Starting in Austin

[atx_bjj]

52 M, 5' 9", 165lbs. I mainly started to get stronger for brazilian jiu jitsu (have trained for 2.5 years). Im in pretty good cardio shape. At 155 I had abs, but Im pretty weak. Im looking to get my weight up to about 185 to make sparring with the bigger guys a little easier. Want deadlift/squat > 300 to make it easier to push people around during the standup/takedown part of sparring. Want bench > 250 to make it easier to get guys off of me.

I do BJJ 4 days/week (around 4 hours of sparring and 1 hour of drills/instruction)

My food target is 3K calories surplus (after BJJ which is about 400kcal/day) and 190g protein. I cant always do 3 days/week because the BJJ days change based on the kids' schedules. As I get more used to the lifting Ill have one lifting + BJJ day which will allow me to more consistently hit 3 days/week. I gain weight super easy and after 3 weeks Im already up 4-5 pounds at around 169.

I read the blue book and watch the form videos every time I workout.

Here are my lifts since I started (pounds). All are 3x5 except deadlift which is 1x5. A few times a week I do 3 sets of 10 pullups.

1/16
squat: 85
Bench 115
Deadlift 145
Press 55

1/19
squat: 95
Bench 125
Deadlift 155
Press 65

1/22
squat: 105
Bench 130
Deadlift 165
Press 70

1/26
squat: 110
Bench 135
Deadlift 175
Press 75 last set was very hard

1/30
squat: 120
Bench 140
Deadlift 185 - felt like it was going to be impossible, but then when I did it, it wasnt hard.
Press 85 - first set was hard, last set was much easier (maybe didnt warm up enough?)

some of the incorrect weight jumps are because i miscounted the weight but didnt realize it until after.

What is really interesting about the program is the last set can be really hard, then when I increase the weight the next time it is easier than the lighter weight. At my age the warmups really help. I havent had much DOMS at all and it feels like Im not really working that hard after the workout compared to when I lifted in the past. I do get DOMS from BJJ and am pretty much always sore, especially my lower back. The 3x5 are pretty easy to do compared to when I did 5x5 before covid with a trainer or when I did 3x10 20 years ago. I do feel overall tired so Im trying to make sure I have one rest day with nothing (except pullups).

[carson]

The Novus program in SS is genius. Session after session you will find that you will regularly increase your strength every session until you can't. Then there are other programs that will push you to increase strength bi-weekly or monthly.

Make sure to increase your calories to 3000-3500 daily and your protein to 180-185 grams per day. If you have a SS coach in the area go see him/her. If not, try online coaching,

[atx_bjj]

2/2/23
squat: 130
Bench 145
Deadlift 195
overhead Press 90 - by far the hardest lift. It does get easier at the end so maybe Im still not warming up enough?

[atx_bjj]

The Novus program in SS is genius. Session after session you will find that you will regularly increase your strength every session until you can't. Then there are other programs that will push you to increase strength bi-weekly or monthly.

Make sure to increase your calories to 3000-3500 daily and your protein to 180-185 grams per day. If you have a SS coach in the area go see him/her. If not, try online coaching,

Im definitely eating 3K calories and 190g protein/day. It is a big change from when I cut from 180 to 155 and was eating 1500 calories (2000 on bJJ days).

I have zero problems gaining weight.


We are in the middle of an ice storm and Im lugging around 5 gallon jerry cans of gas that weight about 40 pounds. I want to say they are easier to move around than in the past so that is a great benefit. Filling the generator when the jerry can is full requires precise control and Im able to easily do it.

[atx_bjj]

2/6/23
squat: 140
Bench 150
Deadlift 205
overhead Press 85 - I thought my form was terrible at 90 so I went back to 85 and it wasnt too bad

bench is getting extremely hard, squat and deadlift are ok.

My weight is up to 170

[carson]

Most people can squat heavier than they can bench. Maybe it's time to shift to 2.5 lb. increases on the bench.

[atx_bjj]

Most people can squat heavier than they can bench. Maybe it's time to shift to 2.5 lb. increases on the bench.

I didnt follow the directions on the starting weights as I wanted to start light to work on form. So my squat was probably just way low. It was slightly difficult at 130, but 140 was somewhat easy.

It still blows my mind how a lighter weight can be so difficult, then next time the heavier weight is easier.

My jeans are starting to not fit. Luckily I saved the ones from when I lost weight from 180 before.

[atx_bjj]

2/9/23
squat: 150
Bench 155
Deadlift 215
overhead Press N/A

squat felt comfortably hard. Bench was much easier than 150. Hard but not ridiculously hard. Dead lift - always feel like Im not going to get it off the ground, then when I do it is relatively "easy".

i think I might not be able to do overhead press and bench on the same day anymore so will switch to more of the official plan and alternate them. My highest warmup weight was 75 which was fine, but I could not do 90 at all.

What blows me away is that the bench at 150 was so catastrophically hard that I thought I was done with the nlp. But then a few days later I do 155 and it is fine.

I have definitely been feeling overall fatigue so Ive been trying to go to sleep earlier. Im good at pacing myself at BJJ but skipped tuesday class this week due to being tired. When I show up it is usually fine and my rolls are good.

I dont know if the strength is helping but Ive been rolling a lot more effectively lately.

Im also not really getting any DOMS which is so weird. When I used to lift 30 years ago in college I would do 3 sets of 10 reps and if I wasnt sore the next day I felt like I wasnt progressing. Reps being high meant I couldnt really stick with it because it took so long to get through a session. Also was doing more isolation on machines so there were so many lifts to keep track of.

I love 3 lifts and 3x5.

[atx_bjj]

2/11/23
squat: 160
Bench N/A
Deadlift 225
overhead Press 90

Normally a bjj day, but was going out of town so did a quick session in the morning before leaving.

deadlift is starting to leave me tired, though it isnt impossibly hard yet. This squat felt really hard and I was starting to lose form. The overhead press was very hard, but I was better able to keep form.

[atx_bjj]

2/13/23 bad session all around

squat 170, first and second set were only 3 and 4, but then did 5 on the 3rd set, did an extra set of 3.
bench 160, hard, but fine
deadlift 235 - warmup sets to 215 were fine, couldnt even do 225.