Originally Posted by
Girtron
Hey Zero, for your weight, your squat and deadlift aren't bad. You are squatting roughly 1.76 times your bodyweight. Most people stall around that percentage of their weight on the squat. So that is pretty normal. Unfortunately, if you are not willing to gain weight and BF%, you will have to grind it out. If your goals are to get as strong as possible while gaining as little BF as possible, I would suggest Wendler's 5/3/1. The linear gains of SS probably aren't in the cards if you are not willing to increase your BF%. It is all about your goals.
Also, you are training on a five day split. I would suspect you are overtraining some body parts while not eating enough to recover. I also suspect you are not as accurate as you think you are with your calorie count. If you truly have a 250-300 calorie SURPLUS (meaning calories your body isn't burning) you would be gaining roughly 2 to 3 pounds of bodyweight a month. I suspect this isn't the case.
If you are willing to gain 3 or 4 pounds per month and getting really strong is your priority, you probably could get some mileage out of SS, SS advanced, and transition into TM afterward. Rip says in starting strength that skinny guys usually and up around 20% BF by the end of linear progression if they do the program as outlined. The nagging injuries are also mitigated by eating as the program outlines. So read the book and DO WHAT IT SAYS TO DO if you really want to try it.
Otherwise, I would settle for the slower gains that a program with monthly periodization, like 5/3/1, delivers. Just my two cents.