I cannot decide what program to adhere to after the completion of my novice linear progression and would like some advice. My goals vary, unfortunately, because I cannot decide whether I should train for pure strength or a powerbuilding program per se. I am 17 years old, 5’10" and my 3 x 5 on squat is 310 lbs., bench is stuck at 155 lbs., so I am considering a 10% deload and work my way back up and microload from there. My presses are beginning to plateau at 115 3 x 5, so I will continue to microload them as well. Deadlifts are currently at 285 1 x 5. I still have quite a bit of work to do on my novice progression, but I definitely approaching advanced novice in my squats, but my bench is poverty and I do not know why. I eat and recover well, but still find myself getting stuck. Anyways, sorry for the off-topic discussion. Thanks to any who reply!
We don’t recommend the Texas Method. Additionally, we would not deload/microload your bench and press in this situation; rather, we would move on to post-novice training and increase your pressing volume and frequency. This can be achieved by moving on to the Bridge, for example.
Finally, I would check your squat depth as those numbers (310 squat / 285 deadlift) raise suspicion that you may be squatting high.
Thank you for the quick reply Dr. Baraki! I need help understanding something here. I have been training for 1 year now, after several months of fooling around in the gym. I decided to begin Starting Strength about 2-3 months ago, so at this point some of my “newbie gains” had already been exerted in other “bro splits”. For example, I started my novice progression at about 225 3 x 5 on squat. So I was not a total newb when I began. On the other hand, my bench started around 95 lbs. and made it’s way up to 155 lbs for 3 x 5. I got here by adding 5 lbs. to the bar every session. I have an app to track all my workouts and I have been stuck at 155 lbs. for 2-3 consecutive workouts and I really do not understand why. I have made little notes like “last set of 155 lbs. only got 4, had to have a spot to get the fifth one up”. This has been going on for many consecutive workouts. I have both SS:BBT and PPST3 and follow the programs exactly as written. I get 8 hours of sleep a night and weigh about 190 lbs. as I am eating 3000-3500 calories a day. My form is not perfect on bench, but it is a good and acceptable form. I just do not know how my bench is already plateauing at 155 lbs. It seems so low in relation to my squats and deadlifts.
There is probably not a specific reason I can give you to explain this, other than that the current dose of training stimulus you’re getting from the program is no longer adequate to drive continued adaptation.
You are free to spend several more weeks/months wasting your time deloading and microloading, but we’d just have you increase the dose.