So I've been running 5/3/1 for too long and have been testing the waters with Kizen and modifying it to my own program to make it more enjoyable for me.

Basically I went from 70% @ a 5x5 and added 2.5% each week for 3 weeks of 5x5.
Then I dropped a rep and added a set to continue the progress and get the total reps in, so 6x4 @ 77.5-82.5%
Again I dropped a rep and added another set to continue to get over 20 total reps and hit 7x3 at 85%-90% my 1rm.

Now it's getting truly difficult and my powerlifting buddies at the gym are telling me that's too many reps for being over 85% and @ 90% I should only be hitting 4 total reps for the day, but you still want to get between 20-30 reps in.

So I'm like alright, 2 sets of 2 for 4 reps followed by 4 sets of 5s or 5 sets of 4s @ at like 75% to get 24 reps for the day. But this is where I get lost, when I go from flat bench to close grip or db bench or ohp do those reps count towards my 20-30 or is the goal simply 20-30 in a day of working reps?

Does anyone here write programs and is certified who is also a powerlifter? I'd definitely donate my gold to learn the knowledge of how to program properly.

stay a while, and listen to me tell you why powerlifting is a dumb sport

That's going to greatly depend on where you predominately train. A conjugate specific athlete can bang out sets of 3 at "90%" easier than someone who fluctuates volume in their programming.

However, trying to get 20 reps in around 90%, no matter what set/rep scheme you're following, is pretty difficult. Think of an exponential taper as you increase your training intensity.

Grumpy cloudkicker.

Brudda i show u de wae

How many days do you want to be at the gym?

primarily its only dumb because its becoming a fad and everybody just copies the 3 instagram videos they see of their favourite celebrity powerlifters lifting. the idea of competing to lift the most amount of weight is fine, the promotion of poor technique to do so is less than ideal but its the idiots who watch omar isuf religiously and think they know everything about weight lifting and strength training that i hate. the juggernaut pseudoscience approach that people just lap up without questioning is cringey. theres a powerlifting club at my school now and theyre all like that, just accepting ridiculous statements and claims and reperpetuating without a care in the world

loool are u the guy in the corner of the gym staring at the lifters thinking 'yeh i could do that but i dont want to' 'shit form'

i wonder if you misunderstand me ladsy. im not saying that sumo and low bar and arched benching are "shit form". there are very safe and mechanically effective ways of performing each of these variations that are totally correct. powerlifters in general get their technique info from a bunch of instagram stars that also dont have a clue so nobody ends up moving that way but they are valid MOVEMENT PATTERNS if done correctly and they do produce the best numbers. they are not, however, sustainable or optimal training movements because you will never get the same stimulus out of them as you would a full range variant

Maybe stick to Baal runs brudda cos u have 0 gains in strength or aesthetics