Do you remember the early days of your weight lifting journey when you were adding weight with every workout and your gains were noticeable? After a day it all stopped. Achievements became slower, recovery became more difficult, and adding 5 pounds to your big lifts became impossible.
The Texas Method aims to solve this problem.
created for intermediate lifters who excel at beginner programs but they are not ready for complex periodization. On paper, it doesn’t seem like much: one day is dedicated to volume, one day is focused on recovery, and one day is built around intensity. What sets the Texas Method apart is that it structures stress and recovery throughout the week, rather than trying to force adaptations in every workout.
It’s compound heavy lifts, progressive overload, and the understanding that getting stronger takes effort.
Let’s dive into the Texas method to see if it’s right for you Jay Ashman of Ashman Power.
What is the Texas Method Exercise Program?
Olympic weightlifting coach Glen Pendley developed the Texas Method, which was later adopted by strength coach Mark Rippeto. Its purpose was simple: to solve a problem that every lifter faces after the beginner’s achievements dry up.
Programs like Start Strength and StrongLifts 5×5 work because new lifters can recover quickly enough to add almost any exercise. But then the weights get heavy, fatigue sets in, and progress stalls. The solution was to spread the stress and recovery throughout the week.
This solution became the basis of the Texas method.
- Monday = Volume Day
- Wednesday = Recovery Day
- Friday = Tension Day
On Monday, acclimatization is increased through volume work, on Wednesday the body moves while managing fatigue, and on Friday turns all that accumulated work into a potential PR.
Squats, presses, deadlifts, power cleans, and bench presses are the best because they give a big hit to your training score. The 5×5 became the engine because it hit the sweet spot between enough volume to stimulate growth and enough tension to increase power.
Texas Method Weekly Breakdown: Volume, Recovery, and Intensity Days
Instead of spreading volume and intensity throughout the week, The Texas Method organizes them so that each workout has a specific goal.
Publication date: Monday
Monday is a busy day, designed to build up the learning stress that carries through the week. A classic configuration usually looks like this:
- Salad: 5×5
- Bench press or overhead press: 5×5
- Power Clean: 5×3 or Deadlift 1×5
Base the work sets around 80-90% of the previous Friday’s 5RM. The goal is to accumulate enough ton to stimulate strength and size. A notable feature is the limited amount of death. Pendlay and Rippeto recognized that heavy lifts have recovery value, so most versions limit them to one heavy work set rather than multiple sets of 5×5.
Notes of Dushanbe
- Rest for 5-8 minutes between heavy exercises.
- Recovery begins immediately after the session. Sleep, food quality, calories, hydration and stress management are not optional – they are essential.
Recovery Day: Wednesday
The goal is to maintain quality of movement, improve circulation, and reduce fatigue without compromising Friday’s intense workout. A classic recovery day often includes:
- Squat: 2 x 5 at about 80% of Monday’s load
- Overhead Variation or Bench Press 3×5
- Chin-Ups 3 times to failure with 3 minutes of rest between sets
- Back Extensions or Glute-Ham Raises 5×10
Instead of sitting around in pain and stiffness, you’ll be doing the lifts as fatigue subsides.
Wednesday notes
- Everything should feel precise and controlled.
- You should leave the gym feeling better when you walk in.
Day of tension: Friday
Friday focuses on adapting to heavier weights and new PR territory. Traditional settings usually include:
- Salad: 1 × 5 RM
- Bench press or overhead press: 1 × 5 RM
- Deadlift: 1×5 RM or Power Clean 5×3
The volume decreases, but the intensity increases. Warm-up sets gradually build up to a solid upper set, ideally heavier than the previous week, while maintaining good form.
Powerlifting and powerlifting help build explosiveness and athleticism. Both coaches favor variations of the Olympic lifts because they train muscle strength and efficiency better than deadlifts.
Friday Notes
- Heat slowly.
- Save energy for the above set.
- Technique is more important than ego.
Note: The Texas Method works best in blocks of 4-8 weeks, and 6 weeks is the sweet spot for many people.
Who Should Use the Texas Curriculum?
The Texas Method is aimed at intermediate lifters who have exhausted the baseline progression but still want simple strength and effective programming.
If you’re still making progress, you probably don’t need the Texas method. But if progress has stalled, recovery between sessions is difficult, and you’re ready to manage your workload, this program is for you.
Intermediate lifts are ready for the next step: Lifters coming out of programs like Start Strength or StrongLifts 5×5 often struggle as they try to force the initial style progression after their body has stopped recovering quickly. The Texas Method solves this problem by spreading the adaptation over a week rather than a single workout.
Lifts that the basics love: The Texas method is basic. Heavy compound lifts are the focus and there are very few; program rewards lifters who enjoy mastering the basics rather than constantly changing exercises.
Strength-oriented athletes and lifters: This program caters to powerlifters and combat sports athletes who simultaneously build strength, conditioning and mental intelligence. It’s more of a template than a solid system; Trainers have successfully adapted it for powerlifting, athletic performance, and even hypertrophy-oriented approaches.
Who Shouldn’t Use the Texas Curriculum?
The Texas method is not for lifters
- don’t call their recovery
- eat like birds
- or live under constant stress
Monday’s volume day gets progressively harder over time, and without recovery habits, fatigue quickly accumulates.
It’s also not ideal for that
- true beginners
- people who want a variety of exercises
- bodybuilders pursue maximal hypertrophy
- carriers with unpredictable schedules
Pros of the Texas Method for intermediate lifts
This is where it shines and it can punch you in the mouth.
Supporter
Beautifully simple: The Texas Method is easy to understand. The program makes the entire cycle of stress-adaptation recovery in one week. This simplicity gives lifters clarity and structure without requiring spreadsheets similar to NASA’s launch codes.
Proven for real world power: Thousands of lifters have been using the Texas Method successfully for decades. Set:
- high praises
- compound heavy lifts
- progressive overload
- effect of weekly intensity
Works for average lifters.
Train recovery procedure: The Texas Method requires you to honor the recovery, whether you want to or not. You understand that sleep, calories, hydration and stress management are important because if recovery is slipping, Friday will expose it immediately.
Highly customizable: The Texas Method is more like a framework than a strict program. Trainers and lifters have successfully changed it:
- powerlifting
- sports performance
- Olympic sports
This adaptability is the main reason why it survives while other programs disappear within a few years.
Benefits
No program is perfect, and the Texas Method has several drawbacks, one of which is size. “Every Friday is a max day,” Ashman says. “With the volume of work on Monday and Wednesday, it’s a no-brainer for anyone who isn’t a novice.”
Here are a few more.
Dushanbe days are cruel: When the weights are up, Monday can easily turn into a 90-120 minute workout. High volume, as well as heavy pressing and pulling, creates massive fatigue, especially for lifters with jobs, families, and lives outside of the gym.
Demand for recovery is high: The Texas Method emphasizes the importance of recovery, but it also penalizes poor recovery more severely than many programs. The stronger you get, the less recovery becomes a limiting factor. “Lifting heavy twice a week is not recommended by most reputable trainers,” Ashman says. “Especially when you consider you’re working out twice a week. Frequent stress can damage your lower back.”
Limited types of exercises: You repeat the same lifts every week. For lifters who thrive on innovation, this can be dull. The simple thing that makes the program effective is that it can be repeated.
Weekly PR pressure: Friday sounds exciting until you’ve been tracking new 5RMs for several weeks in a row. Some lifters thrive under this pressure, while others tire of the need to “perform” every week.
FINAL JUDGMENT
The Texas Method eschews gimmicks and relies on complex heavy lifts, intelligent programming, and a balance between stress and recovery to build strength. It teaches
respect for recovery, as Monday’s volume day creates enough fatigue that poor sleep, poor nutrition, and poor stress management show up by Friday.
Is it perfect? No. The volume can become brutal, the pressure of weekly PRs wears people out, and lifters who want constant variety in their workouts can quickly lose interest.
But if you’re willing to embrace the basics, recover properly, and put in consistent effort, the Texas Method still delivers bigger lifts and more muscle, along with old-school strength that goes everywhere, because strength never goes out of style.
