Cycling Volume day reps/sets

[fooshoo]

Has anyone here tried and had any success with cycling volume day? and if so with which type of scheme (reps/sets)?

Been doing texas method for ~1,5 years, ive gone through ''running it out'' and 3 week cycles on ID, but it feels like 5x5 for the volume per week has started to burn me out aswell as not really driving the intensity day up anymore (yes, ive tried backing off sets on VD to 4 or 3 for short periods), but it ultimately ends up stalling again very fast.

Ive been reading up about adaptive resistance and work capacity, which leads me to believe that either i might be topping out to my work capacity cap weekly, or maybe adaptive resistance has started to kick in from doing the same amount of reps/sets for too long.

Any thoughts on this?

[Satch12879]

Andy wrote about this:

How to Cycle Training Volume (Example Programming Model) - Andy Baker

[fooshoo]

Andy wrote about this:

How to Cycle Training Volume (Example Programming Model) - Andy Baker

Ah, i havnt seen that article before, great, thanks!

[fooshoo]

Something i keep wondering about is the strength/peaking style loading schemes that every variation of texas involves, youre actually always kind of staying within ranges training for general strength 70-85% -/+ a few % and peaking type 90%+ of training every week, how long can this be kept up without stalling/being non optimal anymore just because of this itself?

I see most programs go through more of a phase of hypertrophy->strength->peaking type of loading, where you dont train them all at once for extended periods of time, but instead focus on a set period of time for each, which in theory would provide better adaptions from each of them compared to training all or two of them at once.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Practical Programming for Strength Training | The Aasgaard Company

[fooshoo]

Practical Programming for Strength Training | The Aasgaard Company

I do have the book, i was reading through the intermediate section (past the cycling intensity day part) yesterday, maybe i've missed something, but most stuff i could see was alternations like 8x3 reps or a russian type of 6x3 program, maybe i missed some info in the HLM section, ill have to read through it again.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Maybe you should start at the beginning and read the whole thing.

[chrisza]

I have used volume cycling both in stock templates by Andy Baker and using methods from the Barbell Prescription which gives several ways to manipulate volume and intensity. BBP is a great compliment to PPST and is a bit more handheld and fleshed out in the programming section. A good read even if your not 40+

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

You're going to reach a point in your training where you can't keep going on the stock 3 day Texas Method. You'll need more volume. If you like the 3-day whole body approach you'll do well on some variant of an HLM routine which are generally higher in volume than a TM routine. If you like the TM approach, switch to a 4-day set-up and you'll have the ability to add more volume to the routine via assistance exercises without turning each session into a Barbell Marathon. As a late intermediate / advanced you'll give more thought to your annual training plan. You can't generally train with the exact same approach 52 weeks out of the year. I like the Texas Method in blocks of 8-12 weeks about 2 times per year, usually on the tail end of something higher in volume. I have an article on my blog somewhere about annual periodization. You don't have to follow it to the letter but maybe get some ideas.

[El Rojo]

I see most programs go through more of a phase of hypertrophy->strength->peaking type of loading, where you dont train them all at once for extended periods of time, but instead focus on a set period of time for each, which in theory would provide better adaptions from each of them compared to training all or two of them at once.

Those are more advanced programs. But you can look at them like a progression from intermediate programming, in the same way that advanced novice is a small change from basic novice, and HLM a small change from advanced novice.

I've used a 3-week cycle before for volume work: 6 sets of 6/4/2 for the press and 4 sets of 6/4/2 for SQ. It worked well and I felt each week carried over nicely to the next without major decay of adaptation for each rep-range. I liked it more than more spread out cycles like Andy's 8/5/2 although there's probably a good reason for that.

If I wanted to plan out an advanced program using phase potentiation and so on, I'd probably just use the 3-week wave and simply work back from the date of the meet. So if we were 10 weeks out I'd probably do something like this: 8/6/4/6/4/2/3/2/1. Also taking into account things such as exercise selection and accessories, of course.