I am Paul’s aforementioned client. I was very reluctant to start Texas Method at the end of LP. As you probably know, TM has received some bad “PR.” I thought I’d share a few thoughts on why I chose to try it despite the overwhelmingly negative PR.
(1) I’m a consumer. Though I’m appreciative of what the SS brand has done for me to *start* strength, I have too many constraints on my time and money to be blindly loyal to any brand. The competition’s program is sitting on my desktop. Paul knows this and he knew it when he recommended Texas Method to me. Paul also knew there was a decent chance I would fire him if I didn’t get measurably stronger on Texas Method. I appreciate that he had the balls to recommend an unpopular program to me. The unpopular, much-maligned program has made me stronger than I ever expected.
(2) Before starting Texas Method, I weighed other options. I concluded, on my own (with zero input from Paul), that I was not ready to start an RPE-based program. After listening to several RTS podcasts and perusing the RTS powerlifting records, it was self-evident to me that the RTS guys are fucking badasses. I am not a fucking badass. I did not touch a barbell between the ages of 17 and 39. I’m a lawyer and father of two young daughters. I’m not in RTS’s league. I’m not even in their minor leagues. Prior to LP, my experience with pushing myself to the limits of my physical capacity was nil. I am still *starting* strength. Every time I get under a heavy workset, a very non-badass side of my brain runs through the list of reasons why I should set the bar down on the pins – it feels too heavy, I’m going to get hurt, I feel like shit this morning and didn’t get enough sleep. Yet I haven’t missed a squat, bench, or press rep in the 25 weeks I’ve been on Texas Method. (I missed a few deadlift reps after straining my back because of a “hitch” that Paul had tried to correct for weeks, which I stubbornly resisted until one day I felt the pain he had repeatedly warned me I would feel if I kept ignoring his advice to stop “hitching”). The reason I haven’t missed a rep is I’ve stuck to the “program” as a matter of blind faith. It's my only option. I don’t have any faith in myself because it still makes no sense to me that, each week, I can lift the same set/rep scheme that was difficult for me to lift last week, except with 5 more pounds on the bar. So instead of focusing on what makes sense to me or how I feel, I choose to place blind faith in Hans Seyle, the mystical SRA process, and my belief that two people I’ve never met, Andy Baker and Mark Rippetoe, wouldn’t have been foolish enough to put snake oil in a book with their names on it.
(3) During 25 weeks on Texas Method, I’ve performed approximately 2,250 workset reps (approx 90 workset reps per week). Of those 2,250 reps, I’ve seriously questioned whether I could do another rep during at least 100 of those reps. But that doesn’t mean I’ve done 100 reps at RPE 10; in fact, I’ve done only two reps at RPE 10. One of the RPE 10 reps was my last rep of my last set of five squats: I knew it was an RPE 10 because it was inordinately slow, both of my nostrils opened up a river of blood, and, once I set it down, Paul said “it’s time to switch your squats to threes.” He *saw* what I *felt*, which confirmed it was an RPE 10. The other RPE 10 happened two weeks ago when I pressed 225 for 5 reps. Anyone who sees that last rep (it’s on the Horn Strength & Conditioning Instagram page if you’re curious) can see I’m shaking uncontrollably and lose my form on the last rep (the step forward). Conclusion: I’m still not a badass, but I have two intractable data points in my mind that I didn’t have 25 weeks ago which inform me what an RPE 10 truly feels like.
(4) The nose bleed reference shouldn't scare people away. Overall, Texas Method has been “easier” for me than the last two months of LP were. I love Texas Method’s intra-week variation. The volume day (my Monday) can be a grind, but it is all downhill after that. Wednesday is essentially a day off (though I learn a lot about recovery each Wednesday because my Wednesday workout informs me of the toll that Monday's volume workout had on me). The much-vaunted Texas Method intensity day (my Friday) is not the scary monster people seem to think it is. Every rep I perform on Friday has already been “framed” (put in perspective) by what I lifted the preceding Monday. This Friday, I’m going to squat 470 lbs for two sets of three. It will not occupy any space in my head before then because this morning (i.e., Monday morning), I squatted 415 lbs for four sets of five. Four days from now, 470 will of course feel heavier on my back than 415 felt this morning, but it’s going to be “easy” by comparison because I don’t have to do nearly as many reps. Knowing this sets my mind at ease.