Bodyweight

[GT5050]

This might be pure blasphemy, but is anyone out there doing SS while keeping an eye on bodyweight? Say you compete in a sport in which strength is beneficial, but you want to stay at a certain bodyweight.

I'm somewhat in that boat, though I haven't been too concerned as of yet (1.5 months into the program), I'm wondering how long I should not be concerned, and what to do about it if it goes too far out of hand...

I know my body fat because my father in law is a doctor, but it's also helped me analyze a few factors. So here goes:

I started at a body weight of 184 (at 5'8"), I'm now 188. But, I started at a lean mass of 149, I'm now 159. So while gaining strength and muscle I've gone from around 19% to 15- 16% BF, gaining very little actual body weight, eating alot. I felt I started with enough excess weight that I didn't do GOMAD.

So essentially the question is, is it reasonable to continue trying to maintain weight in the 180's to low 190's while gaining strength, as long as the lean mass is going up? I mean given these numbers, I can still be in the low 190's and have 10 more pounds of muscle, with a healthy level of bodyfat. I'm not interested in getting to single digit body fat or seeing my abs, I simply want as much strength as I can muster out of a given bodyweight, for my sports.

Or is it better to say hell with it, eat, lift, and lose the fat after, instead of playing a balancing act.

[spiderman]

I'm about as new to the SS world as you are. I don't really want to gain weight because rock climbing is a strength to weight ratio sport. I want to be stronger and gaining a bit of weight is probably ok. I weigh myself in the morning every day I exercise. I've gained 4 pounds in 6 weeks but I was sick for a week before that so some of that gain may just be rehydration and getting back to regular weight.

From what I've been reading and seen in video clips, people who want to get stronger but not gain weight need to be more patient because it will take longer than someone on GOMAD.

See also

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...class_athletes

[Carnivroar]

Yes, you just need more patience. But meh, I don't recommend it.

I did SS for 3.5 months and gained 40 pounds of BW. Squat went from 165 to 315.

Now I have been doing TM for 1.5 months and gained 0 lbs. Yet all my lifts are improving, though obviously not as fast as SS.

I am 190 lbs btw.

[Bloodninja666]

At your size, you can get good results without gaining much weight. On linear progression, you are going to have more shitty workouts than the kid doing gomad, but that's the tradeoff.

In 11 months of SS followed by TM Ive gone from 195 lbs to 205 lbs. My lifts have gone from something like:

SQ: 125 ->410
DL: 135 ->450
BP: 120 -> 260
P: 95 -> 190
PC: 100 -> 235

So there is hope.

[Carnivroar]

At your size, you can get good results without gaining much weight. On linear progression, you are going to have more shitty workouts than the kid doing gomad, but that's the tradeoff.

In 11 months of SS followed by TM Ive gone from 195 lbs to 205 lbs. My lifts have gone from something like:

SQ: 125 ->410
DL: 135 ->450
BP: 120 -> 260
P: 95 -> 190
PC: 100 -> 235

So there is hope.

Damn, good stuff there!

[hotshot617]

Yes, you just need more patience. But meh, I don't recommend it.

I did SS for 3.5 months and gained 40 pounds of BW. Squat went from 165 to 315.

Now I have been doing TM for 1.5 months and gained 0 lbs. Yet all my lifts are improving, though obviously not as fast as SS.

I am 190 lbs btw.

It sounds like you're saying that your TM progress isn't as fast as your SS was because you aren't gaining bodyweight. I'm under the impression that this would be the case even when both programs are done correctly; not because of a lack of adding BW, but because one is a program intended for novices (who by 'definition' can make strength gains at each workout) and one is intended for intermediate trainees (who by 'definition' make strength gains weekly).

[spiderman]

At your size, you can get good results without gaining much weight. On linear progression, you are going to have more shitty workouts than the kid doing gomad, but that's the tradeoff.

In 11 months of SS followed by TM Ive gone from 195 lbs to 205 lbs. My lifts have gone from something like:

SQ: 125 ->410
DL: 135 ->450
BP: 120 -> 260
P: 95 -> 190
PC: 100 -> 235

So there is hope.

Nice numbers for only 10 lbs BW gain. How tall are you and what was your body composition change like during this time?

[Bloodninja666]

Im a hair under six feet. To be honest, the body-comp changes are not that dramatic. I store most of my fat in the mid-section, so I had a belly when I started lifting and it's still there now. I suppose Im more solid all over, but the casual observer on the street wouldn't assume that I lift weights.

[spiderman]

Im a hair under six feet. To be honest, the body-comp changes are not that dramatic. I store most of my fat in the mid-section, so I had a belly when I started lifting and it's still there now. I suppose Im more solid all over, but the casual observer on the street wouldn't assume that I lift weights.

Well that is pretty impressive. You must have had a bunch of potential stored inside your genetics. Did you do GOMAD or inject any chemicals? I'm guessing not but just checking the facts.

[OCG]

inject any chemicals?

Really? You really think a 450lbs dead requires 'roids? At his weight? Really?