nSuns 5/3/1

nSuns takes its name from the Reddit user who published it, and it started as a personal spreadsheet adaptation of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1. The core idea Wendler pioneered — training off a Training Max (TM) with fixed percentage waves — stays intact, but nSuns compresses what 5/3/1 spreads across a three-week wave into a single session, and then trains each lift far more often per week with a lot more total volume, including multiple AMRAP sets and a heavy suite of accessory work. It's built for intermediates who've stalled on beginner linear progression and want a program that pushes weekly volume hard rather than one that periodises slowly over months.

This catalog runs the 5-day layout: Squat Day, Bench Day, Deadlift Day, OHP Day, and a Competition Bench Day. Every main-lift day uses the same shape — a descending-intensity, then re-ascending block built off your Training Max, with the third set as an AMRAP. On Squat Day you do six squat sets: 5 reps at 65% TM, 3 reps at 75%, an AMRAP set at 85%, then back-off sets of 3 at 80%, 5 at 75%, and 4 at 70%, followed by Romanian Deadlifts and Leg Press for posterior-chain and quad volume. Bench Day mirrors that same wave for five sets (65/75/85+/80/75%) and adds a lighter Overhead Press supplemental block at 4×8 @ 60% of your OHP TM, plus dumbbell rows and tricep pushdowns. Deadlift Day runs a four-set wave (65/75/85+/80%) followed by Squat supplemental work at 4×8 @ 60% of your Squat TM, then leg curls and pull-ups. OHP Day is a three-set wave (65/75/85+%) plus Bench supplemental at 4×8 @ 60% of your Bench TM, with incline dumbbell press and face pulls to finish. Competition Bench Day is different — it's a straight 3×3 at 85% TM for pure competition-bench practice, followed by close-grip bench at 4×8 @ 70% TM, tricep extensions and curls.

Worked example: say your Squat TM is 150kg. Squat Day looks like 5 reps at 97.5kg, 3 reps at 112.5kg, an AMRAP set at 127.5kg where you push for as many clean reps as possible, then back-off sets of 3×80kg-ish (120kg), 5×112.5kg, and 4×105kg. Because you also do 60%-TM supplemental squat work on Deadlift Day, and bench shows up heavy on Bench Day, moderate on OHP Day, and again on Competition Bench Day, you end up touching squat twice a week, bench three times, OHP twice, and deadlift once — this frequency, not just the percentages, is what separates nSuns from 5/3/1.

Progression is weekly, not cycle-based like classic 5/3/1. Instead of waiting three weeks and deloading before bumping your Training Max, you increase TM every week regardless of how the AMRAP sets felt — small, steady jumps (roughly 2.5kg on upper body lifts, 5kg on squat and deadlift is a reasonable starting point) driven by the assumption that the sheer volume of the program will keep pace with the added load. Your AMRAP set performance is still useful feedback — if you're consistently blowing past the rep target by several reps, you can be more aggressive with the next TM jump; if you're barely scraping the minimum, hold the increase smaller or skip a week.

Deloads aren't baked into a fixed weekly schedule the way 5/3/1's built-in deload week is — you manage fatigue by watching your AMRAP performance and your recovery. When bar speed drops off and AMRAP reps start shrinking across multiple lifts, cut volume by roughly 40% for a week (drop the back-off sets and supplemental work, keep the top wave) before resuming normal TM increases. Programmed peaking blocks near the end of a longer run should also taper volume sharply in the final week before a max test or meet.

Common mistakes: starting your Training Max too high, which turns a demanding program brutal from day one; skipping accessories and supplemental work because the main lift wave already feels like plenty, which undercuts the frequency this program depends on; increasing TM every single week without ever checking AMRAP performance, digging a fatigue hole; and under-eating or under-sleeping relative to the workload, since this is one of the highest-volume templates in this category.

Expect a different progress curve than beginner linear progression: instead of adding weight every session, you're adding a small amount to your Training Max every week while total weekly volume does the heavy lifting. Well-recovered intermediates can expect meaningful TM increases — several kilos a month on squat and deadlift, a bit less on bench and press — over a 12 to 16 week block, with the biggest limiting factor being recovery capacity rather than the program's structure.