Just turned 40, need advice on training routine.

[ChickenBrother]

3 times a week sounds good cos I feel I can fit that in with my other training as well as work and family life. Gaining size means nothing compared to time spent with my loved ones and I do like that the 5 x 5 is something I can do at home with my basic set up.

I feel my gas tank is pretty good at BJJ so far (maybe not so compared to blue belt and beyond) because of my running. I'm definitely a hard gainer with my natural weight around 65kg and takes a fair amount of eating to gain weight. I have gained 3kg in the last week though focusing hard on exceeding expending calories so hopefully I can keep it up. I will 100% be starting 5 x 5 tomorrow.

I only use protein as a supplement and just started creatine loading. I have used Beastdrol about 15 years ago.... that stuff definitely works but I have no desire to use anything like that again. I just want to be fit and stronger, vanity and ego has nothing to do with it.

You're literally almost exactly where I was 5 years ago at age 40, in terms of lifestyle and objectives including the running. Since then I've learned:

-I had been overtraining for the previous 25 years. Your body needs recovery and sleep to put on muscle. After a hard lifting session, the best thing you can do is eat, sleep 10 hours that night and stuff your face with food the next day without any training.

-Muscle gains come easier if you're in caloric surplus i.e. carrying around more fat than you may be used to. I used to be very lean and did weight training, grappling and running 6 days/week sometimes multiple times/day and used to wonder why I couldn't put on muscle. It wasn't until my recovery time requirements went up in my late 30's (and I was forced to work out less or get injured/sick) that I started putting on more muscle. I'm still relatively lean probably around 15% bf but I feel great even though I'm a little fatter than before.

-If you train BJJ you practically need to do squats/deadlifts or similar exercises to stay balanced. Like most schools, my gym doesn't regularly drill takedowns so most rolls start on knees and entail one or both guys trying to pull guard, invert, etc. Couple that with warm up drills that include pushups, triangles for reps, etc. and you have an almost perfect recipe for an imbalanced, hunched over posture. Improving my squat and DL improved my posture, gave me more functional strength in rolls and most importantly, carried over into everyday life: it's easier for me to take out the trash, bend over and pick my kids up, move furniture around etc.