Advanced Novice transition - After failure and 10% deload, or before it happens?

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Hello. I did something resembling SSLP in 2017 up to 3x5 @300lbs squat in 2017 after two resets, took some years essentially doing whatever and program hopping, and eventually took a couple months off this past spring. Started actual SSLP again in June at 3x5 @275lbs squat, and am now up to 3x5 @358lbs. My age is 29, height 5'11, weight 225lbs. Eating between 4000-5000 calories per day and sleeping 8-10 hours a night. Previous deads were 1x4 @397, Bench 3x5 @253, Press 5/4/4/2 @149, and Chins 11 @bodyweight.

The past two workouts I've felt that my squats are getting very grindy and know based on my previous experience with SS that failure is likely approaching within a few workouts, maybe a couple weeks if things go extremely well.

My question is: should I switch to advanced novice now to milk this momentum for what it's worth, and then move onto intermediate/weekly progression, or should I go the vanilla route of pushing it until I miss my numbers badly, deload 10%, and only then progress back up with advanced novice? I'm at crossroads which option would actually yield more weight on the bar per week spent on the program.

I tried searching for this specific subject on and off for three days, and couldn't find the equivalent. Best I could do was "move on to advanced novice before failure if you're under an SS coach, and after failure + the subsequent deload if not".

Thanks in advance.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Practical Programming for Strength Training, 3rd edition – The Aasgaard Company

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At some point, adding weight will cause missed reps in one workout (usually in the last set), followed by all three sets of 5 completed at that weight the following workout. Finally, he will begin to miss the last reps in the work sets for two to three workouts in a row.

Quite a few things could be changed about the workout, but the correct approach will accomplish two things. First, it will offer the highest probability of restoring linear progress as quickly as possible and, second, it will keep the trainee as close as possible to his most recent 5RM, thus avoiding the loss of hard-won progress. The trainee needs a change but will do best with a change that disrupts the essence of the program as little as possible. A slight back-off in training weight with the immediate resumption of slow and steady progress identical to what has taken place in previous months is appropriate.

Once a back-off period has become necessary, other changes can be made in the program that are appropriate for the more advanced novice. The squat can go from 3 days of increasing load per week to 2, with the introduction of lighter squats at 60-80% of Monday’s work set weight into the program. They provide a break in the intensity due to the unloading, which helps to prolong linear increases.

I know PPST3 instructs the trainee to push it until he misses reps two or three workouts in a row, then to back off about 10% in training load and slowly build back up with a light day in the middle of the week. But PPST3 also suggests things like eventually moving on to 3x3 or 1 on 2 off schedule, which are tapering strategies that can be argued to detrain the work capacity of a lifter who may need that capacity once they transition onto an intermediate method like TM or HLM. You also said in a recent podcast that you don't advise back off sets in your programming, whereas PPST3 suggests the late novice to eventually switch to 1x5, then 2x5 at 5-10% reduction (page 122).

This all made me wonder if there have been other changes in your views regarding the modifications that a late novice lifter should or shouldn't make to keep milking the NLP, and whether it's better to truly hit a wall before making changes, or if it's better to make pre-emptive changes before the wall comes. I do admit most people including myself don't know where their limits are until they hit them though.