Texas method - attempted at deficit

[Stuhutch89]

Hi

So I joined this to post as right now I am feeling a bit lost/dispirited about how my Texas method is going. Quick summary is:

I am 6ft and about 214lbs

Did starting strength and moved to Texas method for the last 10 weeks or so. My lift two weeks ago were:

Squat 137.5kg 5 reps
Deadlift 182.5kg 4 reps
Bench 105kg 4 reps
Shoulder press 67.5kg 4 reps

From doing starting strength last summer I didn’t really track calories and put on too much weight to the point of my waist ballooning up to 38” so I decided to try a cut and track calories properly at around 2900 calories per day. My weight did drop a bit too quick first few days down to now about 214lbs from 219lbs two weeks ago.

I read in posts on here about Texas method being too taxing while in deficit but figured I would be fine, but the last week was pretty awful for me.

Squat 1 rep @ 142.5kg
Deadlift 2 reps @ 185kg

The collapse of both these lifts is pretty concerning as I had figured the reps would drop slowly to a point of being able to do 3x1 eventually but this is now pretty limited. I read about switching to HLM but does this preserve as much strength? Continuing as is on Texas Method clearly can’t work with going for another deadlift tomorrow intensity tomorrow night. Any thoughts/ideas would be great

Thanks

Stuart

[David McClelland]

Was in the same boat. I didn't watch the macros and ate too much fat and though my novice LP went perfectly progression has stalled permanently because I've got to cut quite a bit. I chose HLM because I knew TM would be too taxing and not worth it as I'm not going to progress while cutting. Without programming really being an issue my first lift after cutting calories was down in reps, then went down both in weight and reps and now my squat is down 40 lbs, but presses remarkably have stayed the same.

I made the mistake of cutting too many calories too fast, and I did it by cutting carbs which was the wrong thing to do. I know this goes into nutrition on a training question but nutrition is what is most important involving a cut.

It's important to note that I lost both reps and strength steadily until I upped my carbs again (not fully, but enough) and just cut out as much fat as possible. My strength thankfully stabilized after that and no more loss, and I'm still dropping lbs.

I'm down 9 lbs in 3 weeks and for my goals have about 20 more to go, which I made sure to overestimate. My gut is already going down.

HLM has been key to both my sanity and my success in this and I have no doubt I will get my squatting strength back up when this weight is off.

Just my .02 for you.

[Stuhutch89]

Really interesting thanks David!

Curiosity what sort of level of carbs are you eating? I might try 50% of calories from carbs to see if that helps and jus reduce my fat down as I had been aiming for about 0.4g-0.5g per lb but this is not working.

How did HLM go for you strength wise? What template did you use for it?

[davidpbsmith76]

Hi

The collapse of both these lifts is pretty concerning as I had figured the reps would drop slowly to a point of being able to do 3x1 eventually but this is now pretty limited. I read about switching to HLM but does this preserve as much strength? Continuing as is on Texas Method clearly can’t work with going for another deadlift tomorrow intensity tomorrow night. Any thoughts/ideas would be great

My first week back to bulking after an eight week cut, I got 2 pb's, then I got 8 in the second week! While I was cutting I think I got one or two in the whole time. Really made a big difference. Guess that's why strong guys tend to get big! Maybe it's just part of it.

[Dalton Clark]

I tried to lose 1-1.5 pounds per week on a 4 day Texas Method. It didn't work. I went from a triple at 405 pounds to a single at 375 over the course of about 4 weeks. The main thing with cutting is that it kills your intensity - you just can't operate at maximum intensity without the tank fully topped off so to speak. I wouldn't suggest any form of programming that places you that close to limit sets. I would go to HLM, but also do this understanding that it is very common to lose some strength during a cut. It will come back, but you are restricting calories which means glycogen depletion. I would say that Texas Method or any of its variations are just too difficult to recover from in a deficit. If you need or want help in setting up a template, we can help with that. Andy Baker has also put out a lot of content about HLM programming recently.

[Stuhutch89]

Hi dalton

Thanks a lot, i guess comforting you had a similar experience of strengrh loss and i havent done somehing initially wrong. I had read somr of andy bakers posts on hLM but any advice i helping set up a template would be great? I read one of his routines that monday is effectively volume day in TM but 3x5 instead but i wasnt sure hoe the light and medium days worked as it saif squat was 1 swt of 5 at 10% less than monday but also says its going heavier on wed than monday?

Also wasnt aure of the weighta for 2x2 on fri

[tfranc]

Hi dalton

Thanks a lot, i guess comforting you had a similar experience of strengrh loss and i havent done somehing initially wrong. I had read somr of andy bakers posts on hLM but any advice i helping set up a template would be great? I read one of his routines that monday is effectively volume day in TM but 3x5 instead but i wasnt sure hoe the light and medium days worked as it saif squat was 1 swt of 5 at 10% less than monday but also says its going heavier on wed than monday?

Also wasnt aure of the weighta for 2x2 on fri

Check out his website I think he’s got some templates on there.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Cutting on HLM goes with a companion diet plan to work most effectively. In a VERY condensed nutshell, I like to run a very large caloric deficit Monday - Saturday. On Sunday (or maybe even starting Saturday night) you need to have a cheat / refeed / carb up / whatever you want to call it that tops off your glycogen stores and puts some good weight back on you (temporarily). Then on Monday (THE DAY AFTER THE REFEED, NOT THE DAY OF THE REFEED) run your heavy day for Squats and Bench and maybe even Deadlifts. Then the rest of the week you are training light and medium and in a big deficit.

The goal is to weigh in on Saturday or Sunday morning about 1-2 lbs lighter than the previous week. If you aren't losing weight then (1) you don't have a big enough deficit Monday - Saturday (2) you are ballooning up so much on your cheat day that you can't come back down to a net loss within 5-6 days.

If you are losing more than 1-2 lbs per week then you are (1) running too much of a deficit during the week (2) not eating enough on cheat days.

Like this for a guy at like 220:

Sunday: Rest + Refeed. About 200-250g protein, 500-1000g carbs. (5 meals with 40-50g protein and 100-200g carbs)
Monday: Heavy Day + Deficit. About 250g protein, minimal fat, vegetable only carbs.
Tuesday: Rest + Deficit
Wednesday: Light Day + Deficit (maybe heavy Deads today if not on Monday)
Thursday: Rest + Deficit
Friday: Medium Day + Deficit
Saturday: Rest or Cardio (do cardio if you need to drop last bit of weight to meet 1-2 lbs wt loss goal by Sunday morning. LSD cardio only)

[Dalton Clark]

Generally, heavy day is 5x5 (except for deadlifts) with a heavy first set and four back offs, medium day is 4x5, and light day is 3x5. You might have to modify the volume or intensity if one (or the other) is more than you can recover from.