Texas Method Intensity Day, Assistance

Training Powerlifting
1

Hey, I’m looking to start TM in a couple of weeks and I’m still confused about intensity day.
It says that for squats you go for a 5RM but for the pressing movements you go for a 1RM then next time same weight for 2RM then 3RM and after that a new 1RM with more weight.

This seems really slow, is it possible to make it a set for max reps for 1-3 reps and then if I was suppose to get 1-2 reps and got 3 do I skip a week and increase the weight? Is that possible?
And why are we doing different things for Squats and pressing movements on intensity day?

Also, I’m not sure where to put my deadlift in the program, should I put it in intensity or volume day. Note: I decided to quit cleaning, mainly because I suck at them and there is no one in my gym who can teach me properly.

And about assistance I know I wanna do chins, GHRs (they go in light day in the original program), dips, Kroc rows (possibly instead of cleans), bicep curls, triceps extentions, and hanging leg raises.
I have this routine in mind what do you think about it?

Volume day:
squats 5X5
pressing movement (altering) 5X5
deadlift 1X5/Kroc rows 1X20-40 (depending on when I deadlift)
dips 3X10
hanging leg raise 3X10
Light day:
Squats 2X5 @ 80% volume weight
pressing movement (Not volumes) 3x5 @ 90% of last volume day
chins 3Xmax
GHR 3X10
intensity:
Squats 1X?
pressing movement (volumes) 1X?
deadlift 1X5/Kroc rows 1X20-40 (depending in when I deadlift)
Curls 3X10
lying triceps extension 3x10

the “?” means I don’t know how many reps to do, 1-3RM?

2

I don’t know where you’re getting your info, but traditional Texas Method is 1x5 for everything on Intensity Day. What you’re talking about seems like a more advanced set up you’d do AFTER exhausting your progress with the standard program. As far as deadlift, if you get through the volume workout and still feel like you can deadlift, go for it. Otherwise it goes on Intensity. You’ll know for sure after one week.

There is discussion on assistance taking place in this thread right now: Switching to Texas Method - Powerlifting & Strength Sports - Forums - T Nation

3

It seems like his template is from Practical Programming which is kind of a template but really he is trying to explain the concepts rather than give a “training recipe” he is trying to explain the idea of the intensity day vs the volume day. Rippetoe does an easier to understand article on this t nation here: The Texas Method

Really whether you do 1rm vs a 3rm or a 5rm on your intensity day doesn’t matter as much as the point of intensity day which is to PR. You should have an idea of what your 1 rep PR is and your best 5rep. on Intensity day just try to beat one of those and the program is working, your getting stronger.

I would caution against all the assistance you have planned as it may take away from your main lifts. www.70sbig,com has some great ebooks on running TM aswell as some modifications. One of there mods if you feel inclined to do more assistance work is to add in an assistance day so your program would look like this:
Mon/ Volume day, Tues Assistance, Weds Light/recovery, Friday Intensity PR Day.

4

Deadlift can be done on Volume Day or Intensity Day. Do a 5x5 squat and bench and decide if you think you can pull after. I did mine on Intensity day.

Regardless, after doing the volume lifts, I can’t imagine doing rows, dips, and abs. Same goes with rows, curls, and tricep extensions on intensity day.

Based on what you’ve written, I would probably set it up like this:

Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Pendlay Row 3x5
Hanging Leg Raises

Squat 2x5 @ 80% Volume Weight
Press 3x5
Chins 3x
GHR 3x

Squat 1x5
Bench 1x5
Deadlift 1x5
Curls, Dips if you feel like it

Whether you alternate bench and press is up to you. I never did, but press wasn’t really a priority for me.

Depending on where you are coming from, it is suggested that your first intensity day weights be equivalent to your last 3x5 set (IE. start light). Volume day would be at 90%. After that, you don’t have to keep volume day constant at 90%. I think 80-85% after a bit is sufficient to drive intensity day. That means you might make a few bigger jumps on intensity day, or you might keep volume day the same over for a couple weeks before moving up.

After you’ve exhausted 5’s on intensity day, try 2x3, 3x2, 2x2, 5x1, etc. IMO, 1 set of less than 5 may not be enough.

One last note, I see you want to add more assistance that what I wrote out. The volume day as I laid out can take you 90+ mins to finish once the weights start to get heavy, depending on your level of conditioning. If you care more about assistance, I’d do a different program (5/3/1 or an upper lower split or something). Otherwise, run TM for awhile. After you’ve made good progress, consider doing a TM split and you can add assistance then. I wouldn’t just jump right into it though.

Hope this helps