How time consuming is maintenance training once you reach intermediate stage?

[Beltshumeltz]

Let's say you reach those numbers in your beginner progression...

Squat 350
Press 165
Bench 245
Dead 435
Plus whatever chin up, row or clean you do...

How time consuming do you think it'll be to just maintain that?
Is it feasible to just train twice per week and maintain it for life?

Or even better, to train all lifts just once per week even if it takes 3 hours? (that worked for me at 285 squat without being tiring)

Has anyone personally tried this?
My question assumes the same reps/sets as we did as beginners, so 3x5 except 1x5 for deadlift


As I'm sure I'll be asked about my intentions...
Once I reach those numbers, I want to consider my strength as "adequate" and spend more time on other activities (kickboxing, judo, running). So though I will commit to maintaining all my lifts, I would only give them an extra session if time absolutely allowed for that (it won't for a while). I don't see going higher as a priority at all. I'm extremely stretched for time (2 full time jobs) right now so I'm looking forward to having more time for personal life.

[RobCor]

Assuming those are work sets, with the exception of your deadlift being ~60lbs heavier than my top work set, your lifts are almost exactly where I stopped really trying to advance. Doing Monday/Thursday at full volume/intensity would probably be fine to maintain. You might even be able to cut volume to 2/3. Depends on your genes and your diet, I'd say.

Maybe you could do:

Monday
Squat
Bench/Press
Chins

Thursday
Deadlift
Bench/Press
Cleans

[jillingworth]

To some extent, this should work. However, over time, maintaining a fixed strength gets harder (a combination of aging and adaptation, I think). You will probably have to adjust or cycle your training periodically to keep your body willing to adapt to "stasis."