I am glad the 3×5-10 program is working well for you and you can stay on the program indefinitely but at the very least stick with it for twelve weeks. Far too many believe that you need to change programs often such as every six weeks to keep your body guessing and to sustain progress, but in my decades of experience, I haven’t found this erroneous line of thinking to be the case. In fact, this advice usually comes from trainers who are selling programs and have a tendency to make training more complicated than it needs to be but I digress. I know many trainees who are always jumping on the next new program they come across and after years of training have nothing impressive to show for it. I think too many trainees change programs way too often to have the illusion of continuing to make progress. Generally, this comes from being impatient and having a poor attention span. They don’t think they are making progress as rapidly as they should and get bedazzled easily by the program they’re not on. 

No one gets bored of training when you’re making progress but the second progress slows down or seemingly comes to a halt, many folks are quick to think the solution is to hop on another training program. You never get good at the skill of excelling at any one training program if you’re constantly switching to another regimen. Especially if you’re changing exercises too often. It takes years to dial in technique with even seemingly basic moves such as deadlifts, squats, and presses and you will fail to excel at the skill of doing any one lift if you’re constantly changing lifts. 

This goes for overall programs as well. Once you start a new program you aren’t going to be skilled at executing the program in question so you will have the illusion of progress as adaption occurs. For example, if you go from 3×5 (three sets of five with three-minute breaks) to 10×10 (10 sets of ten with ninety-second breaks) of course the first several weeks of 10×10 are going to be arduous as it requires a much different skill set. You won’t start off excelling but after a few weeks, you will be on a roll with what you think is progress which in reality is just adapting to the new training stimulus. If you switch back to 3×5 after being on 10×10 for six weeks and experience improved performance then you definitely made overall progress. However, more than likely you will have a decreased level of performance with 3×5 and would have been better off just staying with 3×5 instead of thinking that the solution is always something new or different. 

Anyone who has been training for even a few years knows that progress is not something that you make every week endlessly without fail. You may feel as if you’re pushing against a wall for weeks or even months before a breakthrough happens. You may even get weaker for a week or two before you get stronger for a variety of reasons. Recently with the 3×5-10 program, I was stuck with 80lb dumbbells on high incline presses for weeks. For three weeks straight I couldn’t get past 8 reps on the third set. However, I did notice the 8th rep was getting a little faster which is also a sign of progress. Finally, after several weeks I broke through to 9 reps and then 10 reps the week after and moved up to 85lb dumbbells. I was able to do 7 reps on the third set at the first workout and worked up to 10 reps on the third set after a few weeks. Then I moved on to 90s and three sets of five was difficult even though it is only five pounds more per dumbbell. At my most recent workout, I completed six reps on the third set which of course is a clear sign of making progress. As the program philosophy demands, I am not moving up until I get 10 reps on the third set. This may take a few weeks or even a few months. The key is to be consistent, put in the work, avoid losing patience, and deduce too soon that switching to another program is the answer. 

I am not saying you should stay with one program only for the rest of your life. Variety is important to keep most people engaged with a fitness lifestyle for the long run. Just don’t make the mistake of switching programs every time progress seems to stall. If you want to build a successful business it will take years of consistent effort on one business to bring meaningful results to fruition. If you keep switching businesses every few months you are sure to fail at every business you try. Similar to building a thriving business, you have to give a training program time to determine if it is efficacious.