TM quandry, the end?

[Randle McMurphy]

Hi Rip,

I am in something of a funk.

I have been doing TM for 55 weeks or so. 28 y/o, 5ft 7", 93kg, 10%bf. My best squat is 187.5kgX5, and rack pull of 230kgX5, 195kgX8 Halting, 82.5kgX1X8 olympic press.

I keep hitting stalls on my squat and not making my weekly PR's. I am currently stuck at 180kgX3.

I have tried a few things to remedy this:

(i)reduce the number of sets to 3 >> No PR's
(ii)reduce the 5X5 volume weight to 85% of PR weight eg 152.5kg for 5X5 in order to squat 180kg for 5 >> Only managed to get 3 reps
(iii)eating more protein, and more food, with more sleep >> just got fatter with no PR's

Do you think I have reached the end of TM? Or am I doing something glaringly wrong? It is pretty frustrating going home weekly with no new pr's and no progress.

I was thinking my options could be:
(i)Increase the volume day 5X5 weight to 90% of PR weight, eg 162.5kg in order to squat 180kg for 5.
(ii)Switch to Pyramid model of programming. Or 5/3/1.

My ultimate goal is to squat 195-200kg for 5, and do a powerlifting meet. Then go back onto a oly programme and utilise the newly developed strength. With a 200kgX5 squat, I think I stand a good chance to qualify for nationals.

Any ideas what is going on? Any advise?

Thank you for your time.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Without knowing the internal details of your training, e.g. rest between sets, microloading, wraps, belt, diet particulars, time of day you train, training partners, I can't say specifically. And neither can anyone else. Coaching like this is detail-dependent. But just guessing, I'd say you should move on to the split routine for a while, and then the pyramid model after that.