2 Days a Week

[65DSL]

Been logging my training for awhile on here thought I would ask for some feedback on what I am thinking about training wise after the meet this Saturday.

Some background:
Male, turn 43 in about a week. 5' 8" and weigh 210-211 at the moment, down about 15lbs since Jan- stress and job change. Amateur powerlifter, have competed in 2 push pulls and 4 full meets.
Been training for almost 2.5 years. Started with stronglifts(sorry the cleans turned me off) and then pretty much went straight to RPE, RTS style training. Had some success.
Best lifts:
Squat: 185kg/ 407.9 in comp- nowhere near that at the moment. Thinking 345-360 now, guess we will see on Saturday.
Bench: 310lbs, paused in the gym. Left shoulder went out a few weeks ago so less now.
DL: 230kg/ 507.1lbs- in comp. Within 15-20lbs of this now, thinking 490 at comp if the back cooperates.

Have been fighting back issues for the last 1.5years. Before training have a history of chronic back pain which the lifting helped with, unless I push too hard. Also, currently work as a carpenter so I use my back everyday. Have made some minor form corrections over the last few months that have helped. Most recently ran an HLM with some minor success but eventually even running that the back flared up. I have had xrays and been to a sports doc and a chiro- they helped some. Have some degeneration in the low back- they said my low back looks like a 60-70 year old. About 50% less disc between the l3 and l2 compared to the rest and some degradation on the l4. When I train if I push through it will build up to the point the pain compromises form.

So thinking of trying a 2 day week plan to maximize back recovery. Have tried just squatting twice and giving myself extra recovery very briefly the last couple of weeks in prepping for the meet and it seems to work- giving myself seems 2-3 days after lower body training seems to make a big difference- can squat and DL pain free.

Here is the basic plan:
Wk 1
Sun
Heavy squat- mix of intensity and volume
Heavy bench- mix of intensity and volume
Med DL- SLDL, Good Mornings, RDLs, etc.
Back off bench assistance- CG, floor press, etc.

Thurs
Med Sq- 2ct paused sq, pin squat, etc.
Bench Overload- TNG
Lt DL- pendlay row, lever row
Bench assistance- press, incline bench

Wk2
Sun
Lt sq- front sq, lt belted sq
Heavy bench- mix of intensity and volume
Heavy DL- mix of intensity and volume
Back off bench assistance- CG, floor press, etc.

Thurs
Med Sq- 2ct paused sq, pin squat, etc.
Bench Overload- TNG, slingshot, 2 board, etc.
Lat Pulls and abs
Bench assistance- press, incline bench

Any thoughts?

[Mugaaz]

I honestly don't think training twice a week will maximize back recovery. I think that idea is flawed. Seems far more likely the issue is the intensity/volume on your deadlift sessions getting too high + issues with technique. I've never gotten better recovery from any issue by lowering my frequency. Sometimes I've needed to lower the intensity and volume to generate less stress. However, if you back is getting wrecked everytime you train it, the solution is not to continue doing that on a less frequent basis, but instead figure out how to train without making it worse.