Trouble sticking with one program

[williamlexcrawford]

I was doing a pretty traditional Texas Method setup for a few months and everything was working pretty well, on my intensity day I went from a 315x3 to 360x3 squat with no stalls in any of my lifts. However I was feeling a little burned out so I took a week off and everything has been pretty downhill since then. School started again and I have been working at one of the athletic training facilities (all sports but football) on campus so I've been getting up around 5am to go do that it really killed my lifts until I adjusted to a new schedule. What I can put up on any given day is a 405 squat, 240 bench, and 430 deadlift.

My lifts seem to be back up but now I have no idea what to do next. I want to compete in a powerlifting competition later this year (all the ones that are hosted in my part of Texas are all really late in the year). I'm about 205 now at 5'11" and I'd like to lift in the 220 class considering, so some volume and hypertrophy work will be a must. If it were one of the people I've been working with at school I would have no problem programming for them, but I have no objectivity for myself.

I was thinking about a Texas Method maybe split into 4 days so that I would have a little more time to focus on some accessory work plus do a little conditioning.

I was also curious if you've ever done any speed work and what you think the value would it be for someone like me who is stronger than most people in my gym, but not really legitimately strong.

My problem is that I'm my own worst enemy at this point considering I'm training in the field and spend a lot of time reading. I just can't pick one thing and stick with it over the last few weeks. I'm not asking you to lay something out because I'm familiar with just about any program you might mention, just maybe point me in a direction?

Sorry for that longwinded post but I'm a little adrift at this point and not really moving in any direction.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

You have program ADD.

It happens. I have done it. Most lifters have done it.

It is a symptom of not having crystal clear goals with your training. Sign up for a meet or two, even if you don't think you are ready. Putting some deadlines and timelines on your training is a good thing.

It sounded like Texas Method set up was working for you, so why not go back to what was working? It is always better to tweak and modify your program than to randomly hop from one thing to the next, unless what you were doing was an utter failure. In my opinion the TM is an underutilized tool to prepare for powerlifting meets. I'd keep running with it, and set the intensity day up like a mock meet. Sqt/Bench/Dead all for heavy singles.