Warmup:
Pullups: 3x8,7,6
Pushups:3x14
Squats:3x14
Situps:3x14
Hip bridges:3x14
Snatch Grip High Pull from Blocks
45x10
135x5
190x3x3
High Pull…ss…Barbell Curls
140x3x10…ss…65x3x10
Side Delt Raises…ss…Bent Over DB Curls
35’sx3x10…ss…30’sx3x10
Band Pullaparts…ss…Band Tri Pushdowns
3x20…ss…3x25
AM BJJ
We drilled setting up the guillotine choke from the clench and Marcelo’s 10 finger guillotine from clench or from standing in butterfly guard.
Some crack heads stumbled into the school and acted like they were going to train bjj lol. They were high as hell and we had to kick them out. A BJJ class isn’t a very good place to start problems and I think they started to realize that after a minute.
Squat
135x10
185x10
225x8
275x5
315x3x3
Snatch Grip Deadlift from blocks
135x10
185x10
225x5
315x3x5
Box lunges…ss…calf raises
3x20…ss…135x3x20
With all of the changes lately in my day to day life I have had to try implementing some different strategies into my training and diet. I bought a treadmill so I can continue running now that I habe to stay at home at night with the kids while my wife is at school. I have also started intermittent fasting which has been going well so far. I have widdled down my strength training a bit as well. My new schedule (which I hopefully won’t have to change any time soon) is:
Diet:
Mon-Fri: 16 hours fasting, 8 hour feeding window, 2500-2750 calories. Friday night is a carb night.
Sat: 24 hour fast
Sun: Regular eating schedule 2500-2750 calories
Training:
Sun: BJJ and movement class
Mon:
Bench Press Variation 3x3
Row Variation 3x5
Pressing/Pulling Superset 3x10-12
Delts/Biceps Superset 3x10-12
Rear Delts/Triceps Superset 3x20
Tues: BJJ in am/Run in pm
Wed:
Pullups: 3xFailure
Oly Lift Variation 3x3
Oly Lift Variation/Biceps Superset 3x10
Delts/Biceps Superset 3x10
Rear Delts/Triceps Superset 3x20
Thur: BJJ in am/Run in pm
Fri:
Squat Variation: 3x3
Deadlift Variation 3x5
Single Leg Variation/Calves Superset 3x20
Abs/Core Superset 3x20
Sat: Rest (usually I will do yardwork now that it’s warm)
I will have a deload week on the first week of each month where I will just do BJJ and run.
I also have been using my grip trainers everyday. I have 150, 200 and 250lb grippers and don’t really periodize their use. I just leave them on my desk and do a set or two whenever I have a minute.
Sunday BJJ Open mat:
I had several good rolls. There is a new guy named Jesus that is a great training partner for me. He’s a 300lb purple belt with a very tight, slow “creeping death” kind of style. It was good to have some hard rolls without going too high in intensity.
Sunday movement class:
This was a bitch. We did a bunch of ahoulder mobility stuff and today my shoulders are really sore and achy.
Bench Press
45x10
135x10
185x10
225x5
255x3x3
Barbell Row
235x3x5
DB Press…ss…Bilateral DB Row
90’sx3x10, 10, 8…ss…90’sx3x10, 10, 10
DB Flyes…ss…Rear Delt Raise
40’sx3x10…ss…25’sx3x10
Barbell Curl…ss…Band Tri Pushdown
65x3x10…ss…3x25
Plate Pinch Press
25’sx1x10
These were surprisingly difficult. I’ll be adding these in somehow. I just wanted to give them a shot and see how they felt today.
No training today. I put a raised garden bed in the back yard and swapped out 2 cubic yards of black clay with good soil, put down a weed guard, covered it in mulch, planted a bunch of grape vines, built a fence around it, felled a medium sized tree, chopped it into firewood, trimmed the crepe myrtle trees and weeded the bed the myrtles are in. I guess that counts as a workout.
Now I am sunburnt as hell and exhausted.
Snatch grip high pull
45x10
135x5
195x3x3
High pull…ss…Barbell curl
145x3x10…ss…70x3x10
Delt raise…ss…DB curl
35’sx3x10…ss…35’sx3x10
Band pullaparts…ss…Band tri Pushdown
3x20…ss…3x25
Treadmill
Walk uphill 1 hour
I got some really bad news last night and didn’t sleep at all. I decided to go to the am bjj class to try and take my mind off of it.
Being super tired, I wasn’t able to move as quickly or use any strength so I just stayed really calm, slow and somewhat passive during my rolls. I still wound up doing pretty well, although I wound up on the bottom a lot as I never tried to beat them to the punch when a scramble occurred. I tapped a pretty tough guy who was rolling really hard with me using the thigh master choke which was cool. That’s the first time I pulled that off on a blue belt so I suppose I am getting better at it.
We rolled 4 rounds and then drilled anaconda choke setups from half guard and transitioning to the darce choke or to the guillotine when the anaconda fails. It was a good technique but I need to drill it more.
After BJJ I ran on the treadmill for an hour.
I weighed 258 this morning. I am officially in the 250’s!
I have been away from hard training for quite a while and have gotten pretty out of shape. I have stayed about the same weight but have lost some muscle and replaced it with fat.
For the past year or so I have been doing a kettlebell workout about twice a week and bjj once or twice a week and that’s it aside from working a shit load of hours. I’m still a blue belt with no stripes and I’m tired of watching my peers progress past me. It’s time to get back to it.
I decided to run a 5/3/1-ish template that I made for a client who could only train twice a week. Being that it’s based on 5/3/1, the weights are based on percentages of a training max. I set my training maxes super low to ease back into lifting regularly before I handle anything terribly heavy. The template is:
Workout A
Power Cleans
Press (cleaned from the floor once)
Deadlift
Workout B
Snatch Grip High Pull
Bench Press
Squat
The lifts follow the same weight (%) x sets x reps scheme which is:
Week 1:
55% x 5
65% x 5
75% x 5
55% x 3 x 8
Week 2:
60% x 3
70% x 3
80% x 3
60% x 3 x 5
Week 3
65% x 5
75% x 3
85% x 1
65% x 3 x 3
My training maxes are:
Clean: 185
Press: 165
Deadlift: 405
High pull: 225
Bench press: 275
Squat: 315
I didn’t do a test to calculate these. I just picked weights I could easily smoke for a triple even if I was already extremely tired.
I will also be doing some kettlebell circuits, cardio and assistance lift workouts here and there when I have time but those will be kept light and informal. I’ll just go off of how I feel and don’t want to allow them to interfere with my bjj or lifting schedule.
Today’s training-Day 1-Workout A
Power clean: (I’m not doing the 3 drop sets on olympic lifting movements)
95x5
105x5
125x5
Press:
95x5
105x5
120x5
95x3x8
Deadlift:
225x5
265x5
305x5
225x3x8
I found that I have faaaar more strength than is necessary to lift these weights but I do not have a good recovery time or strength endurance whatsoever. The heaviest sets were a smoke show but then the volume sets really fatigued my muscles and I felt like I lost all of my strength. It should come back in a few months, I guess.
Welcome back! Nice to see another jiu-jitsu guy on the T-Nation Forums!
Thanks, man. It’s good to be back in the gym.
I have been super busy at work and it’s really making it hard to train. I was able to go to BJJ this morning, though. We drilled half guard sweeps and dis some rounds starting in bottom half guard. I got my elbow bent a little too far backwards but it’s not bad.
Snatch grip high pull:
135x5
155x5
185x5
Bench:
145x5
175x5
205x5
155x3x8
Squat:
175x5
205x5
235x5
I could really feel my right hip, right shoulder and left elbow while benching and squatting. I need to work on mobility and tissue quality A LOT. So, I’ll be doing some stretching and myofascial release stuff tonight after work. The weights were pretty easy and I opted not to do the squat volume sets since I haven’t squatted in so long and don’t want to be so sore that I can’t train for a week. I will work the volume in slowly as I get used to lifting regularly.
I decided to go with more orthopaedically “safe” form on these vs. the powerlifting style form that I have used in the past. For bench I am using a slight arch, pinkies on the rings and flat feet with a false grip and moderate elbow tuck. For squat I am doing a medium bar position, heeled shoes, narrow stance and minimal sit back. These seem to hurt the least lol. I feel old.
HIIT at 4:00am, then I worked for 14 hours
1 min work:1 min rest
45lb KB
KB Swings
KB Cleans
KB Cleans
1 Arm KB Swings
1 Arm KB Swings
KB Clean and Press
KB Swings
KB Swings
I was half asleep, strangely I didn’t get out of breath that much or sweat.
BJJ: I found out that my favorite instructor that taught the 6am class had a falling out with the gym owner and now a different guy is teaching it. I was really bummed about that. Anyway, more half guard sweeps and recovering quarter guard from bottom mount, transitioning to half guard and then sweeping.
Cleans
115x3
125x3
145x3
Presses
95x3
115x3
135x3
105x3x5
Deadlift
245x3
285x3
325x3
Barbell shrug
225x10
225x10
225x10
KB Snatches
35x20
45x20
45x30
45x30
High pull:
135x3
155x3
185x3
Bench:
165x3
195x3
225x3
185x3x5
Squat:
185x3
225x3
250x3
I did 5 sets of KB snatches, clean and press and/or swings with a 35lb kb in each hand. I pushed pretty hard, doing 40ish reps per set.
BJJ morning class: Arm drag to take the back from bottom half guard. Had some nice rolls and got pretty worn out.
Power clean:
120x5
145x3
165x1
185x1
185x1
185x1
Press:
105x5
125x3
145x1
165x1
165x1
165x1
Deadlift
275x5
305x3
345x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
KB Circuits x 3
UN Swings x 10
UN Cleans x 10
UN Clean and Press x 10
UN Snatch x 10
Barbell roll out x 5
3 rounds
Feeling pretty banged up today. I’ve been training a little too hard this week but I’m deloading next week so it’ll be fine.
6am BJJ, More half guard stuff, I got worked pretty hard during sparring but still did well.
Lat Pulldown (the numbers on this machine mean nothing, apparently)
120x10
130x10
140x10
140x10
Barbell Row
135x10
185x10
185x8
135x10
DB Row
80’sx10
90’sx10
90’sx10
80’sx10
DB Lateral Raises
30’sx10
30’sx10
30’sx10
Power Clean
135x3
155x3
175x3
195x1
215x failed
215x1
195x2
195x2
I could tell that the heavy singles yesterday took a toll on my nervous system. I had very little grip strength or explosiveness which are the first signs that I am acquiring fatigue enough to supercompensate after a deload. My row has become super weak so I’ll start rowing after my main lifts.