All honesty, this is the best response..

I had a qa session with Robb Philipus and with Mark Bel, and both told me basically that the best program is time under the bar

No doubt. But pure str training is new to me. I've done strength training, but it was always for sake of bodybuilding, for sake of hockey, for sake of football, for sake of basketball, etc. so it was never the top priority.

You're probably right. I should just pick a program and dive in. I've been looking through various programs because I'd like to find something that's more proven than the others. They all make roughly the same claims. And with a few exceptions, they're fairly similar. You pick the heavy thing up and put it back down, and then repeat.

Funny thing: basically every program gets ripped somewhere by some expert.

I'd either buy the book 'A thoughtful Pursuit of Strength' or the Texas Method. Both have a shit load of great info for things like hypertrophy and peaking.. The other ones are mostly just linear progression with no emphasis on anything other than moving up in weight

I'm good on hyp. I'm interested in pure str & powah gains. I've been anywhere between 165 and 210 and in great shape, but I'd like to stay under the 200 mark. The linear progressions seem OK but I'd rather "season" things and work toward a competition cycle. I don't plan to compete, but I like the idea of chasing PRs. I'll look into the Texas Method more (caught an article on it via PTW). I just added A Thoughtful Pursuit of Strength while posting, ty.

I've collected about 1,500 pages of material to pour through on the subject, or I should say I have over 1,000 pages left to read. I may grab the Texas Method and then be done with the reading list for a while. Once it's at the War & Peace level of pages, I think I've got er.

ty again for the advice gents! Where I live almost nobody wants to lift heavy weights. So my best filter is los interwebs, and I'd rather ask you guys than try to filter it myself.

Another bonus is that powerlifters are the one audience I automatically dodge & refer out, and I should be able to take on those clients after a few months of sponging and re-lifting.

e: ohhhh, so Texas Method is basically the follow-up to SS's 5x5? If so, that's an easy progression for me.

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Oct 10 2017 10:22am

A true conjugate program is very specific. It's merit is attributed to equipped lifting but has applications in the raw world. You'll see principles intertwined with other programming more often than pure conjugate.

Pete Rubish for example has always mixed a bit of Louie's stuff in his training. If you take a peak at his recent videos he's come full circle and is currently doing a lot of Westside stuff; just not conjugate, with the constant rotation of 1RM lifts.

I can appreciate From what I gather so far, Westside borrows from a few major principles found in Zatsiorsky's & Kraemer's Science and Practice of Strength Training, a.k.a. a thick as fk book on my reading list. Westside has mixed reviews but the positive reviews are about as positive as it gets. It seems dynamic enough to keep me going, and I like the microcycles from what I see so far. I haven't gotten into reading about it as much as some other stuff, but it will get my attention. I'm not immune to changing programs as soon as I see a shinier object.

Aside: I'm starting to think the vids are where a lot of the good, free info is, because a lot of guys seem to update their philosophies and programs via video, probably because it's quicker to do that than it is to create a new program. Plus it keeps you relevant as you devise the next program.

Also, this topic has become very informative. It covers a lot of the ground/resources people may ask about if they are interested in getting really strong. ty yet again

i mean im not gay
but if you look at pure clients
rts seems to be the top
coachs in the game

I've got them in my scope, too. idk anything about their clients but they have a few world champs as coaches, so they can't be terrible.

Brett Gibbs is coached by Mike T,

But he aint no world champion, he's a silver medal specialist

Blaine Sumner will be doing some teaching for them, I thought he was a world champ. Donno, but they have some beasts connected with what they do.