SCI's Method

Sci

Sci

Well-Known Member
3x/week, Fullbody, Compounds only.

(monday)Day1: Volume Day(5x5)
Dips
Chins
Leg Press

(wednesday)Day2: Assistance Day(2x10)
Bench Press
Cable Rows
Leg Press

(friday)Day3: Peak Strength Day(1x5)
Dips
Chins
Dead Lift

*ramp up weights for 6 weeks, 1 week SD, start over, ala HST.

Obviously this program can be tweaked for either HST or SST.

* To make it more SST, follow the template and train near your limits in terms of load, and every time you get all sets and reps for a given load, then you can increase the load next workout. The goal is to add weight to the bar every week, if possible.

* To make this program pure HST, just repeat the 5x5 workout every session, but progress the loads, as in classic 2x15, 3x10, 5x5 type of setup, and make sure you SD. You can alternate exercises if you want to, just keep the volume high for all training days.

Day 1, 5x5 day is High-Volume/ High-Intensity Day, and the most important day to maximize hypertrophy adaptations.

Day 2, 2x10 day is Moderate-Volume/ Moderate-Intensity Day, this day is also for hypertrophy adaptations, but lower in both volume and intensity than day 1, so as to allow for some recovery from the high demands of day 1.

Day 3, 1x5 day is Low-Volume/ Peak-Intensity Day, which is obvious an SST day, aiming for peak strength production.

Obviously, none of this is really all that original, as I pieced it together using the HST principles as well as SST principles (The Texas Method, 5x5, Starr, etc.) as outlined in "Practical Programming" by Rippetoe and Kilgore.


Enjoy, let me know if you try this and what the results are.
 
Classic Power-Lifting Template



Monday(5x5)*sets across
Bench
Squat
BB Row (from floor)

Wednesday(2x10)*Light day, *no lower back work
Close-grip Bench
Leg Press*(any compound leg exercise that doesn't involve lower back)
Pullups/DB Rows*(any compound pull exercise that doesn't involve lower back)

Friday(1x5)*Max Effort
Bench
Squat
Dead Lift
 
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Kinda just a c&p of most SST programs :p

I like Upright Rows, DB or Cable for 5x5 day. I often feel traps and forearms get ignored in strength programs. No one wants to go overboard on the 'assistance' work (10s), so it's usually just a form of metabolic work that leaves you ready for peak lifting on the Friday but flip side is that forearm 'strength' (how long you can hold onto heavy weights etc), traps, hamstrings often get forgotten.
 
Very solid templates. One thing I'd probably mention is that the volume day loading should be separated from the intensity days by quite a bit to make routines like this work. The #1 complaint against Texas Method setups is usually overtraining due to people having the 5 x 5 and 1 x 5 weights too close. Pendlay designed the Texas Method, and he actually recommends Justin Lascek's books on the subject for properly setting this up. As a rule, people usually use ~80-90% of their intensity day weight for the volume day. Stated differently, the volume day should never be grindy, you should be accumulating a lot of work with medium-heavy weights that don't require psyching up or represent limit strength. The intensity day, then, drives adaptations towards limit strength. Just some thoughts.
 
Yeah, the 5x5 day should be around 85% or so of 1x5 day. Obviously exercises can be substituted if planned carefully, so it could be tweaked to hit certain muscles.
 
I like the look of that sci, ill keep it in mind for the future. May even alternate between cycles of HST and your SST. Cheers.
 
Hi Sci,

Thanks for sharing your training ideas. Have been learning more about HST to use it for training. Like your direct - simple - More Bang for your Buck approach.

Keep Going ~ Keep Growing !!
 
I've been thinking of running something like this in the post-5s. Basically run the standard HST 15-2, 10-2, 5-3 for the first 6 weeks and then move onto this Texas method type template in the post-5s, running it until strength gains dry up.

My issue with standard HST in the post-5s is that I burnt out very fast training to limit on 5 sets of 3 every 2 days. This template has a recovery element with the light day and the lower volume intensity day, which in theory should allow a longer post-5s period and bigger PBs.
 
it works good. The 5x5 day is fairly brutal. The other days are fairly quick and easy. HST works probably even better for hypertrophy than this program, but I think once you get into the 5s, its better to drop frequency while keeping volume high, so twice/week bodypart training is fine for higher volume programs.
 
Do you spend a few weeks at the beginning lifting sub-maximally like HST or is it true rep maxes from the first workout?
 
wmullen said:
Do you spend a few weeks at the beginning lifting sub-maximally like HST or is it true rep maxes from the first workout?
Click to expand...

The first couple of weeks is good to ramp up and get a feel for your maxes, then you go for the limits for several weeks.
 
Another question - the volume day could get very time consuming for me, given that I'm gonna have 3 5x5 exercises.

Would the same effect be achieved by doing 3x5 and then myo-reps straight after at around 90% of the 5rep weight, in order to get the extra 10reps fairly quickly? I'd imagine this would achieve the same effect volume wise, just more time efficient?

Also considering doing the light day with 2 15 rep sets, a la HST. If the light day is meant for recovery then it would make more sense to me to do 15rep sets, giving the joints and ligaments a rest as well, and helping conditioning a bit. What do you think?
 
I actually tried a 5x5 in the past with great results the first 4 weeks and then I would always crash but couldn't understand why. It wasn't until I started reading up on the Texas method and this thread that the penny dropped.... I was training 5x5 with sets across every single workout at a greater than 90% 5RM intensity... no wonder I was overtrained lol
 
Try the template.
5x5,
2x10,
1x5

2x15 would be too light or too exhausting IMO. You don't go all out on the recovery day, just two fairly hard sets of 10 for the alternate exercises is enough volume.

The best way to make this method work is to start conservative with the weights, and ramp up, this way you can get adapted to the program for a week or two before you start going for strength records.
 
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