So does the Texas method suck?

[zar9star]

I'm a noob who is coming closer to the intermediate stage (not there yet). After reading ppst I started viewing the TM as the best program out there. That's what I planned on doing after my LP. But then Jordan Feigenbaum wrote this article, and suddenly I got the impression that the "vanilla TM" has no practical use. Is this concept outdated? Should I do something else instead?

[Joe Jaloszynski]

It may work just fine for you. It may not. I/we don't know your if your recovery is on point. We don't know your goals. We don't know your history or age.

[Tom Campitelli]

Tough question to answer with certainty. I like the TM and have used it on myself and my trainees and have seen good results. The idea that you can add five pounds a week to 5x5 squats for a long time is one that is not correct, however. It will kill you. The TM can and does work. If you are a good candidate for it, make sure that your volume day stressors do not kill you. Volume day should be hard, but should not leave you shattered.

[MBasic]

I'm a noob who is coming closer to the intermediate stage (not there yet). After reading ppst I started viewing the TM as the best program out there. That's what I planned on doing after my LP. But then Jordan Feigenbaum wrote this article, and suddenly I got the impression that the "vanilla TM" has no practical use. Is this concept outdated? Should I do something else instead?

Some of the other SSC's have said their clients have had success with it.

Its a "lifter's program". If you can't eat, sleep, and lift with unbridled excess . . . it may not work.

Low stress lifestyle probably is a plus too (no kids, ez job, etc)

Most people fuck it up with too many accessories, not eating enough, etc.

The four day split versions are easier to pull off, and modify.

[Chebass88]

TM is a great program, and if you are willing to put in the work required, you will get great results. I did the 3 day/week version in Fall 2012 with decent success. I started with the TM program as-written by Rippetoe in his T-nation article, and eventually made a few modifications based on the Justin Lascek articles. I stopped for a couple weeks when I went on vacation. When I restarted in early 2013, I wanted to lift 4 days/week and give each lift its own day. When I monkeyed with the program on my own, as a means of improvement, my success with the program stopped. I did the program from September to December 2012.

I did the 4 day TM for OLY program in 2014, with decent success (i.e., my squat, press, and deadlift increased). I stopped doing it to focus more on OLY technique, and stopped progressing.

It is a beast of a program. Looking back at the total session times - they were LONG. 5x5 squats at 90% of 5RM weights (~~77% 1RM) is challenging, and you gain an appreciation for a good 8-10 minute rest. Volume day is uncomfortable, and I frequently had DOMs through recovery day (they would go away with recovery day squats). The TM for OLY program is decent, provided you have your OLY technique locked in fairly well.

Now that I have some toddlers at home, with limited lifting time and recovery abilities, I probably wouldn't do the Texas Method. I'm bull-headed enough that I could make it progress for a little while, but I would probably get over-trained and get sick after a month and a half or so. I also like squatting and deadlifting once per week, and would not want to limit my deadlift to a single set of five, once per week.

[Briks42]

I always wondered why the program has you do both upper body and squat volume the same day. Seems like both for time in gym and energy used purposes, doing Squat volume Monday with Bench Intensity and then the opposite on Friday would work better.

I also think you could consider doing all upperbody work first, though I advocate that for all programs, not just Texas Method. Doing bench before squat shouldn't affect your squat performance but squats first could definitely tire you out for bench.

Is that even Texas Method anymore??????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????

[Tom Narvaez]

While I'm not going to go so far as to say that you won't make progress on TM, or even that it is a bad program, I remain THOROUGHLY convinced that a more modern approach to programming works infinitely better. I made gains on TM-esque programming, too. And then I made gains at three times the rate as a more advanced lifter when I started using DUP/block periodization. In the lifters I coached, 500 squats went from being pretty special to run of the mill for someone with a year or two of consistent training. It took me like three years to go from 275 to 315 on bench using similar, old-school American style programming. Then I went from 315 to 365 in less than one year with DUP and other high frequency, high volume templates.

So, again, I won't say it "sucks", but along the continuum of "good, better, best", I'd stop running TM once you stop being able to get that coveted 2.5/5lbs per week. Once that happens, you're no longer an "early intermediate" and a program with some actual periodization will work better.

[perman]

I also think you could consider doing all upperbody work first, though I advocate that for all programs, not just Texas Method. Doing bench before squat shouldn't affect your squat performance but squats first could definitely tire you out for bench.

I'd say 5x5 bench will take some out of you, even if it's not that much. The problem though is that 5x5 squats is such a bitch that you really want to do it completely fresh.

I did both (because of lines in the gym), and I prefer to just get that 5x5 squat out of the way and then just take as much rest as I need on 5x5 bench. Your mileage may vary.

[Briks42]

I'd say 5x5 bench will take some out of you, even if it's not that much. The problem though is that 5x5 squats is such a bitch that you really want to do it completely fresh.

I did both (because of lines in the gym), and I prefer to just get that 5x5 squat out of the way and then just take as much rest as I need on 5x5 bench.

Yeah, I get the "get it out of the way" logic, but doing squats first and then taking more rest on the 5x5 bench because of it adds even more time to an already long workout..... unless you already used my other idea of splitting up the bench and squat volume days.

[Michael Wolf]

The TM definitely sucks. That could be for a couple of reasons:

If you're a good candidate for it, it sucks before it's hard as gnarly, hairy old balls and requires pretty much all your your food and sleep habits be planned around it. But it can produce solid results.

If you're not a good candidate for it, it sucks because it's still hard as gnarly, hairy old balls, will beat you down, but you won't even make good progress from it.

Some general recommendations for who is a good candidate, though not perfect and not always exactly necessarily true and not exhaustive:
Be a more athletic than average 18-33 year old person, who is very dedicated to lifting, has time for 2+ hour workouts at least once or possibly twice a week, and who can and wants to plan eating, sleep, and other physical activities around lifting with lifting as the priority.

I have my issues with the boilerplate TM as well, and generally don't program it that way for my own lifters. However the basic tenets of the TM work well: weekly progression following months of every 2-4 days progression; a higher volume work earlier in the week and a heavier, lower rep and lower volume workout later in the week following months of just 3x5s. As Tom said, volume linear progression can kill you, so managing that is key. And also, trying to use 5s on intensity day for a prolonged period, or even sometimes at all, is a super common mistake.