TSFOSB Diet

[Justin Ansarfi]

Hey Mark, I know this could be put into the nutrition form but I was looking for more of a general observation type answer.

I am on my first cycle of Advanced Programming (TSFOSB) and I do not know if I am just sick of forcing food into my face or

do lifters tend to be less hungry on deload weeks?

Should/can I just go with it, and eat a little less this week? I am by no means lean, I carry a healthy amount of "cushion".

Should/can the diet change week to week to match the programming?


5'10
30 y
220 lb
bench 235x5x5
squat 355x5x5

[Mark Rippetoe]

Deadlift? Press? Clean?

[Justin Ansarfi]

DeadLift 415x5
Press 155x5x4
Clean 165x3

The Squat/Press/Clean PR's are from last week.
The Pull PR's are a few months old, I recently switched to RackPulls (405x5x2 last week), I am working through some minor injury/form issues (cant seem to keep my lower back tight off the floor when the weight gets close to the mid 400s)

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is a classic example of a late-novice lifter moving to advanced programming for no apparent reason.

A Clarification | Mark Rippetoe

The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe

[Justin Ansarfi]

Well that would be good news if its true, but I am having a hard time seeing it.
I have not missed a workout in over 2 years, and my first year of training I went from 170->230,
I ate everything to keep late novice early intermediate style programming working, but eventually got stuck.
At that point I recomped down to 205, not losing any strength.
After that I made a few runs of HLM and TM and got my body weight up to 220 where it is now.
I felt ran down by intermediate style programming after 1.5years.
I was always tired, and my lifts were stalling every 2-3 weeks.
Since switching to more advanced style programming I have started hitting PR's again and I feel great.

Are you saying that I am not recovering enough to successfully complete the novice stage and thus opted for slower programming?

[Mark Rippetoe]

These are not advanced numbers for your size. Get your testosterone checked.

[Justin Ansarfi]

I have a problematically high sex drive and so much chest hair you can't see my nipples, but I'll check on it.

I have an alternative hypothesis :
I may have been going on long stretches of non-functional overreaching (I am very hard headed),
and now with a reduction and waving of training stress I may be better able to display the strength I have built prior.
I have definitely put on muscle this last year in spite of not having big numbers.
I will get back to you after intensity week with the PR's if they are shit then you may be right about needing to go back to shorter SRA programming.

What numbers should I be hitting to justify Advanced Style programming?

[zft]

After that I made a few runs of HLM and TM and got my body weight up to 220 where it is now.

What did your TM programming look like?

[Oso Rojo]

It looks like you need to get an SSC to coach you through the later parts of your NLP and forward.

[Justin Ansarfi]

I can't afford a coach guys, I wish I could. I would have gotten one 2 years ago. My most recent run on standard TM (3 months ago) got me to 365x5 squat 235x5 bench, press 155x5, deadlift (I hurt my back warming up for 450x3)
HLM type programming just never got me big PRs, they were small jumps every couple weeks, but I would have to reset those runs too because fatigue would always catch up to me.
I used a lot of the 3-week waving stuff Andy Baker puts out to try to manage the fatigue.

I am going to switch back to Advanced Novice Programming for the time, I still need a solution for my deadlift.
I can train everything besides heavy pulls off the floor. My back never hurts except when I try to break a heavy bar off the ground then my back will flair up for 2-5 days.
Can I RackPull instead or should I just reset my deadlift to 225 or something? Also RDL's dont hurt my back because I can set my back at the top no problem. Even 4 inch block pulls hurt, maybe I should try 6 inch blocks and work down overtime.

On this novice run should I be trying to gain weight or see how far I can get at my current weight?

I really do not think I have low T, but I do have a small child at home and I am working and in college, so my stress is normally high.