Bi Monthly Programming for Intermediate

[Cdodd07]

Good afternoon sir. Just finished a 21 week stretch (H/L template) of rotating between 8's,5's,2's. During the last 6 weeks of training I played with alternating volume and intensity for my DL and hit a smooth PR of 405. I noticed I responded quite well to the simple weekly alternation.

DL template:
75% 3x5
90%x3, 80%x5-8
75% 3x5 (add 2.5-5lbs, add set,rep, improve something)
95%x2, 85% 4-6
75% 3x5
100%x1 90x3 (beat last 90%)

I really liked the bi monthly rotation of volume and intensity. My sleep isn't the greatest due to school but I'm eating 3200-3300 cals a week (6'2,205, 28yo, started @145lbs) and I never miss a workout. I wanted to give Texas method a shot but the weekly stress is too much. But in the spirit of VOL/INT rotation I'm thinking something like this would work well.

Volume weeks Int Week
1)5x5 75% 2)1x3 85%, 1xamrap 75%
3)5x4 80% 4)1x2 90%, 1xamrap 70%
5)5x3 75% REPEAT 2-3 times then test

Before I start with the above %'s I was thinking of just a basic 3x5 each volume week adding 2.5lb-5lbs for a couple of weeks until it stalls. The reason being is that I've been training under a moderate-high amount of volume for the last year and I feel like there is def some juice to squeeze and I can "ride out" my 3x5 sets before hoping onto a true volume cycling scheme again.

DL:405
Squat:330
Bench: 250
Press: 145

Thank you for your time sir.

[Michael Wolf]

It looks OK, but I'd probably cap the back off set on intensity day at 5-8 reps. You're doing a lot of volume on the volume day, and overall, compared to now, so I'd be judicious about it.

[Cdodd07]

It looks OK, but I'd probably cap the back off set on intensity day at 5-8 reps. You're doing a lot of volume on the volume day, and overall, compared to now, so I'd be judicious about it.

Would it be okay to start a mini LP 2x a week before heading into the above template?

[Michael Wolf]

Why would you do that? Once you're past the LP stage, it's usually reserved for coming back from layoffs or working back up after injuries or other issues that prevented normal training. You did LP, ran an intermediate program, and are now moving to a more advanced intermediate program. I don't see a role for LP here.

[Cdodd07]

I know it might sound a little off the wall but I never ran an actual LP due to my past career (high stress, horrible sleep, horrible nutrition, situational intermediate). I started off on an HLM template and was able to ride out weekly progress for a longggggg time then switched to an 8/5/2 4 day split for the past couple of months. I've always wondered if I could go back to an actual LP and ride it out some progress sort of like people transitioning from Strong Lifts to LP. I'm all ears and open to suggestions, thank you sir.

I'm thinking if LP is out of the question the "Kingwood TM" might be a good option?

[Michael Wolf]

It's hard to say. There have been lots of people for whom conventional wisdom says are past LP, who do it and actually gain a lot from it. But I doubt most of those people ran reasonably well organized intermediate programming for a long time either. No way to know for sure. You can try it, giving yourself a slightly light start so you don't hit the heavy shit until week 3 or 4, and see if it works. If not, don't bang your head against the wall and just switch back to intermediate programming.