nSuns 5/3/1 (4-Day)

The original four-day nSuns. Each session pairs a primary lift with a secondary variation of the same pattern: bench volume with overhead press, squat with sumo deadlift, deadlift with front squat, and a heavy bench day with close-grip bench. Nine working sets on the primary, eight on the secondary.

Intermediate lifters who have run standard 5/3/1 and want considerably more volume without giving up AMRAP-driven autoregulation. You need solid technique under fatigue and the recovery to absorb four 75-90 minute sessions a week. This is the version to start on.

Three of the four days run the 5/3/1 wave on the primary lift: 5 reps at 75% of training max, 3 at 85%, then a 1+ AMRAP at 95%, followed by six back-off sets stepping down to 65%. The back-off reps differ by lift — squat finishes on fives, deadlift stays on triples, bench alternates. Day one is the odd one out: a bench volume day that pyramids to three sets of four at 85% and then descends with rising reps to a final 8+. The secondary lift on every day runs eight sets at 50/60/70% of its own training max.

Every week is identical — same sets, same percentages. What moves is the training max, and only the 1+ set at 95% decides it: 0-1 reps means no change, 2-3 adds 2.5 kg, 4-5 adds 2.5-5 kg, 6+ adds 5-7.5 kg, with lower-body lifts taking the top of each band. You make that move yourself under Training Maxes on the programme page — three of the four rows are ranges and nSuns gives no rule for picking inside them, so VALDA shows you the sets and the reps you hit but does not choose the step. There is no scheduled deload; when that set fails two weeks running, the training max is too high and you take it back down.

nSuns 5/3/1 was developed by Reddit user /u/nSuns as a high-volume adaptation of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1, documented on r/Fitness and r/nSuns and distributed as a spreadsheet bundle. VALDA reproduces the set and percentage tables and the AMRAP-driven training-max progression for use inside the app, but does not claim authorship of the method.