Smolov Results and Becoming a Man

[Gary Gibson]

Well, that could have gone better.

I was hoping for at least 425 on my Smolov test day. I got 405, but got buried on 425.

Lesson? Don't do Smolov too often. This is something that I thought I'd learned already.

Results: 10 lb increase on squat. I should have expected this since I was unable to complete the last day. I got only 4 sets of triples w/92% instead of 10. That clearly meant that I wasn't going to find the usual 30+ lb increase on test day.

In other news: I'm visiting my family none of whom I've seen since I visited exactly one year ago. I gained nearly 15 lbs in since then, most of it in the last couple of months. I'm squatting 60 lbs more and benching 40 lbs more. And it showed. Lots of well-received comments on my new appearance.

"You look...like a man," commented my dear grandmother.

One wonders what she thought I looked like before?

I weighed myself on my sister's Wii. I'd saved an avatar last year and the Wii Fit program scolded me on my weight gain. It even made my avatar pudgy around the middle. This is because the Wii Fit programmers, like most everyone else, equates "fit" with skinny people jogging. They can't conceive of someone getting heavier with more muscle.

[BCS]

It's good to see an increase, even if it's not the one you hoped for. I can identify with wishing to have more though. I tried to set up a wii fit guy that wanted to gain weight but couldn't. It would only give me a maintenance program for my 32 BMI. I don't really think 6'4 270 is terribly fat though.

I really enjoy seeing your posts and how you think through problems in your training. Gives me a few more angles to take when I start making new plans. Thanks for sharing.

[Mr.City]

Your posts are a delight to read as always, Gary, especially the Wii Fit bit. Have you read all the buzz about that one actor from Twilight who had to put on some weight? Apparently, they made him 3 sets of 5, and I thought, "finally, a ray of hope,' and then I found out they cycled him on and off every couple weeks.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi Gary,

I've been reading your posts for a long while, starting when you where still using the needle to extract liquid from your knee. I would like to ask a slightly unkind question.
You have gone throught the pain of doing a Smolov cycle, and gained 10lb: do you think it was worth it ? or, otherwise asked, could you not have made the same gain using a different, less taxing cycle ?

On a separate subject, I had a similar "grandmother" experience, but the lady in question was my Mum. She recently visited me (we live in different countries), and having seen me for most of my adult life at ~ 74Kg, she was quite surprised to find me wearing about 10Kg more.
After spending her whole life asking me if I ate enough, it was quite a moment for her.

She told me that I should now stop putting on weight. But I've got other plans, and I hope to be able to surprise her again this coming Xmas.

Congratulations for your ability, with the bar as well as with the keyboard.

IPB