It's all over.....Smolov Summary

I completed the final session of my Smolov Bench Programme today (Saturday 3rd Nov).  146kg for 10 sets of 3 reps and once again I didn't miss a rep.  So that's me done and dusted with the programme.  All went well and across the whole programme I managed all the reps on every single set.  This I am pretty pleased with as was quite an intense programme.
Thursday this week was 138kg for 8 sets of 4, and Monday was 130kg for 7 sets of 5.
After rather stupidly deciding to bench three days in a row last week, and get a head start on this final week, my left shoulder was really painful benching on tuesday and I was feeling very battered about by the programme.  I expected a few overuse minor injuries because of the high volume of this programme, but this did leave me not feeling too great for the last two workouts. By the final workout though after a lot of icing and soft tissue work my shoulder felt pretty much back to normal and despite the weight feeling pretty heavy right from the start of the 10 sets, it actually got easier across the sets.

So what do I think I've gained from this programme.

Having yet to retest my 1 rep max on the bench I do not know yet whether this has added much to my max however I took this programme on to build confidence and consistency with my bench and build some rolling momentum to then go ahead and start working on 90% and above in the following few weeks. The mental boost I now have from performing 10 sets of 3 reps at 91.25% of my 1 rep max has given me a lot of confidence so that when I come to perform a heavier workout with less volume I should work past the 140-145kg sets very easily because I know I have gone through performing a total of 30 reps in a workout at 146kg.

In terms of technical improvement to my bench, I feel this needs a few adjustments as by the final 2-3 workouts I felt a bit sluggish and not very explosive.  I am hoping that once I have had a few days rest and body has recovered that I will regain the bar speed I had at the beginning of the programme.  My hips are still raising off the bench slightly when I start to fatigue so releasing my hip flexors a bit more and getting my feet set in the right place needs some work.

So in summary....

....I would recommend this programme to those who are looking to bust through a plateau on the bench. It will give you consistency in technique at close to maximal weights, and will also gain you some muscle in the pressing muscles (triceps, front delts, upper back and chest).  You will build some confidence and you will also have to be very mentally tough to complete all the workouts.  By the end of the programme I had a real mental battle with the last couple of workouts.  The very last workout was a tough challenge, not because of the weight but because the cumulative fatigue from the toughness of the previous 11 workouts.  Once you have performed the first 2-3 sets you are wondering how the hell am I going to get through the full ten.  But you turn the music up louder, crack out some ammonia and get to work. All in all an excellent programme and I feel very satisfied to have gone through this challenge.

Try it and let me know how you get on...