The last time I did any serious lifting was at the end of 2010. I got to approximately intermediate standards on the main lifts. At the start of 2011 I started training more at the MMA club and also took up climbing a few months later. My new hobbies left me with not enough time to also get to the gym so I just gave up the lifting, but I'm at a point now where I've lost most of the strength I'd gained and I'm also getting injured a ton in MMA training which I believe my lack of strength is contributing to.

I've been off my MMA classes since about Feb because of a back injury but that's healed up now and I've started going back, but I've decided that I need to build my strength back up before I start heavy training again so I'm back on the SS. I'm going to try and devote 3 days a week to this over the next 6-10 weeks or so then probably move onto 2 days/week so I can fit in other stuff.

I'm 30, 5'4 and weigh ~65kg.

Previous max lifts:

Squat: 5x107.5kg
Dead: 5x122.5kg
OHP: 5x50kg
Bench: 5x72.5kg
PC: 3x50kg

I don't want to get yet more injuries so I'm starting with really low weight and am aiming to slowly but progressively build back up to around my max lifts. I'm also paying more attention to eating more and getting more protein, as well as doing more mobility drills and foam rolling to keep me supple.

My first 3 workouts:

29/6

Squat: 3x5x40kg
Bench: 3x5x40kg
Deadlift: 1x5x70kg

2/7

Squat: 3x5x50kg
OHP: 3x5x30kg (could have been 35kg, can't remember, hence why I need to make a log)
Deadlift: 1x5x75kg

Today

Squat: 3x5x55kg
Bench: 3x5x45kg
Deadlift: 1x5x80kg

I'm doing deadlift every session atm in place of power-cleans as I want to build some base-strength in my back where I was injured before I start doing fast power-type movements. It's feeling better now though so I'll probably start putting the PCs in soon.

Nothing has felt tough yet but I expect things to start getting harder after the next few workouts.

hey Ron. Pretty nice previous lifts considering you are only 5'4 and 65KG.

I would guess you would have to worry more about eating a lot than counting cals when you are also training MMA.

Thanks. I didn't do anything special to get those lifts, just straightforward SS for a few months.

I think my body must be pretty good at telling me how much I need to eat as I have always tended to just eat when I'm hungry and my weight never alters much. Right now I'm making sure I eat extra, and plenty of protein to get maximum effectiveness from lifting.

6/7

Squat: 3x5x60kg - easy, should easily be able to add 5kg per workout for at least 3-4 more workouts imo
OHP : 3x5x37.5kg - tough, but I always had slow progress on OHP
Deadlift: 1x5x85kg - not too difficult but tweaked something in my back, nothing serious but will just have to be careful with it for a couple of days.

Got iPhone-4 now so will be able to take vids for form checks.

11/7

Finally got some form vids - will cross-post in form check thread

Squat: 3x5x65kg - still fairly easy (Set 1, Set 2)
Bench: 3x5x47.5kg - again still fairly easy
Deadlift: 1x6x50kg, 1x6x60kg - lower back been stiff and a little sore since I did something to it last time I deadlifted so just some light sets today. (Set 1, Set 2)

13/7

Squat: 1x4x70kg, 2x5x70kg - didn't even realise I'd only done 4 reps on the first set till I check the vid I'd taken. Doesn't matter too much, is still relatively easy, but starting to get tougher. Think 75kg should be ok, but might have to start going up by 2.5kg after that.

OHP: 3x5x40kg - very tough, probably going to stall at 42.5kg so will ask if they've got
any plates smaller than 1.25kg for a slower progression.

Set up to do power cleans. Was doing hang cleans as a warm up. Empty bar was fine but when I loaded it to 30kg I got a sharp pain in my wrist when I started the pull. It was something I'd had a problem with a few weeks ago but hadn't really thought about at all till this. I was even hitting the pads and bags at kickboxing last night and didn't feel any problem with it. Dunno what's up but hopefully a bit of rest will sort it.

Decided to try some bent over rows but had the same problem with the start of the pull when I put any kind of significant weight on so got pissed off and went home.

squat... wipe

squat... wipe

What?

16/7

Squat: 3x5x75kg - actually putting a bit of effort in now. Will go to +2.5kg per workout to avoid plateauing too early.
Bench: 3x5x50kg - still easy, prob started a bit too low but I'm in no rush.
Deadlift: 1x5x80kg (vid)- changed up my technique and it felt tons easier, going to post in form check thread though to check it.

18/7

Squat: 3x5x77.5kg - going up at 2.5kg now to avoid plateauing as long as possible
OHP: 2x5x42.5kg, 1x5x40kg - 2.5kg is too much of a jump really but can't really do much else
Hang cleans: 3x6x25kg - just testing my wrist really, seems fine but will add weight to this really slowly to make sure I don't wreck anything

20/7

Squat: 3x5x80kg (Set 3)- starting to feel like a real whole-body effort now, which is good, still not overly heavy though but will do soon
Bench: 3x5x52.5kg - still pretty easy
Deadlift: 1x5x90kg (Vid) - felt good, if form is good I think I can add 5kg next time, then 2.5kg after that

As far as i can tell your lifts look really good.

23/7

Squat: 3x5x82.5kg - felt good, confident of more good progression
OHP: 3x5x42.5kg - last few reps were tough, the jump to 45kg may be too much so will prob do 3x6x42.5 before adding weight
Hang cleans: still having problem with wrist so had to abort
Pull-ups: 1x10xbw, 2x5x2.5kg

25/7

Squat: 3x5x85kg - felt good again
Bench: 3x5x55kg - slowly starting to get harder but no worry of failure yet
Deadlift: 1xs5x95kg - this was very hard work, will prob go to 2.5kg progression now

Workouts starting to really feel like hard work now but still confident of good progression for another few weeks at least.

27/7

Squat: 3x5x87.5kg - very hard today, think Fridays are prob the hardest workout of the week though so hopefully 90kg on Monday should be good after a 2 day rest
OHP: 1x6x45kg, 2x5x45kg, 1x5x40kg - went for 3x6x45kg but couldn't make it so added an extra back-off set at the end
Weighed pull-ups: 3x5x3.75kg - felt good

30/7

Squat: 3x5x90kg - Very tough but kept decent form and depth. There's a stall coming soon but hoping I can get to 100kg before that
Bench: 3x5x57.5kg - Felt easier than the 55kg last week
Deadlift: 1x5x100kg (vid) - felt good while warming up so went for 100kg. Felt good, not really any harder than last week's 95kg, will post vid for form check though.
Weighted dips: 3x8x5kg