I'm going to stick with the theoreticals and let the others help with the nuts and bolts. That way we have a good division of labor and you get more out of it. But I'll try to answer some of the basic questions.
I'll start with Starr versus Madcow versus TM because I think it's good background to have. The forum versions of all this are "journalism" more than reality. They tend to lack the historical context.
Yes, I guess I am so used to the 5x5 full body set up put forward by Starr, Madcow and in the Texas Method that I just assumed that a variation in load would be required but I didn't take into account that this was down to the fact that these were all full body programs. It seems I have a lot to learn! :)
First of all, Starr was borrowing from concepts that had been around since the 30's if not earlier. Some of the revelations are a bit daft yet people treat this as if it is a huge lightbulp moment. The observation that a trainee cannot handle maximal poundages three days a week on squat and power clean is one. That is what I call a "duh" moment. I would hardly have to fry a few trainees to find this out. I'm not saying I'm smarter than Starr but simply that we've learned a lot since then.
So, enter the heavy, medium, light system.
That in itself would lead many to think that, there are probably plenty of ways to skin a cat and if you take out the assumption that one should squat and powerclean three days a week and that this should be done with 5x5 reps you would not have such a mythical power.
But 5x5 was held as a fundamental "principle". Three days a week training, fullbody, was another "principle". Etc…
Starr also favored a circuit system, btw. He was however a lot more adaptable then most of these proprietary "systems" we have now. But since then we've had people taking those original ideas, and subtracting what they don't like adding what they do, etc. Without the idea that the fundamental parameters represent some kind of strength training "principle" you'd have nothing. Don't discount that. People feel there is something magical about 5x5 reps. That's why every no-account high school strength training coach will slap 5x5 like a bandaid on every problem or goal. What is ironic is that the "heavy, medium light" or other varieties of it came about from an assumption that trainees couldn't lift maximally three days a week when in fact the trainees never lifted maximally in their standard training. 5x5 is NOT maximal training. It is mid-range training and is only at the beginning of a range that can be considered "strength training as opposed to "bodybuilding". The heavy medium light thing basically assumes that "high workload" is the same thing as "maximal lifting". Leaves a lot to be desired.
The Madcow program is an interpretation of the "Bill Starr Power Routine" which was conceived as an off season program for football players. Did I mention this was for football players?
Manipulating volume is what most trainees need to do more in an effort to work more consistently and have more exposure to true near-maximal intensities. The fame of Westside can be brought down to that alone, even though I personally do not favor WSB methods.
Yes, I guess I am so used to the 5x5 full body set up put forward by Starr, Madcow and in the Texas Method that I just assumed that a variation in load would be required but I didn't take into account that this was down to the fact that these were all full body programs. It seems I have a lot to learn! :)
Don't we all. The problem with the 5x5's is that they've been "spun" into principles and methods rather than programs. I call this "post facto" principles. You decide how people should train then you construct a bunch of theories explaining how this fits in with performance and physiology.
The general problem is discuss some here: Programs and Methods Versus Principles: Wave Loading and Interval Training
And I debunk many of the central practices here: The Training to Fail Series
Yes, I know it seems like a promote my own posts a lot but you don't expect me to write all this over and over do you? 
So say on Day one, would something like 3x3 on Deads be a reasonable starting point or am I way off here?
Depends on your exposure to deadlifts. I can almost assume (you can tell me if I'm wrong) that you basically started programming all your lifts right off the bat with 5x5 or whatever approaches you have used. That probably means you have a lot of bad habits to unlearn and a lot of good habits to learn. So, with deadlifts, 3x3 would not be enough practice. We advocate starting with moderate weights, doing 2 or 3 reps while working on form, and taking long rest periods to stave off fatigue so you can maintain quality. The purpose of this is to get lots of high quality exposure to the lift. Most of the time trainees come out of this a lot stronger which surprises the hell out of them since they did not go in with reps and sets to simply add weight to. I can almost guarantee you need to do this for the major lifts and that you will see huge improvement in your lifting ability.
One other thing, can you clarify what the "PC" item is in day 3 please? (I would have taken this to be power clean but given the contents of the original post I got the impression this was not the case):
Well it could be power cleans, lol, but I doubt it since I never would have suggested power cleans after two squats on Friday. So it is probably "posterior chain". That would mean anything that really works the hip muscles as prime movers and the back as stabilizer. It could mean lots of things from supine hip extensions, or glute/ham raises to hip pulls (pull throughs), Romanians, swingthroughs…the list goes on.
I want to be able to deadlift, front squat and press very large numbers for a single, double or triple. In addition I would like to be able to perform weighted chins and dips for 3 with body weight + 100lbs.
Nice. Definitely something straightforward to work with and right up our alley. You've got a group that loves deadlifts, front squats, and heavy weighted pullups "the most" lol. so you couldn't have found a group more enthusiastic about this approach. At some point of course your focus may change, and you will have to "cross train" to get where you want to be.
With regards to how well I do the lifts I'm afraid to say my back squat form sucks… I think my deadlift form is far better and my press form is OK.
Well you don't need to worry about the back squat too much right now since you wanted to work on front squats. A combo of front squats and overhead squats and then go back to back squats later and you will be amazed at the improvement there. I'd like to be able to see you perform them. I don't know if you've ever done videos. I know it seems a bit "crossfit cliche" lol but it is incredibly useful to be able to really see people do the lifts. If not we can do the best we can.
I have never tried the front squat for any length of time but I would love to give it a real go so any advice you can offer in how to get started would be great. After reading some of your posts last week I tried the front squat with just the bar whilst at the gym on Friday and the main problem I had was how to hold the bar. I don't think I am currently flexible enought in the wrist/tricep to hold it on my shoulders at the end of my finger tips.
Yeah we can work on that. What did you read? There is a thread somewhere and I was thinking of writing something up with a lot of tips, etc..
By the way, Ashiem and I were posting at the same time and he got his post in just before mine…so if it seems like I was ignoring anything he said…he's already doing what I was saying with the nuts and bolts. See how organized we are, lol?
