Returning my copy of SS to the library.

[RobertFontaine]

PPST and Starting Strength v2 arrived from amazon today.

In PPST you recommend 200-400 calories surplus and suggest that much more than this is not recommended as it will be stored as fat.

Is this number directed at intermediate/advanced trainers?

It seems (i could be wrong) to me that novices are able to put on pounds of muscle in a far shorter time that would require significantly higher excess calories - assuming the law of conservation of mass applies and that my memory of younger days isn't mostly the result of fantasy.

My stable weight diet seems to be around 3300 calories/day currently and life seems to be good (Get stronger, tendons feel better) somewhere between 3500 and 4500 calories (although I start to feel like a urine machine over 4k as I'm eating no junk (~2600 in good food) and sucking up the milk for the extra calories)

If my assumption isn't completely on crack..

Is there a pragmatic or better yet simple way of knowing whether a trainee is simply eating too much?

Thanks,
Bob

[Mark Rippetoe]

Some fat deposition is normal during a period of time when the conditions are correct for also gaining muscle, so just putting on a little fat is not really an indicator of eating too much. You should be gaining a little fat while you gain lots of muscle. Eating too much is a rather subjective call, one I am reluctant to make because so many people just won't eat enough to even recover, much less gain.