Week 5 Recap

Another week down and I 'm still crushing it in the gym. The squat and bench press are doing fine on this program so far but my deadlift is another story. Hit all my programmed numbers for the sets of 3 reps. The weight was perfect again and NONE of my 3 rep sets ended in a RPE10. For the squat and bench press I have been doing 5 sets with my working weight and only 3 sets for the deadlift. This week was the same except I did only 1 set for the deadlift. The deadlift started out fine warm ups felt great but once I hit the heavier weight my lower back was starting to grumble. I listen now when it does so I cut it off after one work set.
When I looked this program over before deciding to do it, I knew the deadlift portion was a big ? mark. I even mention it in my blog. But every program can be customized to the individual and does not need to be followed religiously. Looking back in my log book, I feel the best way to program my deadlift will be this way. Once per week either sumo or hex bar no more regular stance deadlift. Volume will be the bare minimum to achieve results and keep my lower back feeling gtg. Volume will be based on the original 5/3/1 program but with no AMRAP set, which gave me progress in the past. I'll show you the difference between the two.
Example 1
Currently 3 sets of 3 reps @ 85% of my training max  420 lbs for each set  420 x 9 = 3780 lbs of total volume.
Example 2
Changing to 3 sets of 3 reps set 1 @ 70% 345, set 2 @ 80% 395, set 3 @ 90% 440 of my training max 1035 + 1185 +  1320 = 3540 lbs of total volume.
As you can see not much actual difference in the total weight lifted volume between the two, but the key difference is the intensity.  Example 1 has me lifting a heavier weight for all three sets, but the other one ramps the intensity up over three sets. For me specifically this makes all the difference for my lower back.
Next up is my week of 1 reps and then a break. I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do but I'm leaning towards a 1 week deload and then a 2 week block of something different before I launch into another 6 weeks of this program. The something different will not be anything to do with 5/3/1. My next blog will define what that will look like.
I've followed Christian Thibaudeau a french Canadian strength coach for awhile and I really like the quality information he puts out. That something different will be based of one of his recent articles.

Week 5 Highlights
Military Press 105 lbs x 3 for 5 sets
Squats 325 lbs x 3 for 5 sets
Bench Press 285 lbs x 3 for 5 sets and hit a easy 365 lbs with my sling shot on
Sumo Deadlift 420 lbs x 3 for 1 set

The link below is for his blog website. Most of his articles I read on TNATION.
https://thibarmy.com/autoregulating-bodybuilding-how-to-tell-that-a-muscle-has-had-enough-work/#