Small guys: stay on SS as long as possible?

[kanahan]

Just discovered this great forum, thanks for so much useful material.

I am 33 years old, about 172cm (5'7ish), narrow frame. During most of my 20s my weight was about 54-56kg. My first attempts at training were a bit underwhelming due to using advanced routines and not realising how much food I was supposed to eat (sounds familiar?).

Two years ago I discovered SS and started counting calories. It went great, I was up to 65kg in under a year, i.e. from starving-looking to skinny with a beer gut. Then had to quit training for nearly a year (injured my back) and lost most of that weight.

I'm back doing SS for a couple months, BW is back up to 61kg, squats already 100kg. It feels like I'm going to stall relatively soon: already had to reset Bench and Press once, squats are increasing only thanks to so-so form, and I need long pauses between reps and sets.

Would you advise to keep at SS, doing as many resets as needed, until my BW reaches more normal levels (say 65ish kg)? Or follow the same advice as for bigger guys and move on to TM after a couple resets?

Many thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

A Clarification | Mark Rippetoe

[Dennisi01]

You are 5'7 and about 140 lbs? I think you are stalling because you arent eating enough. How many calories a day are you eating, all bullshitting aside?

[kanahan]

Not yet stalling... I'm aiming for around 3kg gains per month. Basically I want to see the needle move every morning as I step on the scale. I started so small that about 2500 cals/day was enough to gain the first few kg rapidly. Now I'm getting closer to 3000 cals.

[Tiedemies]

I used to do something akin to SS with 2800kcal. Not good. Did some with 3000kcal. Better but not good. After posting here and listening to advice, I'd say: aim for 4000 and don't worry about getting fat. Just lift.

[kanahan]

I understand now that I had it backwards... I thought I should start eating with a 300-400 calories surplus and increase the amount of food as I gained weight so as to maintain a constant, moderate surplus. Which is fine for guys who are already a normal-big size. But now I undestand that as a skinny guy I have to start off from a massive caloric surplus until I get big.

If I'd just listen to my appetite I'd be eating maybe around 1800cals daily. I gave myself a massive pat on the back the day I figured out how to fill 2500cals and 140g proteins in my daily diet. Now I understand I have to reach a whole new level.

Well it's gonna be a challenge but I'll find a way.

Yesterday I had a nasty burmit after drinking 3/4 litre of milk in 30min. So this morning when I woke up I drank 1.5 litres of water in 5min to stretch my stomach. Almost exploded but you do what you have to do.

Thanks for your help guys. Looking forward to those gainzZzz

[kanahan]

Update

So I somehow managed to eat and drink more milk than I ever thought physically possible and gained 5kg in the last 3 weeks. Still failed many of my lifts as I feared would happen. Had to reset the bench for the second time, however at a much higher weight than the first. But yesterday I only managed 5x5x4 at 41kg on the press after resetting from a failed 42.5kg attempt a few weeks ago.

I need to find a way to eat more. And I will. But right now I have to admit I'm a little beat down by those results. Add to that a small hip injury when I tried to break my squat record, a pain in my wrist, and the fact that I'm about to leave for a vacation just as I'm trying to break those plateaus... So yeah all in all July was a sh*tty motherf*cker of a month. Can't wait for August to start. There will be gainz. One way or another.

[John Watson]

Here's the best thing I've found for consuming more food;

Get a Vitamix or Blendtec or other high powered blender. Put a baked chicken cutlet in it for protein, some rice or sweet potato for carbs, and some raw or cooked veggie for vitamins/fiber. Add plenty of water to make it not too thick, thin enough to chug.
It's a meal replacement shake with all the benefits of an actual meal, because that's what it is. Tastes like soup, and it goes down very easily, much faster than you could normally choke down a dry chicken cutlet. And because it's liquified it digests much faster and more thoroughly, you'll be ready for another one much sooner.
It's also a great time saver.

[kanahan]

Thanks for the tip!

[kanahan]

Update

It's been 3 months and I have added 10-11kg BW to reach about 72kg today. Not the best performance ever, but the summer was disturbed by multiple vacations, weddings, etc.

My press and bench went through the roof. I could definitely feel the difference after I boosted my calorie intake from ca. 2800-2900 to ca. 3500-4000. Despite a wrist injury, I've been adding about 0.5kg or 1kg to the bar almost every single session (small resets after vacations).

Very disappointing though: my squat, which has barely increased in that time. Though you could argue that I have added another 10kg to the squat, just not on the bar but on my belly. We'll see what happens after another 10kg BW.