Texas Method: Is It the Right Next Step After LP?
Yes, for most lifters whose novice linear progression has stalled despite smaller jumps and good recovery. A hard 5×5 volume day, a light day and a Friday five-rep record let you add weight every week instead of every session. It demands serious eating and sleep. When Friday stalls, fix recovery and push the intensity day, not more Monday volume.
Asking because your progress stalled? The program is rarely the whole story. The diagnosis reads how you train, eat, sleep and recover, and ranks what is actually holding you back.
- Updated
- Reading time
- 6 min
- By
- LiftDecode
The Texas Method is the right next step for most lifters whose novice linear progression has stalled despite smaller jumps and decent recovery. It is a three-day intermediate strength program: a hard volume day of 5 sets of 5, a light recovery day and an intensity day where you try to set a new five-rep record. Instead of adding weight every session, you add it every week. It works until Monday's volume costs more than the rest of the week can repay.
What is the Texas Method?
Three sessions a week with three different jobs, as Mark Rippetoe describes it (Rippetoe, The Texas Method):
| Day | Squat | Press and bench | Pulling and extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday (volume) | 5×5 at about 90% of your 5-rep max | Bench or press 5×5, alternating weekly | One heavy set of 5 deadlifts |
| Wednesday (light) | 2×5 at 80% of Monday's weight | The other press, 3 lighter sets | Chin-ups, 3 sets to failure; back extensions 5×10 |
| Friday (intensity) | A new 5-rep max, or within 2% | A new 5-rep max on the week's press | Power cleans 5×3 or power snatches 6×2 |
The weight on Monday should let you finish all 25 reps, even if it takes long rests. Friday turns that volume into a heavier single set. The program grew out of a bench routine attributed to the strongman Doug Hepburn, split across two days because almost nobody could recover from doing both on the same day.
When should you switch to the Texas Method?
When adding weight every session no longer works on a lift, even after smaller jumps and a light squat day. Rippetoe's point is simple: you are now strong enough that each workout takes longer to recover from, so increases happen weekly, at about a third of the old pace, but for much longer.
You do not have to switch every lift at once. Justin Lascek, a coach who wrote a long series on the method, suggests moving a lift to Texas Method-style training when it has stalled several times while the others keep moving, and he warns against grinding out the last weeks of a linear progression on pure survival (70's Big, Part 2).
How do you set up your first Texas Method week?
Start from your last linear-progression weights, not from a fresh max test. LiftDecode's setup, built on Rippetoe's percentages:
- Estimate your 5-rep max as your last successful 3×5 weight on that lift.
- Monday: 5×5 at about 90% of that number (Rippetoe, The Texas Method).
- Wednesday: squat 2×5 at 80% of Monday's weight; the other press light.
- Friday: work up to one set of five a little above your old 3×5 weight.
From then on, add a small amount to Monday each week and aim for a new five-rep record every Friday. If Monday's 25 reps start failing, the Friday jump was too big, not too small.
How fast do you progress on the Texas Method?
Slower than a novice, but steadily. Rippetoe's own illustration: a lifter whose linear progression reached a 315 lb squat for five at 200 lb bodyweight in five months might reach 405 for five in a year on the Texas Method, at about 225 lb (Rippetoe, The Texas Method). Treat that as an optimistic case for a young man eating to gain.
Varying the stress across the week is not just tradition. Across 18 studies, periodized plans raised one-rep maxes more than doing the same sets every session, and day-to-day variation did best (Williams et al., 2017). The Texas Method is a simple version of that idea.
Why is Monday so hard, and how long should you rest?
Because 25 heavy squat reps at about 90% of your five-rep max is a lot of work, and it is meant to be. Rippetoe allows up to 8–10 minutes between sets to finish all five sets of five, and asks you to keep assistance work to a little arm training (Rippetoe, The Texas Method).
Long rests are backed by research, too: in 21 trained men, three-minute rests built more squat and bench strength than one-minute rests (Schoenfeld et al., 2016). If you rush Monday, you either miss reps or drop the weight, and the whole week loses its point.
Why does the Texas Method stall?
Usually recovery. Rippetoe's warning is blunt: at this level you must eat and sleep enough, or Monday's workout will wreck the rest of the week and you will get stuck (Rippetoe, The Texas Method).
The second cause is chasing the wrong day. Lascek's advice is to push the intensity day rather than the volume day, because lifters who keep driving Monday up tend to end up overtrained (70's Big, Part 1). When Friday's fives stop moving, shift the intensity day to triples, and later to doubles or singles, while keeping that day's volume low (70's Big, Part 2).
Is the Texas Method good for building muscle?
It is a strength program first. Weekly, the squat gets 8 working sets (5 on Monday, 2 on Wednesday, 1 on Friday), each press about 5 to 9 depending on the week, and the only direct arm and lat work is chin-ups. Muscle growth rises with weekly sets, about 0.37% per extra set in a 15-study meta-analysis (Schoenfeld et al., 2017).
The legs grow well; the upper body and arms get less. Note, too, that Rippetoe's own example has the lifter gaining 25 lb of bodyweight in a year, which tells you how much eating the program assumes. If size matters, add rows and a few sets of arm work on Monday and Wednesday, and accept that Rippetoe would call it a distraction.
How does the Texas Method compare with 5/3/1 and StrongLifts?
Each fits a different stage:
| StrongLifts 5x5 | Texas Method | 5/3/1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Novice | Early intermediate | Intermediate and beyond |
| Progress | Every session | Every week | Every four-week cycle |
| Hardest day | Every day is similar | Monday's 5×5 | The last-set rep records |
| Recovery demand | Moderate | High | Moderate |
See our StrongLifts 5x5 and 5/3/1 reviews for the details.
Stalled on Friday and not sure why?
Check recovery before you change the program: sleep, food, stress and whether your Monday weights crept up too fast. The full diagnosis ranks those against everything else you do.
FAQ
How much weight should I use on Monday?
About 90% of your current five-rep max for 5×5, per Rippetoe (The Texas Method). If you cannot finish all 25 reps with long rests, the weight is too heavy.
When should I deadlift on the Texas Method?
Rippetoe puts one heavy set of five on Monday after squats; Lascek prefers deadlifting on the intensity day (70's Big, Part 1). Either works if you keep it to one hard set.
What if I feel great on Wednesday?
Keep it light anyway. The light day exists to help you recover from Monday and be fresh for Friday; adding weight there steals from the record you are chasing two days later.
Can I do the Texas Method on a cut?
It is hard to recover from in a calorie deficit. On a cut, expect Friday records to slow or stop, and consider a lower-volume program.
How long can you run the Texas Method?
Often a year or more, if you manage recovery and rotate the Friday rep targets. When weekly records stop for good, move to monthly progression such as 5/3/1.
Written and maintained by LiftDecode. Training and nutrition education for healthy adults, not medical advice — if you have a health condition or an injury, talk to a professional who can examine you.