[quote]Murraynt wrote:
I just started my first day of Texas method. I downloaded a spreadsheet from reddit and plugged my numbers in. I may have started my squat a bit high, Friday will tell.
It took about one hour and 15 minuets to finish my workout.
Some aspects of the Texas methods are confusing me.It could just be the spreadsheet.
Should I be aiming to ‘just’ get 5 reps on Friday or should I be trying for as many as possible?
Should I be adding 2.5 kg to my squat every week or 5kg every second week? The two spreadsheets I have contradict each other.
@tsantos I decided not to mess with the current dead lift template and keep it simple. [/quote]
Just do 5 reps. Next week, add weight and get 5 reps again. Repeat for as long as you can.
Add 2.5 kg every week.
Also, Google the article “12 ways to skin the Texas Method” and read it.
[quote]Murraynt wrote:
I just started my first day of Texas method. I downloaded a spreadsheet from reddit and plugged my numbers in. I may have started my squat a bit high, Friday will tell.
It took about one hour and 15 minuets to finish my workout.
Some aspects of the Texas methods are confusing me.It could just be the spreadsheet.
Should I be aiming to ‘just’ get 5 reps on Friday or should I be trying for as many as possible?
Should I be adding 2.5 kg to my squat every week or 5kg every second week? The two spreadsheets I have contradict each other.
@tsantos I decided not to mess with the current dead lift template and keep it simple. [/quote]
Just do 5 reps. Next week, add weight and get 5 reps again. Repeat for as long as you can.
Add 2.5 kg every week.
Also, Google the article “12 ways to skin the Texas Method” and read it.
[/quote]
I had a look at the article on barbell medicine and it proved to be a good read.
I will have to let the program run for a few weeks and see where I am.
Ooops, I guess T3hpunisher is already here but oh wells.
I honestly think you can still make progress on a session to session basis. I’m around the same weight as you and my lifts are around a 160kg squat, 90kgs bench and a 185kg deadlift and I’m actually making good progress on Starting Strength as of right now. I was on 5/3/1 for awhile before that but looking back, I would say that is completely unnecessary. I’m not telling you to do starting strength, I’m just saying that you should probably stick to a session to session linear progression type of program. Just do whatever works for you though, we ain’t you, just cause something works for us, doesn’t mean it might work for you.
[quote]Murraynt wrote:
I just started my first day of Texas method. I downloaded a spreadsheet from reddit and plugged my numbers in. I may have started my squat a bit high, Friday will tell.
[/quote]
You’re going from a program which ramped to a single 5 rep set on squats to 5 sets of squats.
I don’t know what your recovery/adaptation is like but you may want to consider Madcow’s approach of starting 4 weeks below your current 5RM as it will become a bitch very quickly.
[quote]Benanything wrote:
Ooops, I guess T3hpunisher is already here but oh wells.
I honestly think you can still make progress on a session to session basis. I’m around the same weight as you and my lifts are around a 160kg squat, 90kgs bench and a 185kg deadlift and I’m actually making good progress on Starting Strength as of right now. I was on 5/3/1 for awhile before that but looking back, I would say that is completely unnecessary. I’m not telling you to do starting strength, I’m just saying that you should probably stick to a session to session linear progression type of program. Just do whatever works for you though, we ain’t you, just cause something works for us, doesn’t mean it might work for you.[/quote]
Now that I’m on Texas method I have decided to run it for a few weeks. How much weight are you adding to the bar per session now?
[quote]Murraynt wrote:
I just started my first day of Texas method. I downloaded a spreadsheet from reddit and plugged my numbers in. I may have started my squat a bit high, Friday will tell.
[/quote]
You’re going from a program which ramped to a single 5 rep set on squats to 5 sets of squats.
I don’t know what your recovery/adaptation is like but you may want to consider Madcow’s approach of starting 4 weeks below your current 5RM as it will become a bitch very quickly.[/quote]
I may have to drop my squat back by 7.5-10kg. 5 sets on 5 on Monday was difficult.
This really seems like one of those square peg/round hole situations.
I think you’d be better served using an entirely different methodology. Something where you aren’t doing full body workouts, less of a squat emphasis, more assistance work, just some different programming for a change of pace.
I’m a little confused because as far as I can tell you’ve only been doing the Texas Method for 1 week… but already talking about a lack of progress.
The Volume workout (5 sets of 5 squats) is always going to be difficult. That said, you may still want to lower the weight and start relatively light. Perhaps around 70% of 1RM for the volume sets.
I suggest you read Practical Programming, since you bought it. It will give you some useful info, no matter what you decide to do next.
Beyond that, it really depends on your goals. A strength-focused coach like Rippetoe or Marty Gallagher would tell you to keep increasing your bodyweight and lifting heavy on a program like TM. A bodybuilding / physique-oriented coach would probably tell you to cut until you’re quite lean, then reverse diet and slowly add muscle while minimizing bodyfat gain. Then there’s the middle ground option, of recomping or “lean bulking”.
I think Texas Method is totally viable for you right now, as is 5/3/1, but you’d be well-served to clarify a goal and then focus both training and diet/nutrition/recovery on achieving that goal.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
This really seems like one of those square peg/round hole situations.
I think you’d be better served using an entirely different methodology. Something where you aren’t doing full body workouts, less of a squat emphasis, more assistance work, just some different programming for a change of pace.
Pretty much this. When people started using 5x5 systems as their go-to instead of bro splits, it seemed like an improvement. But now we have people who keep stalling on low volume programs and keep asking whether they need to sleep more, eat more, do mobility work etc etc. Dude, no - maybe you simply can’t get your 5rm any higher by doing what you’re doing right now.
@T3hPwnisher I’ve been doing some variation of 5x5 for over 12 months. While I have gained strength I think a change of method is in order. I have looked at westside and a few more but 5/3/1 seems to be the one that I keep coming back to.
What assistance work are you currently doing for your upper body push moments?
@Craze9 I’m on my second week of Texas method but progress stalled towards the end of madcow. I got my lifts up but I cant squat near what I was squatting 5 weeks ago. I am in the process of reading Practical programming. there is some good information.
From reading the starting strength forums I get the impression Mark Rippetoe would have everybody up to 260 pounds. I will clean up my diet and go for a lean bulk or else a recomp. More research will help me decide. I would like to squat 180kg by this time next year and bench 100kg+
@nighthawkz that video made me chuckle more than it should have.
[quote]Murraynt wrote: @T3hPwnisher I’ve been doing some variation of 5x5 for over 12 months. While I have gained strength I think a change of method is in order. I have looked at westside and a few more but 5/3/1 seems to be the one that I keep coming back to.
What assistance work are you currently doing for your upper body push moments?
@Craze9 I’m on my second week of Texas method but progress stalled towards the end of madcow. I got my lifts up but I cant squat near what I was squatting 5 weeks ago. I am in the process of reading Practical programming. there is some good information.
From reading the starting strength forums I get the impression Mark Rippetoe would have everybody up to 260 pounds. I will clean up my diet and go for a lean bulk or else a recomp. More research will help me decide. I would like to squat 180kg by this time next year and bench 100kg+
@nighthawkz that video made me chuckle more than it should have. [/quote]
Everyone eventually stalls on Madcow and at that point you will be overreaching slightly, so a deload is in order. Still, not sure why you can’t squat what you could 5 weeks ago… that seems odd. My guess without more info is you missed reps toward the end of Madcow but kept re-attempting the missed weight for a couple weeks, then transitioned to Texas Method with loads that were too heavy.
I suggest if you want to continue with Texas Method you deload/reset the weights slightly such that Volume Day doesn’t kill you for the first few weeks. I’d also use something other than a 5RM on Intensity day since you’ve been doing heavy 5s a lot during Madcow. 5 heavy but non-maximal singles would be a good option (5x1). Or just a heavy triple, starting with where your 5RM was at the end of Madcow.
Alternately, you can switch to 5/3/1. Either a full-body template if you like 3 days per week or a M, T, Th, F schedule of Press, Deadlift, Bench, Squat. Depending on if your goal is more size v strength you could do BBB, or something like the Pyramid or “Strength Phase” template.
I’ve been playing with volume for the last 2 weeks. After reading more about the texas method I realised that the weights on my volume day were far too high, Im now using around 70% of my 1RM that to the advice on here.
I’m still not a fan of the Texas method(learning how to snatch has been fun though.) but I will stick with it for another month or so. In that time I will try to drop a couple of kg and then go to 5/3/1 for a few months solid.
When my previous plan stopped working I just stared to eat more hoping I would progress. I added around 10lbs in a few short months with no progress. It’s starting to catch up on me now.
Are you executing reps by getting tight, creating tension in the muscles and attempting to accelerate the bar regardless of the amount of weight on the bar?
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Are you executing reps by getting tight, creating tension in the muscles and attempting to accelerate the bar regardless of the amount of weight on the bar? [/quote]
I always lift with as much power as I can. I find keeping tight and the bottom of my bench is difficult sometimes, but it’s improving.
I continued to use Texas method with no results for about 6-8 weeks. It continued to run me into the ground.
I finally decided to to change to 5/3/1 BBB and I’m just finished the first cycle using 50% of my TM for the assistance work. I feel like I’ve grown, but it’s too early to be certain. Next week I will up it to 60%.
I’ve stopped counting calories every day and cleaned up my diet in general.
While 5/3/1 is slower progress than Texas method I don’t feel like I’ve been ran over by a truck on Monday and still have nothing to show for it on Friday. The lighter sets have also allowed me to improve my forum.
I continued to use Texas method with no results for about 6-8 weeks. It continued to run me into the ground.
I finally decided to to change to 5/3/1 BBB and I’m just finished the first cycle using 50% of my TM for the assistance work. I feel like I’ve grown, but it’s too early to be certain. Next week I will up it to 60%.
I’ve stopped counting calories every day and cleaned up my diet in general.
While 5/3/1 is slower progress than Texas method I don’t feel like I’ve been ran over by a truck on Monday and still have nothing to show for it on Friday. The lighter sets have also allowed me to improve my forum.
[/quote]
If you run it correctly, you shouldn’t be progressing any slower on 5/3/1 than you would any other program. Yeah, the TM only increases once a month, but that has no bearing on how strong you get.
