One of the more popular and workable basic barbell programs over the years is what is known as the 4-Day Texas Method.
The 4-Day Texas Method is a derivative of the original 3-Day Texas Method program that organizes training into 3-full body sessions per week in the sequence of a Volume Day (Monday) a Low Volume Recovery Day (Wednesday) and a High Intensity Day (Friday).
Both types of training can work, but many trainees gravitate to the 4-day plan simply due to the fact that each individual workout is a bit easier to perform in terms of time and energy expenditure. That and many trainees will simply progress better on a plan that has a bit of high intensity work AND a bit of volume work at each session.
The 4-Day Texas Method generally looks something like this:
- Monday: Bench Intensity / Press Volume
- Tuesday: Squat Intensity / Deadlift Volume
- Thursday: Press Intensity / Bench Volume
- Friday: Deadlift Intensity / Squat Volume
When I write a program for a client, I’ll often organize the week like this:
- Monday: Bench Intensity / Press Volume
- Wednesday: Deadlift Intensity / Squat Volume
- Friday: Press Intensity / Bench Volume
- Saturday: Squat Intensity / Deadlift Volume
It doesn’t really matter how you schedule it. Both options work. But I do prefer that pressing days be performed before squat/deadlift days if you are training two days in a row.
One of the benefits of the 4-Day Texas Method is that it leaves a small amount of time and energy each day for assistance exercises that can add more total volume to your program, work on weak muscle groups, or do some cosmetic physique oriented work that often gets missed on a very bare bones barbell only strength program.
I typically arrange things so that assistance exercises fit with the muscle groups already worked by the main barbell movements. So Bench/Press days use assistance exercises for the Chest, Delts, and Triceps and the Squat/Deadlift days use assistance exercises for the Legs and Back.
My favorite assistance exercises in this context for the pressing days are Incline DB Presses, Dips, and various forms of Tricep Extension movements. All 3 of these will contribute to strength on the main lifts, build useful muscle mass, and fill in gaps in the physique. Sometimes I will have clients with physique goals throw in around 50 reps worth of DB side delt raises on one or both days to fill in the side delts. This is mainly cosmetic work but can be helpful in allowing clients to rest their triceps for a bit after doing all the heavy pressing work before finishing the day with extensions (i.e. you’ll be able to do more weight on extensions if you do this).
For the Squat/Deadlift days I like Chins Ups, Pull Ups, and various types of Rows for the back. On these days we might also plug in exercises for the traps (shrugs), biceps, abs, and lighter exercises for the posterior chain such as glute ham raises, 45 or 90 degree back extensions, reverse hypers, or even leg curls. Working the posterior chain with light exercises like this for volume and higher reps is a good way to build up your work capacity and tolerance to volume for more squatting and deadlifting. It’s hard to add in at first, but over time I believe it helps your ability to recover and perform more heavy pulling work.
With the 4-day Texas Method, I keep training %s in the 70-80% range for volume work for around 25 total reps, intensity days in the 85-95% range for an average of around 6 reps, and assistance work around 30-60 total reps per exercise using higher reps and short rest periods (30-120 seconds). These recommendations square well with the literature I have read and trust, as well as my own personal experience as a lifter, and my professional experience as a coach.
So an example week might look like this:
Monday:
- Bench or Bench Variation – 2-3 x 2-3
- Press 5 x 5
- Weighted Dips 4 x 10
- Overhead Tricep Extensions 3 x 10-15
Wednesday:
- Deadlift or Deadlift Variant 2-3 x 2-3
- Squat 5 x 5
- Pull Ups – 50 total reps or Lat Pulldowns 5 x 10
- 45 or 90 Degree Back Extensions 3 x 15, super set with 3 x 15 heavy weighted abs
*Note: I like doing pull-ups or chins on this day because clients seem to be able to do far more work / weight on them when pull ups immediately follow the volume squat vs the volume deadlifts
Friday:
- Press 2-3 x 2-3 or 6-10 singles across
- Bench Press 5 x 5
- Incline DB Press 4 x 8-12
- Side Delt Raises 5 x 10-15
- Lying Tricep Extensions or Cable Pressdowns 3-5 x 10-15
Saturday:
- Squat 2-3 x 2-3
- Deadlift or Deadlift Variant 3-5 x 5
- Barbell Rows 5 x 8-10 (or other row variant)
- Glute Ham Raise or Lying Leg Curls 3 x 10-15
*Note: I like the Barbell Rows right after the volume deadlifts for several reasons, one of which is logistical. The barbell is already lying there on the floor in front of you. Just strip off some plates and go right into your rows. No added warm up or set up is really required. On these time demanding workouts, little tricks like this can save you time and energy. If your low back is fried after the heavy squats and deads you can do things like DB Rows, T-Bar Rows, or Seated Cable Rows, or replace rows with some Shrugs.
If you have access to a glute ham bench or leg curl machine, I like them for added work to the hamstrings in a way that doesn’t beat up the low back even further. Tacking on a few sets of either here can be an easy way to end this particular session.
It’s a good idea to rotate your assistance exercises out with some frequency if you have the equipment available to you. Assistance work doesn’t progress in the same way that the Big 4 do, so it’s usually helpful to rotate through a handful of variations every few weeks or even every workout.
You don’t have to use the exact exercises I listed here. Pick and choose your favorites based on how they feel for you and your equipment situation. And with volume, if you are not used to a high volume of assistance work, add the work in slowly. Start with maybe one movement for 3 sets. Then add in exercises and more sets over time as you can tolerate. Assistance work should HELP you main work, not detract from it, so use your head. You don’t need to be in the gym for 3 hours.
You can and probably should also rotate through some variations of the main exercises as well from time to time. For the intensity and volume work, use only close variations of the parent movements that use barbells and are of similar load.
Paused variations of the squat, bench, and deadlift can work on either day. Speed / Dynamic effort work for the squat, bench, and deadlift in the 60-70% range is good for volume work too. For deadlifts you can use stiff legs, rack pulls, and deficit deadlifts on either day, and something like close grip bench pressing works well on either day for benching. If you are into specialty bars, that can work for squats and benching.
This routine can be very basic or have a lot of variety depending on your experience, personal preference, skill level, and access to equipment.
So if you like the structure of the 4-Day Texas Method, but are stuck in a bit of a rut, give some of these ideas a try.
Below is a link to my KSC Texas Method. It’s a basic 3-Day model, but can easily be adapted to a 4-Day model. The percentages and volume prescriptions in the KSC Texas Method will give you a good starting place to set up your intensity and volume days and then you can build on that basic framework.
