Program Spitballing

I've had an idea for future training stuff if I leave the RSF for any reason (or get tired of what I'm doing now, or whatever). I don't plan to try this soon, but it's basically the Texas Method augmented with Emevas' deadlift ROM progression (not shown in the outline because it can move around). This is basically targeted at increasing all of the lifts at a reasonable clip without access to anything less portable than a decent pair of squat stands. Incidentally, this isn't something I plan to try before I'm done with my cut.

Volume Day -
Squat 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pressing 5x5 @ 90% 5RM

Volume Day or Following -
Deadlift ROM Progression set at a ~9-week cycle from 6-7", <1" drops, and skipping any <1" days
(e.g. 6.75" start, drop 0.75" per week, skip the single-mat day)

Recovery Day -
Squat 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pressing 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate

Intensity Day -
Squat 5x1 @ Max
Pressing 5x1 @ Max

Accessories and additional movements for each day are a bit more malleable.

The basic scheme is that, while the Volume day will take ages to complete and suck absolute balls (possibly to the point of shifting the deads forward a day), everything keeps with the recovery scheme that made the original program work so well. The Pressing approach here should probably run on what Rippetoe outlines in Practical Programming (Push Press for Volume and Intensity due to the higher weights used, Strict Press for recovery due to lighter weights per unit difficulty), though other approaches are obviously fine as long as they work (Push/Strict Press alternated with Floor Press from the ground comes to mind).

Additional deadlifting can probably spread throughout the week. My guess is just Speed Pulls on Intensity Day (especially if the volume comes a day after squatting), though if everything's on the same volume day you could probably stick light RDLs on Recovery Day.

Deload weeks at the end of each Dead cycle would probably be a good idea. It might help to add in another one somewhere in the middle (after week 4 or 5). Also note that there's probably a lot to be said for additional recovery days (and possibly even training on an 8-day week rather than 7) - I could see myself lifting every day with a lot of light squats and pressing to help feed into the Volume and Intensity workouts.

The hope with this outline is that since it mirrors the original layout and uses a relatively low-stress method for driving deadlift progress, I'd be able to move steadily on all of the full power competition lifts without getting completely sucked into squatting at the cost of everything else. The rest of this post just details some layouts, so I'm including a break to shorten the page.




Consolidated:


Volume Day -
Squat 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pressing 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Deadlift ROM Progression
Pull-Ups/Pulldowns

Recovery Day -
Squat 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pressing 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Rows or RDLs (lower intensity)
Pull-Ups/Pulldowns

Intensity Day -
Squat 5x1 @ Max
Pressing 5x1 @ Max
Speed Pulls or Rows (Kroc or Heavy Barbell)
Pull-Ups/Pulldowns

This one keeps everything in the original layout (possibly to the deadlift's detriment). I'm not sure if ~moderate barbell rowing on Recovery day will hurt things, but I like the idea of speed pulling on Friday.

Split up:

Volume Day -
Squat 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pressing 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pull-Ups or Pulldowns

Deadlift Day -
Deadlift ROM Progression
Possibly Row (probably 5x5)

Recovery Day -
Squat 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pressing 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pull-Ups or Pulldowns

Intensity Day -
Squat 5x1 @ Max
Pressing 5x1 @ Max
Speed Pulls or Rows (Rows at max)
Pull-Ups or Pulldowns

This one helps to reduce workout length and reduces some of the ambiguity. It also gives us an excuse to progress heavily on barbell rows, which is always nice.

Traditional:

Volume Day -
Squat 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pressing 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Possibly Speed Pulls, or Barbell Rows done 5x5
Pullups or Pulldowns

Recovery Day -
Squat 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pressing 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Possibly Rows done 5x5 or Speed Pulls
Pullups or Pulldowns

Intensity Day -
Squat 5x1 @ Max
Pressing 5x1 @ Max
Deadlift ROM Progression
Pullups or Pulldowns

This one shifts the heavy deadlifting onto Intensity day and tries to compensate elsewhere in the week. It could be pretty decent or it could be disastrous.

One fun note here is that as the ROM progression cycle winds down and we get closer to actual heavy deads from the floor, it might be worth switching from the earlier approaches to the traditional version - it'd probably alternate around the deload weeks, with one of the earlier two for 5 weeks, deload, and then the traditional approach for 3-4 more (pending number of mats) before another deload and some level of reset.

It also might be worth throwing some GHRs in there at some point (hey, maybe on Recovery day) just because they're a good lift. Come to think of it, they'd probably do pretty well on a separate dead day.