I agree with RampantBadger above. Jokers aren’t really all that important to building your strength.
I find they are a useful tool when dialing in your technique at heavier weights when prepping for a powerlifting meet.
They are also fun to do in the correct phase of training when you are feeling really good. By no means are they required in any programming though.
As it’s already been said, Forever addresses jokers in a very simple way - after your last work set (usually a PR set), you increase the weight 5-10% and do 1-2 sets of 1-3 reps. Period. With these rules, the amount of autoregulation needed is minimal.
There are some programs that list jokers on every week, but going by memory most of them usually have a 3/5/1 setup with jokers listed on “3” and “1” weeks only. And they’re done on the Anchor phase, with maybe just one or two specific exceptions over the whole book.
As usual, common sense applies. If you’re new to jokers, be conservative.
Get some work done without them, a couple cycles, so you get to know the principles of training. When you do them at first (and probably even later), maybe just increase 5% the first set and assess after the first rep if you still have another one or two in the tank done in a smooth way. Then eventually bump up to 10% and repeat.
If you did your homework with PR sets on the cycles prior to jokers, you should have developed a basic sense of assessing how many good reps you still have in the tank - you know, looking at bar speed and technique and such.
I’ve done them, as a beginner, with the rules outlined in Forever and never had a problem with them. If you think about it, in the “5” week a 10% increase on the 85% of your TM is 93.5%TM. In “3” week , it’s 99%TM and in “1” week it’s 104.5%TM,
With a TM of 90% of 1RM, which is the very high end % you can use, it means that the heaviest week, with 104.5% of 90% of 1RM tanslates to you using 94% of your 1RM for a triple.
This means that if your TM is correct, you didn’t overshoot and you based it on an actual good 1RM (not a grinded one, not a competition one and so on) you should absolutely be able to get 3 good reps with that weight. Even moreso if you’re using the recommended range of about 85% for your TM. And this is just math done on the spot without keeping in mind that when you improve and score PRs, your actual 1RM could perfectly be higher than the one you’re basing your TM on.
When I started out, I tested my 1RM on the deadlift and took 90% of it as a starting TM. Six months later, after 6 cycles with increasing TMs, I could do my TM for 7-8 reps, which means that my TM started out at a “true” 90% of 1RM and progressively shifted back to being more of an 80%. I guess this tends to happen often, especially the younger you are in terms of training.
I think, could be wrong here, that jokers were addressed this way in Forever and differently than Beyond for a simple reason - misuse. People would try to do them all the time pushing the 10% increases and burning out. This, on the other way, goes back to another kind of misuse or misunderstanding, which is that Beyond programs are meant for experienced people. If you’re not experienced, you have no business doing the kind of jokers listed in Beyond. The way they’re ruled in Forever is basically dumbproof and with autoregulation almost built in those few basic rules.
Take if for what it is, which is a beginner’s experience, but I found jokers and working up to TM x 1-3 reps both useful mostly to get used to handle heavy weights and actually “feeling” what it’s like to move higher %s.
I’m not sure about how good they were in terms of building strength, too hard to assess for me now and not enough experience, but they helped built that kind of confidence you need while progressing, the one to avoid those “oh shit it’s heavy” moments.
But totally agree they’re not necessary and definitely not something I’d break my head about.