Texas Method
By Mark Rippetoe · From Original Source
Mark Rippetoe's classic intermediate program. Monday is Volume Day (5×5 at ~90% of Friday's weight). Wednesday is Recovery Day (2×5 squat at ~80% of Monday's weight + opposite press, chins and back extensions). Friday is Intensity Day — one heavy 5RM attempt, the week's primary progression event. Bench and OHP alternate as the primary press each week.
Free to use · auto progression, rest timers & PR tracking built in
What is Texas Method?
The Texas Method is Mark Rippetoe's intermediate program, set out in his 2013 Starting Strength article — the traditional next step once Starting Strength-style session-to-session gains dry up. Instead of adding weight every workout, it organises the whole week around one progression event. Monday is Volume Day: squat and a press for five sets of five at 90% of your training max, plus a single heavy set of five on the deadlift. Wednesday is Recovery Day: two sets of five squats at 80% of Monday's weight (72% of the TM) and three sets of five on the other press at 72.5% of its TM, finished with chin-ups to failure and five sets of ten back extensions, which Rippetoe calls optional if you're tired. Friday is Intensity Day: one set of five at 100% of the TM on the squat and the week's press, aimed at a new five-rep max, then five triples of power cleans.
The routine runs on a two-week rotation — bench press is the primary press one week, overhead press the next — so both get a volume day and a PR attempt every fortnight while the squat drives forward weekly.
Is Texas Method right for you?
This is a program for early intermediates who still want a PR on the bar every week and can pay for it in food and sleep. If you have just stalled out of a novice linear progression and your five-rep maxes are still moving month to month, the Texas Method captures that. It is a bad match if Monday's 5×5 at 90% sounds like something you would skip — the volume day is the engine and it is genuinely hard — or if you prefer spreading work across four or five shorter sessions.
How progression works
Friday decides everything. Make all five reps on the intensity set and the training max rises 5 kg on the squat and 2.5 kg on the press for the following week — which also raises Monday's 90% volume work and Wednesday's recovery work, since all three days hang off the same TM. Miss the five and the TM holds, so the next attempt is at the same weight; Durata never cuts it on its own. Deadlift and power clean progress on their own simple linear schedule. Durata reads the Friday set of five and moves the TM — and every derived percentage — automatically.
Durata runs this progression for you — every session's weights are computed from your training maxes, and your logged AMRAP sets are what move those maxes.
Texas Method — every set, every session
Percentages are of your training max (TM). AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the sets marked AMRAP.
Week 13 sessions
Volume Day — Bench Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 5×5 @ 90% | 5:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 5×5 @ 90% | 5:00 |
| Deadlift (Barbell) | 1×5 | 5:00 |
Recovery Day — Bench Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 2×5 @ 72% | 3:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 3×5 @ 72.5% | 3:00 |
| Chin Up | 3×8+ AMRAP | — |
| Back Extension (Hyperextension) | 5×10 | — |
Intensity Day — Bench Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 1×5 @ 100% | 6:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 1×5 @ 100% | 6:00 |
| Power Clean | 5×3 | 3:00 |
Week 23 sessions
Volume Day — OHP Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 5×5 @ 90% | 5:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 5×5 @ 90% | 5:00 |
| Deadlift (Barbell) | 1×5 | 5:00 |
Recovery Day — OHP Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 2×5 @ 72% | 3:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 3×5 @ 72.5% | 3:00 |
| Chin Up | 3×8+ AMRAP | — |
| Back Extension (Hyperextension) | 5×10 | — |
Intensity Day — OHP Week
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 1×5 @ 100% | 6:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 1×5 @ 100% | 6:00 |
| Power Clean | 5×3 | 3:00 |
Texas Method — common questions
What weight is Volume Day actually done at?
5×5 at 90% of your current training max, which is roughly 90% of your best set of five. It should be heavy enough that the last set is a grind but every rep is completed — if you are failing reps on Monday, your TM is set too high.
What happens if I miss the Friday 5RM?
The training max stays where it is and you attack the same weight next time. Durata never lowers it for you; if you decide to reset, you edit the TM yourself. Rippetoe's own warning is about recovery: at this intensity it is imperative that you eat and sleep enough, in both quality and quantity.
Why do bench and overhead press alternate weeks?
Pressing every session at Texas Method intensity does not recover well. Alternating gives each press a full week between its volume day and its PR attempt, with the other press filling the light Wednesday slot at 72.5%.
How long does Volume Day take?
It is the longest session of the week: ten work sets of five at 90% with five-minute rests, plus the heavy deadlift set. Wednesday, by contrast, is short — that contrast is the point.
When has the Texas Method run its course?
When weekly 5RM PRs stop arriving even after a TM reset — usually somewhere in the first year or two of intermediate training. From there, monthly progression structures like 5/3/1 or a block program such as Candito's 6 Week make more sense.
Is there an app that runs Texas Method for you?
Yes. Durata runs Texas Method as written, free: the 3-day-a-week schedule, every set and rep, and the progression built in. Log your sets and the next session's weights are worked out for you, with the stalls and deloads the program calls for; a tap on any lift shows why the weight moved. It is on iPhone and Android, works offline, and your history from Hevy or Strong imports free.
Source: Based on the Texas Method by Mark Rippetoe
Durata is not affiliated with or endorsed by the program's author. The program structure (sets, reps, exercise selection) is presented as published methodology.
Run Texas Method in Durata
Training-max calculation, AMRAP tracking, automatic progression, plate calculator, rest timers and PR tracking — the whole program, ready to log.
