Lifts stalling

[Cobstein]

Hey guys

I've been doing starting strength for about a month now. I am 18 years old, 5'10" and 172lbs. I have been doing SS for a month now and eating 2800-3200 cal/day depending on my level of additional exercise that day. My lifts are as follows:

Squat: 250lbs
Bench: 135lbs
OHP: 105lbs
Deadlift: 175lbs

My OHP has stalled at 105, I hadn't been microloading it yet, I probably should have started microloading at 95lbs. Also my deadlift has stalled as well. I was thinking about starting pwr cleans for additional recovery time, but I read on a different thread that my deadlift should be higher. Is it too early to start pwr cleans? Also when I reset my ohp should I be microloading? My squat and bench are still going strong. Finally I have been gaining about a pound per week. Should I be gaining more weight, and eating more? Thanks

-Jake

[Brent Carter]

Your answer probably lies in the below articles:

The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe

WNDTP | Kunkel, Racculia, and Wisneski

[Cobstein]

So basically I have to eat more. I think I started my OHP a little high and that's why it is stalling. I will reset to 95 lbs and work back up to 105. I actually was able to deadlift 280 on my last training session, I will see if that keeps going up. I have increased my daily calories by 200. One thing I don't quite understand is when is it that I just need to eat more, rather than increase recovery time or microload. Say I stall on DL, but am then able to lift that weight the next workout. Should I increase caloric intake? Or start incorporating pwr cleans to increase my DL recovery time. This is probably answered in Practical programming, which I bought, but haven't had a chance to read yet.

[Brent Carter]

Missing one training session's load does not really constitute as a stall. an 18 year old guy standing 5'10" and only 175 can fix MANY lifting problems by just gaining about 30lbs. Go ahead and start adding powercleans if you are pulling 280.

[Cobstein]

Thanks for the quick reply, I will start adding pwr cleans next week. My goal was to get to 200 lbs by April gaining 4 lbs a month. Is that too slow?

[Brent Carter]

Eh, I would say yes that's slow. That would be reasonable for somebody like me (32 5'6 190) but I think you will find it beneficial to be a little more aggressive given your age and stats...

[Cobstein]

Ok thanks I'll bump it up a couple months. Finally I don't own a belt, should I buy one? I was going to wait until my lifts got a little higher but I'm thinking it might help keep my core tighter during deadlifts

[Brent Carter]

If you think it will help go ahead and get one.