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Texas method phase II deload
I'm a 31 year old male, 6 foot, 215 lbs, running the Texas method for the first time. It's brutal but a lot of fun.
My question is regarding how the deadlift deload works. I'm nearing the end of Phase I, and will finish Phase I deadlifting 430X5. The book says to deload 5% at the beginning of Phase II, and then continue with sets of fives with deadlifts until halfway through Phase II. I'm planning on running Phase II for 12 weeks, so this would be six weeks of sets of 5. So naively these six weeks would look like 410,415,420,425,430,435, only leading to one PR in six weeks. Then I would finish off Phase II pulling 465 for a single, which is 20 lbs below my current estimated 1RM. This progress seems too slow for an intermediate program, so maybe I'm misinterpreting something.
One option I was considering was to deload for just two weeks, so doing 415, 425, 435,440,445,450 instead. Am I being too greedy here?
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I believe the reset should be on your volume day- presumably cleans for your pulls. I think you're supposed to keep adding 5 lbs to intensity day but when 5 reps isn't going to work out, drop to 3 reps.
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This would make sense to me, since nothing else resets on intensity day. But from the book - "Deadlifts will reset 5% and resume for sets of 5 until new 5RM PRs are set. About halfway through this second phase deadlifts will drop to triples, doubles, and ultimately singles. Power cleans will also reset..."
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Have you missed a set of 5 yet on a 5 lb increase? Once you miss maybe a 5% reset will seem like a better idea.
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You shouldn't follow this on a step-by-step basis, these are guidelines. If your deadlift was in the mid 500's a 5% deload would mean nothing. It would probably be better to deload 10-15% and ramp the weight back up faster, for example.
If during phase II you find out that 5's are good, you don't HAVE to switch to 3's, since this is a way of keeping the weights going up while managing fatigue. As they say, triples don't last long, the reason being that doing 2x3 instead of 1x5 keeps the volume more or less the same and you manage to finish the sets even though you are fatigued. Another thing to consider is the other lifts. If your squat keeps increasing, deadlifts may feel heavier than previously, and you might have to switch to 3's event though the deadlift alone would not call for that.
These ere examples of why intermediate-stage is where people get lost in the woods so often, you can't just follow recipes, have to pay attention to lots of things at the same time and everything you do has a bigger potential for screwing things up, but luckly the principles remain the same.
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Don’t have the book handy, but I’m guessing it does not specify 5lb jumps only after the deload or rep changes..
Consider some freak who ended phase 1 with a 600lb DL, they would likely detrain quite a bit following your pattern above
Maybe deload 5% then make 10lb jumps until it gets tough, then drop to 5lb jumps. Same pattern with the 3s and 1s.
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Did anyone notice that he's 6' and 215?
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The transition from phase 1 to phase 2 assumes you can't do another set of 5 next week. The point of the reset on deadlift is to give yourself a chance to hit another 5 rep pr before moving into 3s, 2s, and 1s, and to dissipate some accumulated stress. Hopefully this keeps the dl going longer than if you just went balls out to failure.
I don't agree with planning phase 2 to be 12 weeks unless you're training for a meet. It could very well be longer or shorter than that. 12 weeks was just an example in the book. Personally I don't see much value in pre-planning the length of the cycle until at least the next phase. You don't know yet what you're capable of.
Finally, don't assume every lift is going to transition at the same time. They won't.
And yeah, Rip, I noticed. Eat more, now. It will get you a lot further in phase 2.
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Thanks all for the helpful advice. I'll take it all into account.
"Don’t have the book handy, but I’m guessing it does not specify 5lb jumps only after the deload or rep changes.."
You're right, I should have read more carefully. In the sample program chart the lifter takes 10 lb jumps until he sets a new PR, which makes a lot more sense to me.
"Did anyone notice that he's 6' and 215?"
I'm averaging 2.5 lbs a month of weight gain, but I agree this is too conservative. I'll up the dose.
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