Old Man Texas Method or Standard Texas for 36 Year-old Male

[Iron Mike]

Greetings,

This is my first post ever on the SS Forum, and I'm not really inclined to forum etiquette. I apologize in advance if I'm breaking any rules by asking my question here; it is most certainly unintentional. I own and have read the books so much they're falling apart. So, anyway, here it goes...

Here are my current lifts...

Back Squat: 380 for three sets of five (380x3x5?) The books don't seem to be entirely consistent on set/rep ordering within the programming notation. Has a hard and fast rule evolved? This lift is still going strong. Hard lifts, but not serious grinds.

Deadlift: 375x1x5 (Hit 380 for a double, and failed a third)

Press: 165 x 5 x 3 (Per PPST3, Moved from fives to triplets last week.)

Bench Press: 242.5 x 5 x 3 (Per PPST3, Moved from fives to triplets two weeks ago)

Clean: 165 x 5 x 3 (I reset this from 185 to 135 after finding the need to dial in my form.)

I feel like I'm nearing the end of my NLP, and I don't know exactly what type of Texas to do after I'm done. I know Rip has said Texas is for younger athletes, but I'm unclear where that tails off. Old Man Texas seems to be based more on recover than age, so it also seems a little cloudy on the lower age limit. I'm currently transitioning my lifts to lower volume per PPST3, but predict getting into some variation of Texas in the next 2 to 3 months. What do you guys think? Again, first time on the forum, so please be gentle. Below is the programming information the moderator provided in FAQ.

1) 36 Years Old / Male
2) 235lbs (6'2") (Maybe about 15% body fat)
3) Novice Linear Progression
4) 4 months 2 weeks on NLP
5) I started the NLP at 217lbs.
6) I am using 2.5# increments for the bench and the press, 5# increments for the clean and the squat, 10# for the DL.
7) About 3,000 calories per day
8) Protien Intake (250gr/day)
9) 5-6 minutes rest between sets.
10) I started the program at 185# for the Squat, 115# for the Bench, 95# for the Press, 185# for the Clean. I loaded the squat 10# at a time for 5 sessions, then dropped to 5# increments. I loaded the DL 10# at a time for three weeks. All other lifts stayed at 5# per session. I have been sick once, and missed a total of four sessions due to travel.
11) I like woodworking and playing with my kids, but nothing that interferes with recovery. My sleep is not always optimal, but diet is good.

Thanks again. I'm really looking forward to getting into the forums.

Mike

[Steve Hill]

Greetings,

This is my first post ever on the SS Forum, and I'm not really inclined to forum etiquette. I apologize in advance if I'm breaking any rules by asking my question here; it is most certainly unintentional. I own and have read the books so much they're falling apart. So, anyway, here it goes...

Here are my current lifts...

Back Squat: 380 for three sets of five (380x3x5?) The books don't seem to be entirely consistent on set/rep ordering within the programming notation. Has a hard and fast rule evolved? This lift is still going strong. Hard lifts, but not serious grinds.

Deadlift: 375x1x5 (Hit 380 for a double, and failed a third)

Press: 165 x 5 x 3 (Per PPST3, Moved from fives to triplets last week.)

Bench Press: 242.5 x 5 x 3 (Per PPST3, Moved from fives to triplets two weeks ago)

Clean: 165 x 5 x 3 (I reset this from 185 to 135 after finding the need to dial in my form.)

I feel like I'm nearing the end of my NLP, and I don't know exactly what type of Texas to do after I'm done. I know Rip has said Texas is for younger athletes, but I'm unclear where that tails off. Old Man Texas seems to be based more on recover than age, so it also seems a little cloudy on the lower age limit. I'm currently transitioning my lifts to lower volume per PPST3, but predict getting into some variation of Texas in the next 2 to 3 months. What do you guys think? Again, first time on the forum, so please be gentle. Below is the programming information the moderator provided in FAQ.

1) 36 Years Old / Male
2) 235lbs (6'2") (Maybe about 15% body fat)
3) Novice Linear Progression
4) 4 months 2 weeks on NLP
5) I started the NLP at 217lbs.
6) I am using 2.5# increments for the bench and the press, 5# increments for the clean and the squat, 10# for the DL.
7) About 3,000 calories per day
8) Protien Intake (250gr/day)
9) 5-6 minutes rest between sets.
10) I started the program at 185# for the Squat, 115# for the Bench, 95# for the Press, 185# for the Clean. I loaded the squat 10# at a time for 5 sessions, then dropped to 5# increments. I loaded the DL 10# at a time for three weeks. All other lifts stayed at 5# per session. I have been sick once, and missed a total of four sessions due to travel.
11) I like woodworking and playing with my kids, but nothing that interferes with recovery. My sleep is not always optimal, but diet is good.

Thanks again. I'm really looking forward to getting into the forums.

Mike

Before going to any type of intermediate program, you probably should trantition through an advanced novice program (wednesday being a Light/ deload day). I’m not sure what type of loading you’re using for DL. You said “10# at a time for three weeks” - ? Does this mean you’ve only done DL for three weeks? How often are you DL? Every other workout? You may need to strech that out to 1z per week in order to keep progress moving, though I’d invest in a few hours with an SSC to try and figure out at these weights why you’re pullling less than your squat yet still staling. You also need to increase your rest between sets before that bites you in the ass, at least on the SQ. You also state that you STARTED the program at 185 for the clean, yet are currently cleaning 165.

[Iron Mike]

Thanks for answering. I missed some programming points. Good catch. For the squat, I am adding 5# every other workout, and going 70% on those light days. I've been spacing my squats for the last month. As to the DL, just a typo. I started my DL at 225# and increase 10# per workout, which is once a week. Another typo for the clean. I started my clean at 135 and got to 185 when I had to reset. I plan on attending a seminar in Chicago to look at my DL and my clean. I'll increase my rest too. I'm hoping to keep my LP going as long as I can before I start intermediate.

[Steve Hill]

On the DL, it's either a insufficient stressor to drive adaptation for the next workout, or a recovery issue. Getting only two reps after and easy-ish 5 at 10# lighter seems like the latter, but I have no way of knowing. I've split the increment and DL's Monday / Friday before with a little success (5# Monday, 5# Friday, clean on Wednesday) in order to get a "little" extra DL work - for a lot of people it's too much though. I've also had success with two sets of triples. You'll have to play around with it and see. But look to your recovery first. At your height / weight, unless you're modeling, you certainly could stand to add 10-20#.