Proven program, faithfully implemented
Texas Method
The Texas Method organises the week into three jobs: a high-VOLUME Monday, a genuinely light RECOVERY Wednesday, and a heavy INTENSITY Friday that sets a new five-rep PR. The recovery day being truly submaximal is load-bearing rather than optional — cut it too hard and Friday stops moving.
About the program
Created by: Mark Rippetoe & Glenn Pendlay — The Texas Method (startingstrength.com).
Who it's for
- Best for: Strength, when session-to-session progress has dried up but weekly progress has not.
- Experience: Post-novice. It needs an honest recent 5RM and the recovery to make Monday repeatable.
- Time: Three days a week on a weekly cycle, with a PR attempt every Friday.
How it's built
The shape of the program — sessions, sets and rep scheme. Iron Forge fills in the exact weights for you from your maxes.
Week
Monday (volume)
- Barbell Squat — 5×5
- + 2 more exercises
Wednesday (recovery)
- Barbell Squat — 2×5
- + 1 more exercise
Friday (intensity)
- Barbell Squat — 1×5, 1×3, 1×2, 1×5+
- + 2 more exercises
How Iron Forge runs it
How it works
The Texas Method is an intermediate programme organised as a weekly cycle of three quality-controlled days: a high-VOLUME day, a light RECOVERY day, and a heavy INTENSITY day. Monday's volume (classically 5×5 across at a challenging weight) provides the training stress; Wednesday is deliberately light to recover; Friday you work up to a single heavy top set (a new 5-rep max) — a weekly personal record. You progress once a week rather than every session.
Volume, recovery, intensity
Volume day drives adaptation, so it must be hard but repeatable. The recovery day is intentionally submaximal (lighter squats, pressing, sometimes chin-ups/back extensions) — cutting it too hard here wrecks Friday. Intensity day is the payoff: one heavy top set that beats last week. Next week's volume day is set off the new intensity-day number.
Making weekly PRs last
As long as Friday keeps improving, keep the weekly jumps small. When intensity day stalls, the usual fixes are: reduce volume-day stress slightly, ensure the light day is truly light, eat and sleep more, or — over time — split the volume/intensity across more days as you advance. It's a demanding programme that rewards honest recovery management.
Texas Method in Iron Forge
FAQ
- How is the week structured?
Three days: Monday high-volume (e.g. 5×5), Wednesday light recovery, Friday a heavy top single set of 5 (a weekly PR). Progression is weekly, driven by Friday.
- Why is Wednesday so light?
The recovery day exists to let you recover from Monday's volume so Friday's intensity PR is possible. Training it heavy defeats the whole cycle — keep it genuinely submaximal.
- When should I run the Texas Method?
After a beginner linear programme stalls. It's an intermediate programme: weekly PRs on hard volume are the point once daily progression is gone.
- How do I progress?
Add a small amount to Friday's top set each week (a new 5-rep max), then base the next Monday's volume weight on that. Keep the jumps small enough to keep PR-ing.
- What if my Friday PR stalls?
Trim volume-day stress a little, double-check the light day is easy, and prioritise food and sleep. Persistent stalls mean you should move toward a more advanced, more spread-out template.
- Is the Texas Method only for powerlifters?
It's strength-focused (squat, bench/press, deadlift, plus assistance) but suits anyone wanting to keep getting stronger past the novice phase; add assistance for size/weak points.
- Why have my bench and overhead press swapped days?
They alternate every week, which is the programme rather than a glitch. One week the bench takes Monday's volume and Friday's PR while the press runs light on Wednesday; the next week they trade. So each press sets a new five-rep max every second week — about half the rate of the squat, which is what upper-body lifts can actually sustain at this stage.
- Why is Wednesday's press only three sets of five?
Because it is recovery work, not a PR attempt. Whichever press is not being pressed heavy that week runs light on Wednesday at around 80%, alongside a couple of light squat sets. The entire purpose of that day is to arrive at Friday fresh enough to set a record — training it hard is the most common way people break this programme.
- What do I enter for each lift?
Your current five-rep max — the weight you could take for a hard set of five on a Friday. Not a one-rep max and not 90% of one. Everything else is a percentage of that: Monday's volume at about 90%, Wednesday's squat lighter still, and Friday at the number itself.
- What happens if I miss the Friday top set?
The weight holds and you try again next week. Miss three weeks running on a lift and it drops back 10% to rebuild from. Before you get there, though, check the obvious: Monday's volume too heavy, Wednesday not actually light, or not enough food and sleep to recover between them.
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