Thanks for the support guys; both the babies and the Wifeacore are home now, so that's a load off my mind, and all are much improved (although the Wifeacore is still very fatigued, and likely will be so for a while).

So, I'm back at work, which means I was back at the gym. I got the chance to try out my new belt today (although not the knee sleeves, since I ordered a medium and needed a large):

Squat
wu+5/5/3x245
Probably could have gotten all five at 245, just extreme WIL for some reason. I'm going to probably just repeat 245 this whole week and try to get back in the groove before adding weight.

Press
wu + 2x5x135
Pretty easy, took a long time on squat so was pressed for time.

DL
wu+ 1x5x255
Pretty easy as well, I could tell the difference from the belt most during this exercise. I think I'm ok to keep adding weight here, even while I work on my squat. It just felt good to get back in the gym; hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon enough.

7/11

Squat
wu+3x5x245

Pretty smooth, feeling like I'm back in the groove here.

Bench
wu + 3x5x245
Tougher than I anticipated, although I think it'd been 3 weeks since I benched so it's hard to be too upset. At least I'm still benching more than kpowers.



Pendlays
3x5x165
Easy.

I'm tossing around maybe switching to TM . . . any tips or tweaks I should know about?

TM is a good program. I'd definitely check out the Lascek ebooks if you can. RDLs on monday, moderating volume, taking wednesdays really easy, working up to 3RMs on fridays are all good tips.

Good work. This guy gets into the gym with two new babies and a recovering wife. I can't get in the gym with a good 7 year old and an awesome wife. I'm lame.

Well my parents and in-laws got us a night nurse, or else I would be dead on my feet and mainlining caffeine 24/7.

So after reading through the TM e-book, I am thinking of starting a TM program on Monday, using the following scheme:

Monday (Volume)
Squats 5x5
Bench or Press 5x5
RDL 3x8
Weighted Chins 3x5

Wednesday (Light)
Squats 2x5 (~75% of Volume)
Bench or Press 3x5 (Light to Medium weight)
Curls 3x10

Friday (Intensity)
Squats 1x5
Bench or Press 1x5
Deadlift 1x5
Weighted Dips 3x8

Thoughts?

Looks good!

I shifted weighted chins to ID - only have to carry dip belt to gym once, and doing anything after volume squats sucks balls. So i do some sort of row on VD instead, which possibly doesnt seem like the smartest idea in hindsight. Basically a way to get some additional back work in for me.

edit: He does suggest to keep intensity day intense and low volume in the second ebook, inlcuding triples for the wtd dips.

edit 2: Also, do you plan to compete? He also suggests making all ID lifts 3RMs for his powerlifters.

Hmmm . . . maybe I should just add a fourth day on Tuesday and make it an all assistance day, as he suggests; Monday does look a little packed, I am probably going to want to kill myself after the first two exercises. Did you ever consider doing that? I should probably just sack up and do it like I planned it; Mondays are going to be long as ****.

Never planned on competing, but who knows; I don't really think I have the build for it, you don't see too many builds like mine in the strength sports. I'm a few years away from even thinking about it, in any case.

I'm starting TM in August & plan on adding the assistance day on Tuesday.

Otherwise, I think I'd rather do the Push/Pull template in the TM e-book over packing in all the extra stuff like RDL/weighted chins & stuff (b/c I'd probably end up skipping them anyway).

C-P --

Interesting, could you refresh my memory on what the Push-Pull template entails? I don't remember seeing it in Part I, is it in Part II?

I just can't get to the gym the extra day of the week, otherwise i would prefer a four day split. Its not so bad doing it all in one go...

Shoot, I meant the upper/lower split template. Yep...it's in Part II:

Monday: Volume Bench And Upper Body Accessory Work

Tuesday: Volume Squats And Pulls

Thursday: Intensity Bench And Upper Body Accessory Work

Friday: Intensity Squats And Pulls

Yeah, I'm real close to my gym, which is the only reason I go there since it has only one squat rack and no true power rack. I like the short in & out gym sessions. Transitioning back from RPT to a TM is killing me already...I'm so not used to 1.5 hour workouts.

Interesting. So is the pull stuff just chins or rows essentially, with DLing done on Friday with intensity squats and maybe one other assistance exercise?

When do you press? Alternate weeks with benching? Or just do Volume Bench/Intensity Press one week and reverse the next?

I work out during lunch so keeping it to 1ish hours is pretty attractive to me . . .

you could even bro it up on Saturday if so inclined

zomg 5 day/week

1.5 hours of only curls and shrugs on Saturdays would be pretty sweet . . .

He has different options-

General strength (basically not really doing TM for upper body):
Upper 1. Bench + CG Bench
Upper 2. Press + Wted Dips

Bench emphasis:
1. VD Bench + Press
2. ID Bench + Accessory lift

Same idea for the press emphasis

The 2nd book is really good...it's too detailed to really lay out here b/c he has a lot about playing with the rep schemes.

I'll have to check it out - it's the Texas Method Advanced ebook on 70sbig, right?

Alright after pouring through both TM ebooks I have managed to cobble together a four day split that seems semi-reasonable to me, thoughts are, of course, welcome:

Monday (Volume Bench and Upper Assistance)
Bench 3x5 (sets across or ascending)
Press 3x5
Weighted Dips 3x3
Weighted Chins 3x5

Tuesday (Volume Squat and Pulls)
Squat 3x5
RDL 3x8-10
Pendlays 3x5

Thursday (Intensity Bench and Upper Accessory)
Bench 1x3-5
CG Bench 3x3-5
Curls 3x10

Friday (Intensity Squat and Pulls)
Squat 1x5
DL 1x5
Weighted Pull-ups 3x5
Rounded back extensions

My one concern is that the squatting volume seems kind of low; should I try out 5x5 on volume day?

Definitely try 5x5 out for a while, especially on a split like that. Pendlays might be hard after both squats and RDLs, you may end up subbing in cable or kroc rows to get an appropriate amount of back work in.

My (hopefully) last SS workout:

Squat
wu+ 3x5x245

First set was a little wonky, as I lost tightness at the bottom of the first rep since I split my drawers (although fortunately not my pants). Everything else was pretty smooth.

Press
wu + 5/5/4x140

Just a big bunch of WIL in the 3rd set, not quite sure what happened here.

DL
wu + 1x5x275

Pretty smooth with the belt, I will definitely get some videos up on these next Friday, as I am curious to see how I am doing.

I'm probably going to start my 5x5 volume squats out pretty low (say 225ish) to get used to the volume, and also since I had a two and a half week lifting break recently. The bro in me is excited for the extra upper body work that's coming.

You should check out the suggestion in the ebook about transitioning to TM. I think the idea is for your first volume day to be ascending sets, but can't recall specifically off the top of my head.

Ah, I recall something about that too, but remember it specifically wrt benching. I'll check again for squatting, thanks for the reminder.

Not really a big deal, but the volume shock can be pretty tough. Definitely a good idea to start low, remembering that the important day to progress on is ID.