I've been running that same system since January 2021, with some minor tweaks here and there to fit it better into the time I have available and to make it more efficient overall. What happened is that I had the opportunity to expose the system to reality over a couple of years and find out what parts of it work, what parts needed changing and what parts simply weren't necessary.
Too many phases
The biggest thing that really came out over the last two years is that there is no need for the number of phases I originally set out. When I wrote it, I set out a post meet phase to rebuild GPP and address any issues arising from the previous meet cycle; a hypertrophy phase; an accumulation phase which changed slightly as peak got closer; and a peak.
The post meet phase is massively important, but as long as your work capacity was good going into peak it will only take a couple of weeks to get back up to speed. So, the competition lifts can come back in week three or four rather than week five.
The hypertrophy phase isn't necessary. At all. The competition lifts and their variations generally aren't really that great drivers for muscle growth anyway so spending one or two blocks trying to get them to build muscle isn't going to do much. Assistance work is what will really drive muscle growth, and that is a permanent fixture so a dedicated hypertrophy phase is kind of silly.
The accumulation phase became a lot more streamlined. No need to switch to the heavier AFSAP a block or so before peak. You can do it, but it isn't remotely necessary. All you really need is a block to rebuild GPP and let your joints recover a bit, and then go straight into the accumulation block with alternating weeks of a top triple and density 5x5 and a 4x2 followed by an AMRAP.
Supplemental work isn't pivotal
If you have the time and recovery capacity to do these, great. If you don't, it doesn't really matter. They aren't going to make or break your progress at all, and in some cases will even distract from the goal.
The only supplemental exercise that really does matter is the exercise you pick for your main exercise on the second pressing day. There's nothing to stop you sticking with the original idea of using the military press but it will probably work better to pick a lift that directly addresses where your bench is weakest. That might be military press, but it often won't.
Simplified assistance work
You're probably going to do a lot better simply picking a few assistance exercises and hitting them for a total rep range rather than worrying about varying them and hitting specific sets x reps. Stick with those exercises for a full meet cycle unless they start hurting. It remains imperative to pick them based on how well you can feel the target muscle though. That hasn't changed at all.
Absolutely hammer your assistance work
This was a real game changer. The last set or two of your assistance work should be taken close to or actually to failure. You'll get more out doing that rather than doing heaps of different exercises. It also means you won't need to do as many reps in total. You'll probably end up sitting between 25 and 50 total reps for almost everything.
You can train three days a week
This was a big revelation in terms of how the system works.
You can absolutely cut a day out and the system will work as well, if not better. It just takes a little thought. I will generally say that the way to go for most people is to leave the two upper days as is and combine squat and deadlift, at least initially. This is simply because most people lag way more on bench than squat or deadlift. If this isn't you and your bench is way ahead of your squat and pull, do the opposite and combine bench and secondary upper days while leaving squat and deadlift on separate days.
If you're going to combine squat and deadlift, squat first and don't change anything with the squat. Deadlift then slots in to where the supplemental exercise would sit and is done for 5x3 starting at 60 per cent. The volume is low, but enough to maintain movement proficiency for a reasonable while. You have a time benchmark of five minutes to complete the 5x3 if you want to add weight, which will be 2.5 per cent as usual. Assistance work has to be picked to cover quads, hamstrings, hips, glutes and lower back so you'll need to pick the most impactful three exercises that cover those bases.
After a meet cycle or two you might need to change things a little and move deadlifts to the secondary upper day because it does eventually get quite challenging to deadlift productively after squatting. When you do that, you go back to deadlift getting the same treatment as squat and bench. The secondary pressing movement isn't treated as main any more, and just gets done for a total rep target like any other assistance work. The advantage to this setup is that deadlift volume is the same as the other main lifts.
Density is the MVP of this system
When I set the system up, using a 10 minute time benchmark to determine weight increase on the 5x5 was just a way to include some degree of autoregulation, along with the AMRAP after 4x2 needing to be 10 reps to add weight. Keeping time spent training to around 90 minutes was just way to maintain some degree of work capacity without the need for dedicated conditioning work.
Those two ideas have evolved to become the real cornerstone of this system. Working to keep the 5x5 well under 10 minutes and working to keep pace between all sets and exercises fast means your work capacity increases as you go through the meet cycle. That work capacity means your overall recovery is better, and your cardiovascular health is at least reasonable. This is something missing from many, many powerlifting systems and it shouldn't be.
It makes a significant difference when it comes time to peak, because a few heavy singles suddenly aren't hard. You don't need to sit there for 15 minutes to recover because you're accustomed to working through whatever intraset fatigue has accumulated. It also makes big difference on meet day, because you aren't reliant on having a minimum amount of time between warmups or attempts. You're unlikely to ever find a meet anywhere that moves faster than you're used to moving yourself.
