The First Three Questions

[stef]

by Mark Rippetoe

“I get asked about this a lot: what do I do when I get stuck? Go to an intermediate program? I’d rather ask this question: Why are you stuck when you shouldn’t be? And then I always ask these 3 very important questions, in this order…”

Article

[Silentpadna]

Sorry for the length (tl;dr at the bottom).

I'm sure this has come up in many places around here, but forgive me as a bit of a newbie.

First, my stats:

M/54/5'11"/195-200. My starting weight in February was 240. I began tracking/controlling food and working a conditioning program with lots of walking and other cardio stuff. After 90 days I started lifting, first with Strong Lifts 5x5 in May, then switching to Starting Strength in October. Overall I've lost about 45 pounds. Losing weight was my original goal, but has morphed into being strong and fit over time. Physique would also be desirable, to the extent that my 54-year-old body can get there - although physique is not as important as health to me. I also like to run some, which by the way has been helped tremendously by squatting. I only run about 1-2 times per week - not quickly and usually on Saturdays between my Thursday and Monday training sessions. I cut training to 2x per week recently due to age and (hopefully better) recovery.

Current Lifts (Working Weight)

Squat: 260 5/5/5
Bench: 190 5/5/5
OHP: 120 5/5/5
Deadlift: 315 5
Pull up: Body Weight 5
Chin up (hammer style grip): Body Weight 5/5

Not doing cleans at this point and about to reduce dead lift frequency, so I'll either add cleans (if it's appropriate for my age) or something else.

When I switched to SS in October I could not do a single body weight pull-up or chin-up. Started with assisted chins/pulls and moved to body weight over the course of several weeks.

The Basic Question:

As an older male, I'm really not sure where my eating should be. I'm conflicted between regaining body fat and losing the physique progress I've made and eating more to get stronger. And if I should eat more, where/when does that stop? Maintenance intake looks to be somewhere around 2500 calories based on my tracking. That's about what I'm eating right now.

Am I at a point where I ought to be cutting (even though I have not finished the novice phase)? Is there a such thing as a novice phase at this age or is it different for older guys, bearing in mind that I've never trained in this sort of way?

Should I be eating more? (Again in the context of being an older guy probably getting near my LP endpoint maybe).

TL;DR

Should an older lifter be eating as described in question 3? I would understand if I was 24, but I'm 54 now. Thoughts?