The Purpose of a 'Medium Day' for Intermediate/Advanced Lifters

[Tom Bryant]

Let's use the squat and say a lifter does:
Monday - 3x5 Heavy
Thursday - 3x5 Medium(10% less than Monday)

Does the volume from the medium day help to drive adaptation or would it be better to do something like this:
Monday - 3x5 Heavy
Thursday - 1x5 Heavy(Same weight as Monday)

Or is the medium day just to 'feel' some weight on your back? But, if that's the case, why not use the 2nd example?

Thanks for your time.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Goddammit. Practical Programming for Strength Training, 3rd edition – The Aasgaard Company

Too much volume or not enough ?

[AndrewLewis]

You're thinking about "days" as though they are standalone events. Intermediate lifters have a (usually) weekly cycle. You have to think about weekly cycles in terms of weekly stress, weekly recovery, etc. It's a whole system, not a standalone event. Check out the intermediate sections of practical programming.