I've been following some of the strength programs people have posted about it in here. Not only that, but I am familiar with the programs--I've read most of the books associated with them. I'm not playing in a basketball league this year, so I can concentrate more on strength for a while. I tend to go with 5x5 (SS) in my off-season training because it's simple and easy to maintain in-season as well. But I'd like to try something new. Here's are the candidates:

The Cube Method (Brandon Lilly)
TSA (it came up recently, so I may as well put it in here)
5x5 (Mark Rippetoe) -- but it would need to be a variation b/c I've done this before
5-3-1 (Jim Wendler)
Juggernaut (Chad Wesley Smith) -- or his newer stuff

Or something else. I have books on hand for any of the programs above, except TSA.

The question here is: which (if any) of these programs have you tried and seen success with? (I'm leaning toward The Cube).

I will train 100% raw, sometimes in socks, taking no supplements outside of protein & creatine, and I've been off creatine since whenever my logs say (June?). I want to increase strength and leave some time for conditioning.

I’m a big fan of lifting heavy objects and slowly putting them down

Ive heard the cube method is garbage and just a rip on the conjugate method..
Not sure what the fuck TSA method is
Mark Rippetoes 5x5 is ok for beginners to learn the basic movements, but imo no serious competitive lifter follows his program for long.. The dude has you squatting x3 a week.. Eventually, you're gonna burn out and not have any gains.
5/3/1 is a fantastic program with a shit ton of variability in it.. I like how they emphasize on so much more than the big lifts, incorporating accessory lifts.
Anything by CWS has been proven with world records and wilkes scores in the 400s to be a legit training method.. His methods include over 7 different methods, which can be used for powerlifting, strongman training, bodybuilding 'he stresses this point throughout the book that hypertrophy is important for a beginner lifter anyways', crossfit and sports athlete..

I'd say either 5/3/1 or JTS..

it depends on the person
i got some pretty good results a long time ago doing a ws4sb routine

I draw most of my inspiration for programming from The Texas Method and Sheiko


I've had good success with both

A Westside template. Basically, a 4x a week upper lower. I don't adhere to conjugate principles but I do follow dynamic effort waves.

On the "max effort" days I sub in a RPE based volume through sets kind of thing.

^ I'm going to look into the options that were mentioned here that are still new to me.

@ ozzy: the cube method got me interested b/c it seems different from most of the other str training programs i've seen. that being said, you may have heard right that it's not very good.

It's fair to say that I'm not a stranger to being strong. But my background is a different kind of strength background because I've always felt the need to be fast and mobile. I'd love to hold onto my general fitness and stay under 200 pounds (ideally 175, which will take some work), but get up to work sets that will turn some heads.

I'm interested to see if anything else brought you guys success.I see that westside has some fans here and tbh I have only seen bits & pieces of what they do. So I'll give them a closer look, too. The Texas Method & Sheiko are unfamiliar to me unless I've seen something and missed the connection, so I'll check that out, too. ty

My str base isn't bad atm. I was working with 5x5 and was squatting 360 for sets until I nearly died due to a concussion + back + hip injury 2 years ago. I'm 100% sure I can get back to that point. I was getting really close to feeling ready for 4 plates, so that's going to be my goal for working sets for a while. Right now I'm stuck @ 325 and I keep taking breaks and that's how I know I'm done with 5x5. If I want to be stronger but I'm slacking hard on a program and I feel like I'm going backward, it's time to move on.

I should say my DL has gone straight to sh*t and my bench is alright. I need to get serious about OHP. I was avoiding it because I had a couple ribs that kept slipping (displacing: if it's happened to you, you can understand my hesitation) when I did it, but I haven't had a rib issue for months now and it's time to man up.

ty again, I'll check in before I make a final decision

Here is your go to for critiquing programs


http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-programs/

Wat, this is a beautiful thing! ty
Bookmarking the fk outta this.

You're own reaction physically to the program is the critique.