Programming suggestions?
I’ve been running SS for about 2 years (while on a cut). I switched programming briefly (to one suggested by a non-SS coach) for the past 3 months to put my skills to the test and go for a powerlifting meet. I got to the 1000 lb club with a 352lb squat, 204lb bench, and 446lb deadlift @178lb (I am pretty adamant on not gaining weight since I like my figure right now, I will be maintaining at this weight from now). But now I want to get back to the SS programming. I am unsure how I should proceed though.
Before I switched over to the powerlifting programming, I was doing the following:
Squat 3x per week.
Heavy day: 335x2x3 (advancing by 2.5lb a week or two at max)
medium: 1 set @90% of Monday weight x5
Light: 3 sets @80% of Mondayx5
bench/press
This is where I sucked a lot.
Bench:
A workout: I was doing a top set of 5 I could advance maybe once every 2-3 weeks by 2.5lb. (Last at 187.5x5)
B workout: 5x5 at around 80%. Again often would be going to failure and not able to complete the full 5 sets without backing down.
Press:
A workout: Top set of 5 singles I was adding 2.5lb every 2 weeks.
B workout: 3x5 at 80%.
Deadlift:
A workout: 80% 3x3
B workout: last at 390x5
And the split would be
Day 1: squat heavy, bench B, deadlift A
Day 2: squat light, press B, deadlift B
Day 3: squat medium, bench A, press A
I know it’s super disorganized. And I was genuinely getting tons of random aches and pains. I’m wondering if I’m at the point where I should just transition to a periodized program like Texas method.
For reference my powerlifting programming operated on a RPE system with benching every day of the week. It’s hard to describe since the coach was managing everything but I’d like to not have to rely on a coach all the time.