Weight management thoughts

[Chris Kagadis]

About a year ago, I weighed about 260 lbs. Weight management was always an issue for me and I decided to lose the weight by eating appropriately. I lost 50 lbs and was able to keep it off, but the downside was that I had no physical strength whatsoever. So, I started the SS program three weeks ago to get up to speed but I added about 15 lbs in the process. I was aware that this was going to happen and accepted it in order to get up to speed.

So, I'm on my third week and my mind is going toward weight management. I'm 5'9" and weight in at around ~235 lbs. I would LIKE to get to around 225. I've seen guys around my height on similar programs hit 200 lbs and encourage me to do so as well. If I wanted to get to 200 lbs, I don't think it'd be too difficult given my current regimen, but what should I be taking into consideration? I haven't weight under 200 in over ten years, and when I did it was extremely difficult to maintain and I was the least healthy I had ever been. When trying to figure out an optimal weight, should I be thinking strictly about BMI or some other similar system? What's the smart way to approach this? My goal with SS is to get to a great build for a guy my height and will more than get the job done. Not looking to go tank and powerlift.

[Dillon Spencer]

I think the main thing is to think more in terms of lean body mass and body fat % than absolute scale weight. Definitely don't worry yourself with BMI, because it's notorious for identifying people who carry a lot of muscle as overweight or obese. For someone in your position it's probably better to try monitoring your body fat % or waist circumference. If the scale goes up, but your waist is staying the same or even shrinking, then you can be pretty sure that most of your new weight is going where it should.

The general recommendation around these parts is not to worry too much about fat loss during your novice phase. You won't get as strong or build as much muscle as you could by eating in a caloric deficit, and getting as strong and building as much muscle as possible will help you to lose the fat later when there's a bigger, stronger, more muscular dude under it. Eat at least maintenance calories or a small surplus and let your body recompose itself as you get stronger.

Bottom line, focus more on the weight on the bar than the weight on the scale, and you can go into a more dedicated fat loss phase when you're stronger.

[Chris Kagadis]

Thanks, Dillon5. The waist size has stayed mostly where it was before, which has surprised me a little. I've increased waist size a bit, but not 15 lbs worth. In any case, I'm going to focus on increasing protein intake, physical strength, and improving form until the end of the year. After that, I'll review dropping weight. My only question is; what happens when I reach my strength building goals, how does this change my regimen? If I get to a 180 lbs bench press or maybe 200 lbs, I think I'd be happy. Deadlift; maybe 300 lbs. When I get to these levels, I guess I stop increasing weight? Not sure how that works, it'll definitely affect how I approach calorie consumption since I'll be in maintenance mode at that point, no?

[Dillon Spencer]

That's great that your waist is staying in check while you gain weight! Suggests your body is mostly putting the new mass where you want it. Focusing on your protein intake is a great call. Other than that the usual recommendation is to keep carbs high to support training and keep fat intake lower to avoid exceeding your overall caloric needs.

Once you reach your personal strength goals it's certainly fine to shift your focus to new ones. Please, please aim higher than a 200 lbs bench and a 300 lbs deadlift though! You haven't mentioned where your lifts are currently, but based on the fact that you consider those goals to reach by the end of the year I assume they're pretty low. If you follow a proper LP, adding weight to the bar every workout, for the next four months, you should blow past those numbers. Granted, not everyone does, but limiting yourself to those numbers (and the time frame of the end of the year) is a waste of the strength and muscle building potential of a novice lifter. I'm not so dogmatic about strength being the only worthwhile goal to think that everyone needs to be able to squat a house to be a functional adult human. In all honesty I just ended my own LP with lifts just a bit beyond what you're talking about due to my work schedule, but I'm by no means done getting stronger. I'm just saying don't limit yourself if you're still making good progress.

If you're three weeks in and already concerned about weight management, you're not going to get the most out of this magical time in your lifting career. Run your LP as properly and for as long as you can manage, and given that weight management is a concern you should pay more attention to your nutrition so you don't accumulate too much fat along with the new muscle. It's easy to do if you just eat everything in sight, because "bulking." If you haven't already, go check out the nutrition forum. It's a great resource!

Just remember, SS isn't a fat loss program, although for novice lifters with extra body fat, body recomposition is usually a byproduct. It's a strength program, and you need to treat it as such to get the most out of it.

I say all this assuming you don't have any health concerns that have the potential to kill you in the immediate future. As long as you don't (and in many cases, even if you do), dive into the program and focus on getting strong, building muscle, and when the strength gains stop coming as easily as they will during the novice phase, think about cutting some of the fat. It'll be easier to do once you've got a metabolic inferno of muscle under there anyways

[Chris Kagadis]

Hey DillonS,
Okay, so yes we are definitely talking about low numbers right now;

Deadlift: 175
Bench Press: 85 (I know, I know. Stop laughing. This is going to get better fast.)
Press: 80 (Almost went up in my last session, but I failed on the last rep of my last set. Will nail it on Friday.)
Squat: 120

Squat is a major obstacle right now because I can't squat to parallel and I'm not raising the weight any more until I can solve this problem (otherwise, let's face it, they're partial squats. Increasing weights doesn't really address the fact that I need to be strengthening my full squat). I've been working on stretching exercises daily and I'm seeing some improvement, but I won't lie it's bumming me out more than I can say.

[Dillon Spencer]

Hello again Chris!

Don't worry. Nobody here is going to laugh at low lifts, and if they do they're the asshole. Everyone starts somewhere, and it's not at all uncommon for people to start with an empty bar, or even less in many cases. I was just inferring from the fact that you considered those to be goals that are months away that you were starting light. Not a damn thing wrong with that!

I was just saying that since you seem sincere about taking this seriously, you shouldn't limit yourself to numbers that would still be considered pretty low by the standards of a strength focused community. I think it's perfectly fine to reach a point at which you're satisfied with maintaining a certain level of strength while you pursue other goals, but if you're going to seriously dive in to your novice linear progression, don't set limits on it when you're only three weeks deep. Take advantage of the great resources available on this forum, particularly the nutrition forum in your case, for help on maximizing your NLP without gaining too much fat.

As far as your squat struggles go, we've all been there! Your difficulty reaching depth is likely form related. Post a video in the technique forum or, seeing as how you're a verified member (I need to get on that) the coach Q&A forum. That's assuming that getting in person or online coaching is geographically or financially prohibitive. I've gotten some very helpful feedback by doing so. You might be surprised! Lots of people hold off on adding weight to the bar out of fear of imperfect form, only to find out that their issues aren't so catastrophic that they can't continue to progress.

Don't get discouraged by your difficulties. The squat is a very technical lift and the vast majority of people (even very strong ones) need help with their form. That's why even coaches have coaches! The most important thing is to keep taking it as seriously as you seem to be, and using the resources at your disposal to improve every time you get under the bar.

[Chris Kagadis]

Hey DillonS,

You're right, of course. Will keep an open mind about my limits, I shouldn't be setting ceilings yet. I just finished my workout tonight and my squat was almost parallel. I think that soon I'll be in the neighborhood of something decent. Another thing that I learned is that I will never lift without a belt ever again. I got my weight lifting belt in the mail this morning but, for some reason, at the time I decided to start using it next session (Friday) instead of today. After my first squat tonight, I changed my mind and put it on and the difference is night and day. It helps push against me so that I can get through a rep - it was a real eye opener how much of a difference it can make.

Will continue on my stretches every day and focusing on form (and will also post videos soon). Thanks again, DillonS.

[Dillon Spencer]

Glad to hear you made some progress tonight!

A belt really does help! I got my first this summer as I was making my run at LP. I had used them before, but didn't really understand how to do so properly before going all in on SS and educating myself. They don't push against you, you push against them! But yeah, they definitely help you better support your spine with a proper Valsalva and make a huge difference.

Keep it up and I'll be sure to check out your video! There are far more experienced eyes than mine to help you out with that though. Happy lifting!

[Mark Rippetoe]

A Clarification | Mark Rippetoe