% x SET x REP). So 85%x5x2 is read as 85% at 5 sets of 2 reps.
Percentages are based on your tested one rep max (1RM).**

The Introductory Microcycle is essentially a preparatory phase for all of the pain and anguish that lies ahead. It is designed to bring you up to at least 90% of your 1RM in the first week. 
In week 1, the first three days are consecutive days of squatting followed by 3 days of lunges. Do not worry about the weight you use on your lunges, rather focus on stretching the thighs.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

65%x8x3, 70%x5, 75%x2x2, 80%x1 65%x8x3, 70%x5, 75%x2x2, 80%x1 70%x5x4, 75%x3, 80%x2x2, 90%x1 3x8 (lunges) 3x8 (lunges) 3x8 (lunges)

In week 2 you will squat every other day working up to 1 set of 5 at these given percentages:

Monday Wednesday Friday

80%x1x5 82.5%x1x5 85%x1x5

The Base Mesocycle is the next 3 weeks of hell on Earth followed by a week to test your new 1RM so you can remind yourself why you are doing this. You will squat four times per week and will often find yourself wishing you had just stuck to your usual routine. It will take a lot of intestinal fortitude to get through this cycle. Upon testing your new max, you should expect a gain of 20-50 lbs. The Base Mesocycle looks like this:

Week #	Monday	Wednesday	Friday	Saturday
1	70%x4x9	75%x5x7	80%x7x5	85%x10x3
2	(70%+20lbs)x4x9	(75%+20lbs)x5x7	(80%+20lbs)x7x5	(85%+20lbs)x10x3
3	(70%+30lbs)x4x9	(75%+30lbs)x5x7	(80%+30lbs)x7x5	(85%+30lbs)x10x3
4	Rest	Rest	Rest	Test 1 Rep Max

*In weeks 2 and 3, you will add weight (20-30lbs) to whatever weight you did in week 1. So, say if you did 315 lbs on Saturday of week 1-- you will do 335 on week 2, and 345 on week 3 for the Saturday sessions.

The Switching Phase is basically a well deserved vacation. To quote Sergey Smolov, the motto of the switching phase is "Speed, and speed again!" There is not a published regimen for these 2 weeks that I can find, but the idea is to focus on dynamic effort while giving your mind and body a break. You can substitute in things like cleans, squat jumps, and even leg presses. Whatever exercises you do choose, focus on explosive power and speed. As far as percentages are concerned-- 50-60% would be a good ballpark for everything.  What I have done in the past is this and find it works well...

Monday Wednesday Friday

Box Squat 10x2 Power Clean 8x3 Box Jumps 8x3

 Do that for both weeks 1 and 2 of the switching phase.

If you're concerned about keeping the nervous system adapted, you can perform a squat negative. I would personally put it in place of the box jumps, and simply perform just 1 rep adding 10-20lbs to your 1RM from the Base Mesocycle. Place the safety pins in a power rack to the exact height where the bar would be in the bottom of the squat (you could also use jerk blocks). Execute the exercise slow and controlled, and make sure to have someone spot you. 

The Intense Mesocycle follows the switching phase, and this is the next episode of a Saw movie but in real life and without the cheesy Billy Jigsaw puppet.

Even Jigsaw wouldn't wish Smolov on his poor victims.

 This 4-week block was designed by Moscow's powerlifting and weightlifting coach I. M. Feduleyev and is good for yet another 25-45 lbs added to your 1RM. Yet like the rest of the program, you pay dearly for these type of results. As you will see below, you are only squatting 3 days per week in this cycle, but don't get too excited. You will be lifting at almost superhuman levels of volume, frequency and intensity. Your legs will transform into hydraulic pistons of anger and steel. You will use your new one rep max from the end of the Base Mesocycle!

Week #	Monday	Wednesday	Saturday
1	65%x3 75%x4 85%x3x4 85%x5	60%x3 70%x3 80%x4 90%x3 85%x2x5	65%x5 70%x4 80%x5x4
2	60%x4 70%x4 80%x4 90%x3 90%x2x4	65%x3 75%x3 85%x3 90%x3x3 95%x3	65%x3 75%x3 85%x4 90%x4x5
3	60%x3 70%x3 80%x3 90%x5x5	60%x3 70%x3 80%x3 95%x2x3	65%x3 75%x3 85%x3 95%x4x3
4	70%x3 80%x4 90%x5x5	70%x3 80%x3 95%x4x3	75%x3 90%x4 80%x3x4

After the Intense cycle, you will begin the 1 week Taper which is primarily geared towards someone peaking for a competition. You will squat one day this week and test/compete for a new 1RM. Your week will look like this...

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Rest 75%x4, 85%x4x4 Rest Rest Rest Test New 1RM

That will conclude probably one of the hardest things you have ever done in your life-- revel in your glory and your acceptance into a new realm of training.

Concerns & Considerations 
-You should be aware that this program is all about the squat. You can successfully add in upper body training while doing Smolov, but be smart and sparing. You should at no point add in anything that will tax your legs or low back. There is no point, you will be squatting so much this will all be worked in abundance and you will only hamper your progress. A lot of people perform Smolov without doing anything other than just the squats. My first time doing it I only did the squats and it was plenty. I did not have any atrophy in the rest of my body, just a couple weeks of remapping motor skills in particular lifts like the bench when I finished and went to a "normal" routine. Remember, the squat works your entire body and is a highly anabolic and stressful movement. If you do choose to add in upper body work, keep it simple and basic. I add in only bench, DB rows, military press, dips and pull-ups. Divide it up through the week and keep the volume low, done. Some days I get done with the squats and I go home. Trust me, when you near the end of a couple cycles it might take you an hour just to do your squats.

A sample template of my added work would look like this:
Day1
Bench 5x5
DB Row 4x8


Day 2
Standing Press 4x5
Pull-Up 1xFailure

Day 3
Bench 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Chest Support Row 4x8

-You can perform Smolov with front squats, it is what I am doing now.

-Diet and rest. Literally eat as much as you can, whenever you can. If you don't have proper nutrition and a surplus of calories your body simply won't be able to recover from such an intense load of work. Don't worry about gaining fat, this is more work than most top level American squatters perform in a year. Sleep as much as you can, you will get awesome rest, take advantage of it.

-Supplements I use are pizza and giant burritos. They're the best things on the market for recovery, muscle building, hormone production, and energy.   

- Rest periods. Take the rest you need but don't go crazy. Get in there to get the work done. When it gets insanely hard, you might find yourself taking up to 5 minutes between sets... maybe longer. The goal is to get the reps done and move the weight in a full range of motion. That is your priority. I remember on some of the days, I felt like a squat rack hog, because I was literally squatting for around an hour.

-Stretching and mobility should have just as much priority as the lifting. I would even suggest investing in a couple deep tissue massages as well.

Do this program and you will gain a tremendous amount from it. You must have a couple years of lifting hard under your belt before doing it. You should be accustomed to squatting multiple days per week, be squatting at least twice your body weight for a single as well (for men)-- it is not a beginners program. Otherwise, you run the risk of injury and the worst overtraining the world has ever witnessed. It certainly is not for everyone, it is not for the weak and the timid-- it is a true test of ones self. Best of luck.

Glamour Magazine Is Horrible Advice

Perfect reading for those times when you don't feel like actually reading anything.

Okay, I will attest that my title is perhaps a generalization. How big of one? I am not sure, since I am basing this off entirely one article that I had happened to read in Glamour's April 2013 issue. Surprisingly enough, it was the one article I happened to open the magazine up to. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I was laughing. Hoping for some sort of sense to come from it but it never came. It was like watching a grown woman cry over Justin Bieber, it just didn't make any sense why anyone would put themselves out there like this. I tried. I really did. However, it reminded why so many people are confused about a lot of things, especially training/fitness, because they get their advice from bad resources.

The particular article I am referring to is titled:

"Work Your Arms, Forget The Rest!"

"Sexy arms trick everyone into thinking your whole body is that good. A quick results routine."

By: Shaun Dreisbach

Page 148, April 2013 Issue, Glamour Magazine

Now, already there is so much bullshit in the title and subtitle. Which is probably why it caught my eye... I honestly could not believe someone would write that. For many, many reasons I will quickly go over. The article was very short so I will caption here below.

""A toned upper body gets noticed more than any other body part," says New York City trainer Jay Cardiello, who helped Jennifer Lopez shape hers. Sculpted arms, he says, make you look leaner all over, no matter what the reality is. Plus, they tone up faster than any other muscle group! So-- you in? Do his routine three days a week, going through the whole thing twice (don't skip the cardio bursts). You'll see results in two weeks. Then get out every sleeveless number you own."

It then goes on to show the reader 4 exercises labeled "Seagull, Ferris Wheel, Caterpillar, and Drop-Back." Author Shaun Dreisbach is so kind to give us a picture and description as well.

Seagull is really just a fuckin plank where you hold one arm out either in front of you or beside you for 30 seconds. He calls it seagull because I guess where he comes from there are some sort of circus seagulls that fly around using just one wing. These seagulls, with their one flying wing, will fly in a circle, which is exactly where this exercise is going to get you... back where you started.

Ferris Wheel is where, I'm not shitting you, someone holds a book and curls it then does arm circles with both hands. A book. Albeit he says "heavy book" I can't imagine what a heavy book is... unless you have a stone tablet used to record the 10 Commandments I got a bright idea... pick up a dumbbell, a bag of rice, a gallon of water. A Book?

Then Caterpillar, which is where you go from a standing position, walking your hands out to push-up position and then back to standing. I can accept this one... but we went from training with books to performing a rather challenging core exercise. Are we training fit women or elderly patients in a nursing home?

Last, the Drop-Back, which is entirely to hard to explain without a picture and I even did a Google search "Drop-Back Exercise" and found nothing. It really resembles a yoga exercise which would look like it would have a lot of benefit in terms of bodyweight training, but I don't see the correlation to strickly just training your arms. As it involves quite a bit of flexibility... and I'm losing it...

Here's My Beef 

I am always for great alternatives to give to people to make their bodies healthier, stronger, and even for people to feel better about themselves. Not everyone can squat, bench, and deadlift. I understand that. Here are the lies in this article...

"Work Your Arms Forget the Rest"- Worst advice ever. You will get no where by just working your arms. Do this long enough and you have a healthy recipe of injury, muscle imbalance, and a body you will be very unhappy with. Plus, every exercise he lists, involves the rest of the body. Which is already negating his idea of arms only "toning."

"Sexy arms trick everyone into thinking your whole body is that good."- No!You think anybody gives a shit about J.Lo's arms or that is even what everybody notices first? No! Its her ass. Her hips. Her waist. Her posture

OMG! I love your earrings Jennifer!

What is worse is they have a picture of Jennifer Lopez, with the caption "The workout that made J.Lo look this amazing." What? Are you kidding me? The sad part is someone is going to believe that unfortunately.

The article claims that toned arms make you look leaner all over. No they don't, end of story. If you have excess fat around your waist, neck, hips, thighs... guess what, you still see it. By the way, I hate the term tone. It means nothing. A discussion for another time.

The article really just aggravated the hell out of me. Beyond measure really, because it is a great example of how magazines don't know what the hell they are talking about. It is bothersome and embarassing to think that they published this! As far as J.Lo's trainer, he probably knows what he is talking about and this douche bag Shaun Dreisbach fucked it up so bad that it makes Paris Hilton look like an intelligent quality role model.

I can see where this article could have been beneficial but there is so much information missing and the advice is absolutely horrible. Pretty much every sentence is diarrhea. If you read magazines... be careful with what advice you take. After all, there is only one true magazine, and that is National Geographic.

A Strong Posterior Is Badass

The posterior chain is a group of muscles, tendons and ligaments on the back of the body. Examples of these muscles include the hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae muscle group, trapezius, deltoids and the like. Posterior means further back in position or rear, thus refers to the back area of the human body. So, posterior deltoid referring to the rear deltoid. A weak posterior chain is something a lot of men and women have. It is also a primary reason for bad posture, back pain, and injury. You use your posterior chain in everything you must do in life. As you might conclude, a weak posterior therefore results in a weak life.

A lot of trainees forget that they have a posterior because they almost never see it, unless you are viewing your back with two mirrors or by taking photos of yourself-- it is hard to gauge your muscular development in these areas... unless you try to pick up something heavy or squat something heavy... Which leads me to the point of saying, a strong posterior is badass and downright sexy.



Plump, round, and strong.

I don't train for vanity reasons, but lets face it, lifting heavy stuff helps you look better. More and more women are realizing this, thank God. Finally, young women are understanding the fact that men don't like these starved runway models that look like the aliens from Close Encounters of The Third Kind. Great movie by the way.







Add hair and you have the next Vogue cover model.



Men fall prey into only training the mirror muscles (chest, arms, and abs). A very well known problem that plagues most guys I know. Why is this? I have a few speculations.

1) They don't see the rest of their body and they think the rest of them is fine.

2) They think that is all people see, they believe wearing pants hides their pathetic lower bodies and that their backs don't show through a shirt.

3) They train for the wrong reasons.

4) Training your legs and back is hard work!





Well, concerning appearance, I got news... You can tell. I laugh inside when I see guys boasting a big chest and arms when the rest of their physique looks like a developing 8 year old boy. They look weak because they are weak. Countless sets of bench press and curls, 5 days a week. Blows my mind.

Heavy leg and back work is hard labor, but it is well worth it. It makes you into a better man. A stronger man. It gives you a physique you can be proud of and it makes you functional in life. Concerning aesthetics-- no other guy cares how big your arms are or how much you stretch your t-shirt arm cuffs. That is serving your own ego to make you feel better about yourself. Girls like big arms sure, but they'll laugh when you take off your pants and they see these tiny little pencils... A powerful back? I've never met a weak man with a thick muscular back. A strong back can be downright intimidating, like a cobra always at the ready to strike. Big traps show intensity from controlling heavy weights, thick spinal erectors that look like two fat pork loins following the spine show a stable core structure, powerful glutes that are lifted show speed and strength, and the hamstrings which are like the biceps of the legs complete this into a display of posterior strength.

Lu Xiaojun, Chinese Olympic lifter. Ask him how many curls he does.

Put it this way, most guys want to have an appearance of being an alpha male. Your overall strength will display this! Simply put, if you are strong, you will look strong. Unfortunately, no matter what you believe, you don't get strong by breathing, eating, and just going to your job or school. You must train the body to achieve this. How do you do this? Train the posterior chain. Luckily, just about every strength, powerlifting, Olympic lifting routine out there crushes the posterior chain. Which is probably why a lot people do not do these routines and prefer the muscle magazine routines which focus on 21 sets of arm exercises. Incorporating these lifts into your routines can shoot you into a new realm of awesomeness.

1) Deadlift & Trap Bar Deadlifts
2) Squats and Front Squats
3) Glute-Ham Raises
4) Romanian Deadlifts
5) Pendlay Rows, Bent Over Barbell Rows
6) Good Mornings
7) Power Cleans/Hang Cleans/Snatches

These exercises are king. You don't need rear deltoid flyes, cable bullshit, or really anything else that is not worth taking the time from your life. You will become a strong person doing these. The important aspect is using them correctly into a structured routine. If you need a suggestion on routines, check out my Variation on the 5x5. If you would like any more suggestions feel free to email or leave a comment below. I hope this helps.