Recently started intermediate programming.

[spinoza]

I recently transitioned from SS to Texas Method.

Already -- and maybe this isn't how it's suppose to feel [no pain no gain!] -- I'm feeling less of a toll from TM when compared to SS. I gather that I was having trouble recovering from SS, or at least I was having trouble working up the energy/motivation for lifting with intensity three times per week.

So, here's my argument as to why the Texas Method is easier (I've only had two weeks of TM, so let me enjoy my blissful ignorance while it lasts!):

Volume day. In the spirit of fairness, volume days take a long time. This isn't a bad thing if what's taking so long is a stroll on a beach with a beautiful lady, but all I get to look at is my distorted self in a mirror making funny red faces for an hour and a half. (I go late at night when the gym is nearly empty so I don't feel like a terrible person for monopolizing the squat/power rack for over a half an hour. Also, last time, on a rep on my 4th or 5th squat set, I let rip a noxious fart that, while loud, was still far more foul than it was loud. No ladies were around thankfully, only a couple of old men -- me included.)

Fortunately, you only need to do volume days once a week. Furthermore, volume days (needn't) be as physically or mentally demanding as a SS training day. Why, you ask? Because, at least in my case, I'm trying to keep a 45 lbs differential on my squat between volume day and intensity day, and other generous differentials on the other lifts. This means a set in TM on volume day isn't nearly as taxing as a set in SS. By the 5th set, I'm reluctant (perhaps violently so) to agree to this line of reasoning, but by then I only have one set to go, so all is right in the Universe! This generosity (yes, volume days are generous) can be put to good use in that it provides one with more room to work on speed and form.

Recovery day -- that's when I put my services to use analyzing the squat form of the ladies. (Hey, I'm a pro.) Recovery day is training day for my rico suave. I finally feel like one of the bros. Hell, I almost even asked someone what their bench was... but I narrowly came back to my senses.

Intensity day. Ok, pretty intense -- in a way that is markedly different than the intensity of recovery day. However, I would argue they are no more (or maybe slightly less) mentally taxing than a training day in SS since you only have to muster up the rage for one set of each lift versus the periodic raging of multiple hard sets in SS. Moreover, you come into the intensity day with a lot more spit and venom thanks to the protracted recovery period (and all that worked up testerone from recovery day's squat form analysis).

They're also quite abbreviated. (Power cleans take up the majority of time, but power cleans are FUN -- right? Right!?!? <crickets chirping>)

Anyway, here's the stats on my last intensity day:

Squat: 5x365

BP: 5x250

PC: 5x3x250. This was a real bastard to get through -- it always felt like I wouldn't be able to muster enough power to do the next rep, but somehow I did (with the exception of a couple of missed reps).

Non-intensity day DL: After 5x5 squats on volume day, I don't have much left in the tank -- so my max is still 5x455.

Also, my best shoulder press is 5x195 (on the previous intensity day).

I have a small powerlifting competition I'd like to participate in that is taking place in a little over two months. Nothing big, but it's something to focus on. Any suggestions?

[Nick Klemetson]

Report back in 2 months when volume day weights are what your intensity weights are currently.

[BareSteel]

I'm not on TM yet, but I think the ease is due to the fact that you're new to the program and still using moderate weights. I take it that you were conservative in choosing your first volume day weight, which is a good thing, but expect the program to get harder.

Yes, recovery day is not really a challenge; and yes, you're only doing a single work set on intensity day. But volume day will become what one SS coach has called "a bear" of a workout.

Good lifts though, man. Keep up the hard work.

[spinoza]

Undoubtedly, there is much truth in what you say -- but...

I will not be pushing volume day up too quickly; in fact, I plan on keeping it where it's at for at least one more week. [As I said, I want there to be around a 45 lbs squat differential between volume day lifts and intensity day lifts -- that's a significant amount of weight]. If I can push up the reps faster and/or with less rest on volume days, then that's good stimulation for overcompensating on intensity day. The bottom line is, do what you must to get intensity day up. I don't really care about volume day except to the extent that it helps me on intensity day. I do not hold out much hope that this means, inevitably, that volume day must become more and more of "a bear". But in the mean time, I'm going to try to milk the less bear-ish volume days.

[BareSteel]

That's good. Your grasp of the purpose of volume day is good. It's not about beating yourself into submission.

However, just as SS gets harder as linear progression comes to a close, so does TM. Eventually, the window for what constitutes a sufficient volume stressor becomes closer to what constitutes too much of a stress. Then you have to be more precise with loading parameters. But that's far enough in the future to not worry about at this point.

If ID continues to improve, you're good.

[spinoza]

Honestly, I'm just stoked that volume days won't immediately destroy my soul, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with my hapless soulless TM brethren.

Also, I think the operative word in your reply is "If". If I had a million dollars (well, make it two million), I'd also be good. But I know in my heart of hearts I'm headed towards disaster and someday soon I will look back at how naive and unseemly my optimism here appeared to those with more experience (and by extension less soul) than me. But, what the hell, full steam ahead!

Btw #1: I actually feel really sore following intensity day. It was those damn power cleans. So, forget everything I said -- intensity days suck and volume days will soon suck. On the bright side, at least I still have my recovery day (i.e., my rico suave intensity day -- but I stalled on that a long time ago).

Btw #2: I made a typo in my previous post. I meant to say 'I do not hold out much hope that this means, inevitably, that volume day must NOT become more and more of "a bear"'. Admittedly, at this point I'm trapped by my own sentence structure; double negatives, awkward flow, etc. However, I couldn't issue a minor correction by changing every word in the sentence, so I was committed to fixing it by adding only one word -- "not" -- and god damnit, that's what I did.

[BareSteel]

Haha, I gotcha spino.

Dig the rico suave day. It's gotta be the best day of the three to approach women in the gym.

[spinoza]

So far, not a single one has called the cops on me -- I've got a few warnings, sure, but those only count on Tuesdays, and I don't go to the gym on Tuesday.

[Bayn]

I feel the same about 5x5, as long as I take enough time between sets, it isn't very hard as long as you are motivated. Though I don't do TM, I do a lower /upper split routine, with intensity and volume days. I just keep adding 5lbs per week and try to keep in mind how many reps I got in the tank after my last set, usually 2-3 grinders which tells me I'm good for another 5lbs. I make sure to eat enough calories/sodium the night before and the day of training and am usually good to go.

The way I see volume vs intensity, is that you can always do more weight with a lower set/rep scheme then your volume day, so why hold it back if ID is mostly a test day? If my 5x5 is 410, my 5rm or 1RM (currently 480) or whatever is always going to be higher anyways. Maybe I'm wrong in the sense that my 1RM is low compared to my 5x5, and I'm turning into a "volume warrior" I guess they call, but I'm getting stronger every week, and its great for me.

Isn't increasing the 5x5 building a bigger "base" of strength? from which you can later optimize by focusing more on singles and reducing volume on VD a bit, say for a meet or something if you wish?