Standard intermediate muddle

[Tsar Bomba]

Age - 31
Male
6'3 225lbs
Squat - 315 x 5; Bench - 235 x 5; Deadlift 375 x 5

Been stuck around these numbers for 5-6 months. Current programming is the Hepburn method cycling triples from 4 sets to 8 sets on Squat/Press/Bench with DL cycling 3 to 5 sets. Setup is a Squat/Press day, off-day, Bench/Deadlift day, followed by 2 days off then repeating. Active duty Air Force so PT Wed/Fri which consists of an annoyingly long run on Wed followed by equally annoying random hopping around on Fri contributing nothing but a little sweat and sore joints.

The struggle recovering from this volume has me thinking an HLM template would be better than my current program, the Texas Method or Jordan's programs. I've read Andy's stuff and although it's helped me understand the methodology behind HLM, finding the right template has my head spinning. Goal is the standard 300/400/500. How should I set up my programming?

[Brian Goldstein]

Perhaps:

Tuesday - Heavy
Squat
Bench
Deadlift

Thursday - Light
Squat (Light or variation)
Press
Chins (or other light pulling)

Saturday - Medium
Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift variation or Power Cleans

This gets the truly heavy work on the day furthest from the stress of your running. I don't know enough about Hepburn method to comment, but your heavy days might look something like this:

Week 1: 85% 1 x 4-6, 75% x 15-25 total reps (5x5, 3x8, 4x6, etc)
Week 2: 90% 1 x 2-4, 80% x 15-25 total reps
Week 3: 95% x 2 or 3x1, 85% x 10-20 total reps

[Adam Skillin]

Age - 31
Male
6'3 225lbs
Squat - 315 x 5; Bench - 235 x 5; Deadlift 375 x 5

Been stuck around these numbers for 5-6 months. Current programming is the Hepburn method cycling triples from 4 sets to 8 sets on Squat/Press/Bench with DL cycling 3 to 5 sets. Setup is a Squat/Press day, off-day, Bench/Deadlift day, followed by 2 days off then repeating. Active duty Air Force so PT Wed/Fri which consists of an annoyingly long run on Wed followed by equally annoying random hopping around on Fri contributing nothing but a little sweat and sore joints.

The struggle recovering from this volume has me thinking an HLM template would be better than my current program, the Texas Method or Jordan's programs. I've read Andy's stuff and although it's helped me understand the methodology behind HLM, finding the right template has my head spinning. Goal is the standard 300/400/500. How should I set up my programming?

Did you run a novice progression through to the end? Because if not, I highly recommend it.

[DeanT]

I'm running Hepburn right now...different from you though. I'm 49 and 215 lbs. Here is what I'm currently doing:
Day 1: Squat: 3,2,2,2,2,2
Bench: 3,2,2,2,2,2
7 min Chins (AMRAP)
2 days off
Day2: Bench: 3,3,2,2,2,2
DL: 3,2,2,2,2,2
Press: 3,2,2,2,2,2
2 days off
Day 3: Squat: 3,3,2,2,2,2
Bench: 3,3,3,2,2,2
7 Min pullup (amrap)
2 days off
Day 4: Bench: 3,3,3,3,2,2
DL: 3,3,2,2,2,2
Rows: 3 sets of 5
2 days off

I increase bench by 5 lbs to start and once RPE gets up over 9 then I switched to 2.5 lbs...I increase weight after doing 6 sets of 3 and then return to 3,2,2,2,2,2. Squat and DL go up by 10 lbs. I started lifting Tues/Thurs/Sat but found that I really needed additional recovery so added a rest day. I have recently added a set of 10 at 225 after every bench press workout to get a bit more lowish intensity volume. Also, I find keeping the rest times short really helps with workout times. I use 2 minutes for bench, press and rows, 3 minutes for DL and 4 minutes for squats. I started with 3 minutes for squats but had to move to 4 at 405 because they were getting very hard on 3 minutes rest.

This will back off the volume some for you and allows you to do PT without crushing your progress. I like this because I am an avid snowboarder and once the season came around, I was really struggling with workouts. Now, I can snowboard 4 days a week and still feel mostly recovered when I get under the bar. Snowboarding a few hours after squatting 6 sets of 3 at 405 was a challenge for sure! Ha ha...good times.

[Brian Goldstein]

Did you run a novice progression through to the end? Because if not, I highly recommend it.

whatever Skillin says.

[Adam Skillin]

whatever Skillin says.

Thanks, Brian. Conveniently, this is addressed in the newest article:
Intermediate and Advanced Training: A Few Ideas | Mark Rippetoe

[Tsar Bomba]

Did you run a novice progression through to the end? Because if not, I highly recommend it.

Not all the way through, stopped like a typical turd to add pointless complexity. I think that's probably what I should be doing for dead's and squats. Thanks for the clear solution Adam.