Reducing calories to account for slower progression

[Pangloss]

Hi Robert

After about 6 weeks learning the lifts / doing the program with a SSC, I've started training the same lifts a small group (coached, which I find very helpful or would just be doing the standard progression alone) though the programming isn't quite linear progress, with triples interspersed on the lifts several days of the week (sometimes 5x3, sometimes 3x3). I am 5'7 and weighed about 120 or so when I started and am now somewhere around 156 after about 2.5 months, eating between 2700 and 3400 every day. I always get 160-200g of protein though fat and carbs vary from week to week, depending on whether I was drinking eggs or lots of milk though never either very low carb or very low fat. For a while though I was drinking about 3 liters of FairLife whole ultra-filtered milk every day, though have switched to regular whole milk but less of it over the past few weeks. On top of that, some mix of yoghurt, rice, vegetables, and fruit. Did not think to log this in much more detail since I was consistently and rather quickly gaining weight, and always hit at least 1g/lbs of quality protein daily. Anyway I was very skinny when I started and have definitely put on muscle mass but there's also noticeably more fat around my abdomen, which I didn't mind to the extent it was necessary. But even eating quite a bit below the "canonical" caloric recommendations in SS3, Clarification, etc. I've put on weight rather quickly and wondering whether attempting to lose a little of the fat would get in the way of the slightly slower progress (say about 7.5-10lbs/week on the squat). For reference, by the "Navy" method I would be around 19-21 percent bodyfat and probably was somewhere between 13 and 16 percent before I started (13 would be consistent with what I recall to be waist size but you couldn't obviously see abs or anything without flexing so maybe was higher). I am 27, for reference.

My lifts (x5) are: 215 (Squat), 120 (Bench), 105 (Press), 235 (Deadlift).


Thanks.

[Robert Santana]

What were your baseline lifts and how long did it take you to get here? You probably need to gain more weight rather than lose. That deadlift is too light.

[Pangloss]

Baseline lifts were Squat - 85, Deadlift - 95, Bench - 70, Press - 45 starting around mid-April with a less than perfectly consistent schedule initially. I see that the normal suggestion for people around my weight is to gain more, but I wonder if that should be limited somewhat by the fact I've gained between 35 to 40 pounds since I started and whatever the gain there's a limit to how much can be lean mass. And as mentioned, I get a lot out of the coaching but the program is only SS-adjacent including triples. Deadlift was a little slow going early on as I was getting my form straight, but I'm pretty confident I can make at least several more 10 lbs jumps. I see you frequently recommend not adding weight on the upper body lifts too quickly. Is the reason for this, to avoid a cycle of missing reps or something more specific?


Thanks

[Robert Santana]

No, you need to give the program time, fix your deadlift, and let the muscle mass fill out. On the topic of upper body lift progression, why would a press or bench press progress at the same rate as a squat or deadlift? Slow progress on these is normal.