Volume/Intensity Weekly Split

A three-day intermediate programme that distributes volume, recovery, and intensity across the week. Monday is a high-volume day, Wednesday is a deliberately light recovery day, and Friday is an intensity day where you attempt a new five-rep PR on each main lift. Bench press and overhead press alternate on Monday and Friday across successive weeks.

Intermediate lifters who have exhausted session-to-session progression on a novice programme and want a weekly PR cadence to keep the lifts moving. Best when you can commit to three training days of 75+ minutes each and recover from heavy squatting twice a week.

Monday (Volume): squat 5×5, bench or overhead press 5×5, deadlift 1×5 — all at roughly 90% of the previous Friday's PR. Wednesday (Recovery): squat 2×5 light, bench or overhead press 3×5 light, chin-ups or pull-ups. Friday (Intensity): squat 1×5 at a new PR, bench or overhead press 1×5 at a new PR, and a power clean 5×3 or equivalent.

Each Friday you attempt to beat last week's 5-rep PR on the main lifts. When you hit the PR, Monday's volume weight bumps proportionally for the next week. Miss a PR, repeat the same week; miss twice, drop 10% off the working weight and ramp back. Progress is weekly, not session-by-session, which is what makes the programme sustainable for intermediates.

The Texas Method was described by Mark Rippetoe in *Practical Programming for Strength Training* and developed extensively by Justin Lascek. VALDA adapts the weekly V/R/I split and PR-driven progression for use inside the app, but does not claim authorship of the method.