Skinny Teen Stuck 6 Weeks In. Too early to reset? (With wrinkle)

[Tiburon]

Rip,

We have a talented, but skinny kid, 5'4", 16 years old, 118 pounds. He is stalling 6 weeks into the program. He is gaining 1 pound of BW weekly.

First six weeks of squat (3 sets of 5):
140
145
150
155
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195 Fail
195
200 Fail
200
205 Fail
205
210 Fail

The wrinkle: he had a broken wrist and could not DL for the first 4 weeks. So his DL is now the same as his squat (205x5).

Your rx?
Obviously he needs to eat more.
Should we reset his squat and let his DL get ahead of it?

Thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

Starting Strength: Article

[Tiburon]

Haha I thought you were going to post that! Thanks!

[Joe Tandy]

Someone posted in Jordan's forum about tracking his food intake during recovery from cardiac surgery that included growing sternum bone back.

Despite not working his usual 40hr week and all his barbell training while in a hospital bed, he had to <b> double <b/> his caloric intake.

JUST to not waste away. Anything less caused weight loss at a rapid rate.

I'll try and find the thread.

[jwagner]

Should we reset his squat and let his DL get ahead of it?

I think this is the only point not covered yet. Why would you (he, anyone...) want to sacrifice one lift for another, especially in the novice progression?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Maybe just getting his squat deep enough would accomplish this.

[Tiburon]

Maybe just getting his squat deep enough would accomplish this.

Hey I resemble that remark! I would commit seppuku with a frisbee before letting these kids get away with half-squats.

If anything, the problem with the teens we're training here at the Chinatown Y is that they squat WAY too deep. And they all want to look like Bruce Lee instead of Dat Nguyen. How do you convince kids to eat??

[Mark Rippetoe]

Kids can't be convinced to eat, in my experience. Athletes can. Some kids are athletes, some are not.

[Darkroman]

Just tell them to eat a lot and eat often and not worry so much about what they eat. And to have a big cup of milk every meal. Does the kid have a 32oz cup or something from 7-11 used for refills? Fill that sucker up with milk every meal and drink it till it's empty.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yeah, that always works. Just tell 'em.