Can't keep up with the increments

[Gwyn Brookes]

Everyone starts at a different weight, but, as per the book, you are supposed to start with a weight where the next jump would compromise your form. In other words, the VERY FIRST DAY is supposed to be fairly hard. You're supposed to be working as hard as you possibly can to maintain your form. That's not going to be an "easy" weight. That's almost never going to be 45lbs.

In fact fucking around with those weights is not even going to cause an adaptation. How could it? If you're not getting any more tan from 30 minutes of tanning, do you really think practicing your tanning technique for 3 minutes at a time is going to make any difference at all? Of course not. Working with those weights will basically have you doing "skill" work for an entire month (or more).

Spending an entire month working on form, to me, is laughably stupid and inexcusable. That's not to say you won't constantly be learning and adjusting as you lift heavier and heavier weights, but that is also very different from using weights that are not heavy enough to even stimulate an adaptation. I like to see people improve both form and the weight on the bar every session as an early novice. This is not only possible, it is inevitable if you do things the right way.

I agree with Tom, here. Unless you miss reps for more than two training sessions in a row, I think it would be better for you to drop the increment that you increase your lifts by each workout. Post a form check so you can get feedback. If you miss reps more than two session in a row, deload by 10% and work back up until the next sticking point, like it says in the book. It sounds like you've already missed some reps, so start by repeating the same weights you missed. I think microloading your bench and press would be a fine idea at this point, but you should keep asking your body to adapt to heavier increments each workout, even if the increment is smaller than when you started.

As far as skill work is concerned, I have come to strongly believe that the best skill work is done during those last two reps of a difficult last set where you are seriously busting your ass. That's where you have to have the strongest focus and the strongest will to really nail your form. You have to experience keeping your form under a heavy load, because that is exactly where it is most difficult, and if you want to progress, that is where you will live.

PS There is nothing wrong with "just parallel." As long as it actually is parallel.

[Tom Narvaez]

No, I'd recommend a 10% reset like FatButWeak suggested. Every time you stall, tack on another 500kcals or so to your overall daily intake. I'd recommend 200-250g of protein. Anything else is probably overkill. I also don't think you need to do paleo or any of that kind of shit if you don't want to. Just be fairly consistent in your diet. When you stall, reset, eat more.

Generally, if you're eating enough in the first place, there's not going to be that many stalls before you're done with LP. The only reason resetting works, if you're doing everything right, is that it gives you time you gain more weight and let some of the systemic fatigue dissipate. If the load just isn't enough to adapt to anymore, or it is so much that you can't recover, resetting will just take you back to the same spot within 5-10lbs. Whenever I reset, I also do something to enhance recovery. For a raw beginner, that usually just means eat more. For a more advanced novice, that might mean making slight changes that reduce or manipulate tonnage in a useful way as to aid in recovery. You have to start thinking of all of this stuff in terms of the Stress --> Adaptation --> Recovery model. It makes this all much easier.

Again, you need to post a form check for your lifts if you haven't already done so.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

Thanks so much guys, I appreciate all the input. I thought that starting at 45 was a bit extreme but it would allow me to work on technique. But even in the book, as you said, the program starts just below compromising of technique. Ill start recording workouts and getting some critiques. Thanks again.

[Brian Zahn]

Tom gave the absolute best advice in this thread.

I like all of his examples started at 135x3x5 (being conservative after a mild knee injury) and have used LP to now 325x3x5 and still rolling.

Never give up, but get real if you think you dont need to gain weight

[bones]

Never give up, but get real if you think you dont need to gain weight

Need to gain weight for...what exactly? If the kid wants to deadlift 500, then sure. If he wants to be a football lineman, sure. But last I checked, there is nothing criminal (except maybe here on this forum!) about being 165lbs and setting goals based on power to weight ratio. He's getting pretty close to Intermediate level, right?

[Brian Harlin]

Need to gain weight for...what exactly? If the kid wants to deadlift 500, then sure. If he wants to be a football lineman, sure. But last I checked, there is nothing criminal (except maybe here on this forum!) about being 165lbs and setting goals based on power to weight ratio. He's getting pretty close to Intermediate level, right?

Seriously??
He is on the STARTING STRENGTH forum, asking questions of forum members regarding the STARTING STRENGTH program. He himself states, "I just finished my fourth week into the program..." Are we to assume that he his talking about a program other than Starting Strength? The Starting Strength program is quite clearly about maximizing strength gains in the shortest amount of time. It is an aggressive novice program that involves gaining weight to accommodate these strength gains. WTF advice should we be giving someone who wants to follow the program??? EAT, LIFT, REST, REPEAT.

All those suggesting that he shouldn't be gaining weight are not talking about the SS program. Period.

[bones]

Agreed. But he seems awfully concerned about weight for someone who says they are doing the program. I don't think he really wants to do the program. If the only advice people hand out here is "do the program," people could just read the book and there'd be no need to talk about anything.

[stonerider]

at 6' 165lbs he has a lot of room grow before he gets fat

at the end of SS i was 5'10" and around 200lbs, and i had gained over 50lbs since i started the program (lasted around a year).. i still had abs


no way is this guy fat

[Alexis]

I did SS for a few months staying at constant 186lbs at 6'05. I ate clean and just slightly above maintenance and managed quite the recomposition. I probably could have milked out linear progression a little bit longer with more food intake but I prefer it the way I did it. I was chubby for 5 years and refuse to ever go back to that state.
I agree though. There is no way you can be "fat" at 165lbs and 6'.