Rippetoe Intermediate TX method

T

terp

New Member
I'll be starting an intermediate program next week with the goal of gaining strength & bodyweight. I'm basing it on the TX method in Practical Programming, but the intermediate chapter is the least detailed in the book. Monday is volume, Wednesday is recovery, & Friday is intensity.

how's this look for 2 weeks?
M- squat, bench press, chins, weighted sit-ups
squat & bench 5x5 sets across, chins 3 X 8-15
W- front squat, OHP, DL, misc. ab exercise
front squat & OHP 3x3, DL 1X5
F- squat, bench, pullups, dips
squat & bench- 1 heavy set of 5, pullups & dips 3X8-15

M- squat, OHP, chins, weighted sit-ups
squat & OHP 5x5 sets across, chins 3 X 8-15
W- front squat, bench press, DL, misc. ab exercise
front squat & OHP 3x3, DL 1X5
F- squat, OHP, pullups, dips
squat & OHP- 1 heavy set of 5, pullups & dips 3X8-15

I'm a little concerned doing deadlifts on Wednesday could negate its effectiveness as a recovery workout. Also, rows might be better than pullups &/or chins (alternate rows & DL like squats & front squats). I guess the short version is I'm not sure how to treat the pulling component of the workouts.

any critiques welcome. sorry about the length of my post.
 
Yeah, you can get strong as a bull on it.
Am I missing something or do you have 7-8 exersizes listed there? That's good I guess if you're trying to get in condition and do circuit type training, but not very good for pure strength training. I'm sure I'm misunderstanding your intentions here, unless you're on AA's.
Muscle "confusion" has been debated and debunked over and over. This appears a bit close to it to me.
 
I suppose that if picking one, I'd go with rows over chins from the standpoint of balancing the shoulder work and hitting rear delts more effectively. The deadlift volume on Weds isn't that high, so maybe you could get away with it. On the other hand, I've seen some very strong pullers who only train deadlift intermittantly, so maybe sub hyperextensions or good mornings if you think it'll be too much for the light workout.

Quad, it's not meant to "confuse teh muscles" ;). Rippetoe regards the volume workout on Monday as the main growth stimulus for the week. See his discussion of the Texas method in Chapter 7 for those who have the book. Basically, it is aimed at trainees who can no longer make progress with a workout that they can recover from fast enough to do 2-3 times per week. So the main growth stimulus is provided by a volume workout done once a week. The light Weds workout is intended to aid recovery by promoting blood flow. The high intensity, low volume workout on Friday with it's single heavy set provides intensity so that "neuromuscular function is reinforced without fatally upping the volume".

The most interesting thing to me is the way that this setup is meant to teach the lifter how to regulate his training. If he can no longer increase the weights for the single heavy set on Friday, but can still do all the Monday sets he probably needs to up the Monday volume. On the other hand if he starts missing reps on the scheduled Friday heavy sets and also slides back and can no longer complete all the Monday volume work, he probably needs to cut volume. You won't be fully recovered during the week, but should be at the beginning of a new week. If not, cut volume. So the routine is meant to help with self-diagnosis.

For that reason, I'd hesitate to do much in the way of heavy deadlifting on Weds, as I'd be afraid that it would "muddy the waters". I wouldn't know if stalled progress on squats meant my volume was off or was just due to the Wednesday deadlifts. Just a thought.
 
I'm going to have to buy that book too, sounds awesome!

I'm going with a a modified version of the routine in starting strength for the time being

squats 5x5
o/h press 5x5
Chins 5x5
light dips
light rows

squats 1x5
bench 5x5
deads 5x5
light lat raise
light bis
light tris

Basically I've just added chins rather than power cleans, cut the volume on squats to just one working set on deadlift day and added some assistance.

Gone to 5x5 so I can back off the weights a bit i was pushing my limits max stim style before, also re-learning the squat etc technique wise. Then I'll push on to lower volume heavier weights...and then I'll buy practical programming!

Cheers

Rob
 
LNT- This is pretty interesting; just took a minnit to get my head wrapped around it. Being on the same 5x5 as Sci, I concur with the problem of deads, but so far have been getting PR's on deads, then still adding the PR's for squats on "friday", even though I'm hitting the wall here and there. Looking at this program as an endpoint to the stall in a 5x5 or other strength program it makes sense, if for no other reason than as an alternate to a cutback or zigzag.
What I saw in Terp's program was 10+ different exersizes done, and alternating the big 3 only would give you 6 plus abwork. I wasn't certain of the value in not focusing on just the main movements. I'm getting that PL mentality lately I guess.
 
I was trying for legs, a push & a pull each workout & not pushing it on the assistance work (fewer sets & higher reps). it's wasn't supposed to be much different than the Rippetoe beginner program, but I am taking your advice, cutting the exercises a bit, & doing row-dead-row each week (alternating rows & deads like I do squats & front squats).
 
Thats it, just ordered "Practical Programming". Starting Strength was so good....but left alot to wonder about training methods, curiousity has got the best of me and it should be here in a few days.
 
It's a really good read but there's some stuff you won't agree with now that you have been privvy to all of Dan's research.
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