nSuns 5/3/1 (4-Day)

A four-day high-volume 5/3/1-family programme built around the four main barbell lifts. Every session pairs a primary lift with a secondary variation of the same movement pattern — usually close-grip bench behind bench, front squat behind squat, sumo deadlift behind deadlift, and push press behind overhead press. The defining feature is the eight-set top-down pattern on every lift, weekly.

Intermediate lifters who have run standard 5/3/1 and want significantly more volume without giving up AMRAP-driven autoregulation. Best when you can recover from four 75-90 minute sessions a week and enjoy high training density.

Each primary lift runs 1×8, 1×6, 1×4, 1×4, 1×4, 1×5, 1×6, 1×8+ across eight working sets at climbing-then-descending percentages of your training max. The final set is an AMRAP. The paired secondary variation runs a lighter 1×6, 1×5, 1×3, 1×5, 1×7, 1×4, 1×6, 1×8 descending wave. Rest as long as you need on the AMRAP — 3-5 minutes is typical.

Training max bumps weekly based on the AMRAP set of your primary lift: +2.5 kg upper-body lifts (bench, press), +5 kg lower-body lifts (squat, deadlift) if you hit the target reps comfortably. If AMRAPs drop below 5 reps for two consecutive weeks on a lift, deload that lift 10% and ramp back. No explicit cycle deload — progression is continuous.

nSuns 5/3/1 was developed by Reddit user /u/nSuns as a high-volume adaptation of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1, documented extensively on r/nSuns and in community spreadsheets. VALDA adapts the eight-set main-lift pattern and AMRAP-driven training-max progression for use inside the app, but does not claim authorship of the method.