BBB was the first 531 template I ever tried about a year and a half ago, and it was WAY too much for me coming off of Starting Strength. Since then, I've run a bunch of different templates, but I figured it was time to give BBB another try.

...and deadlifts are still just too much. Everything else is tough, but I can definitely make it through. I'm pretty sure it's an issue of conditioning more than anything else (I do some conditioning, but probably don't push as hard as I could), but at the end of the day, I just don't want to dread my workouts, and the hypertrophy associated with deadlift muscles are probably the least important to me. General hypertrophy and strength are my goals, but I'm never going to compete. I just want to generally look good and be stronger.

So what would be the best alternative? Options:

• 5x5 FSL (not too bad)
• 3x10 at BBB weights (this would still be tough, but knowing that I only need to get through 3 sets could help me succeed)
• 5x10 with increased rest times (really don't want to do this)
• 5x10 with decreased weight (I'm doing 60/50/70 as in BBB Forever, could switch to 50/40/60 for deadlifts, but I fear even that may be too much given that I already basically failed on my 60 day).
• BBS (takes too long, don't want to do this)
• Something else?