I know there are a few guys on this. Just wanted to start a discussion on personal experience, what worked, what didn't, what accessory exercises etc.
I did my first cycle at the beginning of summer, was pretty lazy about it and skipped accessory work for the most part. Made gains, but not to the level that I would have liked. Then got busy with kid #2 and didn't have time to pick things up until last month where I started my second cycle. In between I still lifted, but not as regimented. I decided to stick with the scheduled increase even with the lag, but I also made sure that I was doing accessory work this time. Boring but big fit the bill. Cycle 2 felt better week to week. The accessory work did the trick. I started off quite conservatively, dropping the weights down to around 60% and stayed in the 10-12 rep range and 5 sets. I also followed the program lead where I would aim for max reps on my last set. Just started cycle #3 and I'm going to keep with BBB, and throw in HIIT (bear complex, kb swings etc).
I've learned that 5/3/1 is great because it's so flexible, but bad because it's so flexible. In order to see the gains, I need to be more disciplined and HAVE to do the accessory work. Looking forward to milking this for the foreseeable future. Once I hit a BW press, I'll re-evaluate.
Anyone care to share their insights?