Can't keep up with the increments

[Man_in_the_Box22]

I just finished my fourth week into the program and I'm having trouble with the increments in weights. The program says that beginners should be going up in weights by the 10's and eventually it'll go down to 5's. We'll the 5's started quite quickly in my case. No problem though, as long as I got stronger, right? well no, because everyday it just gets harder and harder, and it really seems like i can't keep up with even just 5 lbs increments.

So first question would be diet right? I drank as much milk as I could at the beginning but didn't sit well with me so I switched to 3500-4000 paleo. This last week I went all out and ate as much as I possibly could and easily did 6,000 calories. Still, today i wasn't able to finish all of my sets. So frustrating!

Second would be sleep. I make a strong effort to sleep around 8 hours a day. at least 6, 6 1/2 on rare occasions.

I'm resting more than I'd like. I'm concentrating in SS and not doing any metcons or cardio (except to warm up)

I'm also getting a little chubby which I thought would happen but if I'm not getting bigger and stronger at the same time, something has to be truly wrong.

I'm so frustrated at this point, and can't find answers anywhere. I'm starting to think maybe I have some sort of hormonal deficiency or something! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Brian Harlin]

And now Mark will put on the hat and become Carnac the magnificent. Using these powers he will deduce all of the vital stats that you left out. Prepare to be amazed as Carnac tells us:
how tall you are
How much you weigh
Your age
Exactly what you are eating
Exactly what weights you are lifting
Exactly what exercise you are failing
And maybe more...

[unclean]

So first question would be diet right?

Many people also overlook rest time, which you may or may not have referred to. How much time do you take between sets?

[AriSuper]

Being frustrated after only 4 weeks, are you for real?
I don't want to sound like a douche, but I don't know how you grasped the concept of progression, my suggestion would be to reread the book.
And give some more info dude, although I do want to see Carnac the magnificent in action.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

haha yeah i should've included that info my bad. and i absolutely agree that it's ridiculous to be frustrated so soon, but he explains in the book that a beginner can get stronger much faster than an experienced lifter. I'm just really worried that I'm not getting stronger at the rate that the program requires, in which case i'd be stalling practically every week. I have patience, so it isn't about that. I just want to understand what could be delaying my progress so soon into the program.

My stats:

6'0 tall, 24 years old, started program at 155 lbs, now at 165 lbs

I'm doing squats, bench, press, deadlift, power cleans. The first lift i stalled was the bench at 130. i reset and when i got up to 130 again i couldn't finish all the sets. yesterday on my 12th w.o. I was supposed to squat 220, press 100, and deadlift 290 (i was able to finish sets of squats at 215, press at 95, and deadlift at 280) but couldn't finish any of the lifts. This week I ate my heart out too.

My diet has consisted of lots of beef, chicken, eggs, salmon, almonds, coconut milk, and this last week I added peanut butter to add more calories on top of stuffing my face.

I've also doubted my technique so i've asked people to help me out indicating mistakes and such. The trainer at the gym and a member who used to be a power lifter have helped me and have said that although not perfect, i do the lifts well. the one i need most work with is the press which i deviate too much at the beginning of the lift. I'm going to record myself soon, working on borrowing a camera.

I was very careful to do the program and not start too high in weights either, I was very comfortable with the weights i began with, but every w.o. just got harder and harder until i stalled. if this is something that is seen in some people then i'll just be patient and increase slowly, but i'm new to all this stuff so I'd like to know some other factors that I could be neglecting.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

i rest about 5 minutes between working sets.

[Mr.City]

The problem is that you're ignoring reality and trying to do what you think the book says. 3-4000 cals is a lot, so if you really are eating that much then recovery shouldn't be an issue. How do you track your food intake?

You rest long enough; your jumps aren't aggressive. I think the biggest issue here is that you're a 160 lb man who is 6'3. You don't have very good levers at that weight. You are getting close to a bodyweight bench for sets across and a double bodyweight deadlift. You probably have long arms, which will make benching a bitch. You might want to switch the deadlifting to once a week and see if that helps, and this sound like blasphemy, but it might time to microload your pressing movements.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

i used the livestrong calculator to measure the caloric intake. at first i was hitting 3-3,500, but i've really ate like crazy this last week. You're right about my arms, it definitely makes pressing a bitch. i thought about buying the 1.25 lbs plates, but is it alright to do it so soon into the program?

[Brian Harlin]

1. You shouldn't be going up by tens in all lifts. That is reserved for the large muscle group exercises. Squats and deadlifts. Me thinks you should re read the programming section of the book.

2. http://startingstrength.com/articles...n_rippetoe.pdf

3. Are you actually failing the lifts, or are you failing to try? It's supposed to be hard.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

Yes I agree, I've read the article too, but will re-read both.