Weight Gains vs Strength Gains

[dawson]

I have a problem that I'd like to be rid of, gaining weight too easily. Never have a I had issues with putting on weight, even now at 55, when working out. One thing about now vs back in the day is that I don't need to eat near as much to put on the weight. I'm guessing that a typical day for me runs about 3500 kcals. I don't worry too much about what I eat as long as most of it is not crap and refuse to get anal about not having a bowl or two of ice cream on occasion, a scotch, etc. Besides, how insulting it would be to deprive my wife of the pleasure she gets from knowing she takes good care of me by cooking such damn good stuff and having me not want to eat it? Still, at the rate I'm gaining of about 8-10 lbs over the last 8 weeks while doing SS, one can see by extrapolation that I'm going to be very large is something doesn't happen to rein things in. Oh, I'm not gaining much, if any, in the way of fat. From what I can tell it is mostly muscle. Waist is probably 36-37 inches, up about an inch or so in 8 weeks.

I know, you're going to say I'm full of doo, you're gaining mostly muscle so what are you worried about, right? Well, at this point in life I'm not concerned all that much with being some monster of the weight room but rather to ensure that my remaining days are of a pleasant sort without health complications, to the degree possible anyways. So, strength is still something that I value greatly but not to the degree that everything else goes out the window and I find myself weighing 225 in another year or two.

It would be immensely enjoyable to me to be able to press 200 lbs, dl over 400 lbs do other movements with similarly significant amounts. So, after all the foregoing background nonsense, my question is basically, does one at my point in life have to get hyuge to get very strong or can you get strong enough to do what I want to do without packing it on?

[Mark Rippetoe]

How tall/old are you?

[dawson]

Just 5' 10" and 55 yo.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Well, at the rate of a pound a week, you're in no danger of becoming a fat guy anytime soon, especuially if your lifts are going up at the same time. Your weight gain is well below what we see in kids, but reflects normal muscle mass gain in a guy your age. Don't worry -- it will soon slow down along with your linear progress. Until then, don't worry about cutting back on your diet since things are going well with it like it is now.

[dawson]

Thanks Rip. Do you have a notion based on your experience as to what I might expect in terms of the weight gain and linear progress slowing down in more specific terms? I'm not really a true novice in that I've lifted on and off during my life. Never trained according to a tried and true method like SS, apart from the BB stuff we were taught by the high school football coach in my PE class and what I picked up in gyms along the way. So I'm curious as to what may occur and the adaptation I may see going forward. Of course, as a geezer, it won't be anything like younger folks but having some insight from you with your depth of experience would be most valuable.

BTW, a comment/observation I'd like to make. When I first signed up for this forum I wasn't sure I'd like it because of the controlled format. I must say though, after hanging out here for a bit, I've grown to appreciate the format much more since there is very little back chatter from those who really don't know what the hell they're talking about. End result is much better, obviously now, when one can focus on getting good solid answers from you on the topic of strength training. Thanks for spending your time here answering questions. It is most helpful, especially to those who, like me, don't have the time to spend, live, with a coach.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's a highly individual thing. At 55 and with a training history the usual story is that old injuries tend to control your training intensity, your ability to accumulate gains, and thus your progress. If you are relatively injury-free, you'll have a longer period of linear progress, maybe 5-6 months if you are careful. But the jumps will be smaller, your workouts should be less frequent, and your volume should be a little reduced to get this done. And when the time comes to transition to an intermediate program, go ahead and do it without a reset like the younger guys do to bleed that last of the linear progress out of the novice program. This was you'll be able to avoid the possibility of overtraining that working that hard at the end of the linear cycle has the potential to produce.

[TPrewittMD]

Hey Rip, your post is very helpful for me too. And maybe my experience with weight gain and progress will apply to Dawson a bit since I am 48 yo and 6 ft tall.

About 18 mos ago, did SS and quit linear progress too early.
Went to Crossfit. Got good at metcons but really lost strength. Was lean at around 180 lbs. Got frustrated by too much variation. I got tired of always learning some new thing at which I wasn't very good. And a R supraspinatus injury made all that shoulder work really painful.

Tried CF Strength Bias. Made some progress but lost confidence in what I was doing since I never was really sure that this programming was right for me. (And yes, it is just as you say in the book. I started changing programs, etc.)

Was adjusting my program yet again when Justin posted his CF Wichita Falls program. Started that but with only 1 metcon a week.

Somewhere around then were 2-3 threads here about effects of eating on recovery. So I started to eat. And decided to really eat. And I got much stronger very quickly.

Over about the last 6 weeks or so, I have gone from 184 lbs to 201 today. My 3x5 squats and presses equal or exceed what my 1x3's would have been two months ago. Deadlifts are making linear progress. Just started cleans. Don't bench because of shoulder (which is substantially better after heavy 3x5 presses.) Chins and pullups are twice a week.

And in the process, have had to get new shirts. Have had to let out one hole on my belts but still wear 34 waist jeans and some dress pants.

Squats very heavy now, so time to go intermediate for squats. Going to try Justin's workout with Monday for volume day, 5x5, then Thursday heavy 1x3, 1x2, etc. Will see what happens.

Bought chains to use for incremental weights for presses since still making linear gains.

May be meaningless to Dawson, just thought I would share.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is not meaningless to me and lots of other people here struggling with some decisions. Thanks.

[dawson]

Ok, thanks again. I am taking the jumps lesser. In the past I've done the weight jumps as described in SS but found them too much for my circumstances and now micro-load the increases. Up to this point the other factors haven't been an issue, but then again, my lifts aren't all that big either at this point. I'll remember the pointer about not doing the reset at the intermediate stage.

Mr Prewitt, sounds like you are making some headway. Good for you and keep it up!

[OITW]

YMMV, started at 45/207, am 47/235 or thereabouts now. 6'2" with a long torso, so there's a lot of room for a little bit of gut to look huge on, and my waist went from 38 to 42, back to 40-41 right now.. Squats and DL started well below 100, squat in the mid-200s and DL high 200s--way too many interruptions in the training schedule. I hit the point where I was eating anything and everything, including sticky carbohydrates, and doing at least 1/2 gallon whole milk a day, and though I am pleased with the strength increases, the waist got big, and it's a bitch to get back down. At 20, gaining a lot of fat with the muscle isn't a big thing, but on our side of the slope it's a lot harder to get off. If you reduce intake, you screw yourself on recovery. I don't feel fat, but that bit on the gut just doesn't look good. I've been doing Justin's program to add the metcons and allow more recovery on the lifts, but not a lot of visible gain so far. I hate to say it, but probably the single biggest element in helping lost what little I've lost has been replacing beer with wine. Two days of beer and I can see it almost immediately.

As posted before, I'm trying to stuff my face with as much protein- and fat-laced food as possible, but it's damned slow gains. Like the rest of the posters on this thread, I'm open to suggestions.