SSNLP week 6. What now?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Jordan,

Hi from the UK, big fan of everything you do in barbell medicine, and apologies for the long post. Everyone always thinks their situation is complicated and in need of more words.

I’m a 26-year-old male doctor, tried a linear progression once before a couple of years ago but failed as I wasn’t really eating for it. I’ve just started on week 6 of SSNLP, been aiming at 3250-3750 calories per day (eating clean and topping up with whole milk - not aiming for particular macros but essentially taking in 210-250g protein, 315-360g carbs and 110-150g fat per day). My weight has increased from 151lbs to 171lbs in that time, squat has gone up linearly from 110lbs to 215lbs today (didn’t miss a rep but genuinely had a 15-second run of bigeminy after my last set, which has never happened before. If that’s not RPE 10 I don’t know what is!) My deadlift is at 220lbs, as I had to reset slightly after a tweak (but your and Austin’s advice about managing tweaks worked perfectly for me, so thanks!)

My chest measurement is now 41in (ace!) but with all the food and milk, my waist (at the umbilicus) is up to 40in (granted I took these measurements in the middle of the day). But this is pretty excessive for me as I don’t particularly have fat elsewhere. Meanwhile my callipers still seem to say 18.1% BFP whilst a scales last week said 22%.

To use your terminology, I’m getting pretty squirrelly about being the fattest I’ve ever been - but I’m also the strongest I’ve ever been. I’d like to milk the newbie gains for as long as I can, but I think I need to rein in the body fat before I go crazy. Your suggestions from TBAB are very useful but your example novice started out skinnier than me (I was perhaps 16% body fat to begin with), and are more than me to increase his body weight and squat over a similar time period. My ultimate plan after seeing SSNLP through is to do The Bridge on a recomp-type deficit to bring my body fat down whilst maintaining (or hopefully adding to) my linear strength gains.

To top it off I’m trying to do this around night shifts etc. As you’ll understand!

My specific questions are:

  1. Although I haven’t technically stalled on squats, do you think it’s a reasonable time to put the light day in mid-week as you suggest in your programming podcast? Or should I wait it out until I genuinely miss a rep?

2.How do you think I should modify my nutrition at this point to make the most of newbie gains whilst reining in the body fat?
3.If reducing caloric intake results in me stalling more, where should I take things from there?

Many thanks, I think you guys bring an approach to the world of lifting that genuinely hasn’t been seen before. And it’s awesome!

2

MCDC,

For those about to squat, we salute you!

Okay, onto the questions:

  1. I think hat’s reasonable. I would recommend not missing, if possible. Alternatively, you could change programs to The Bridge or similar. LP isn’t the best way to become the strongest version of yourself and if your waist is 40" and you’re not really responding amazingly to the program…I’d just as soon move onto something els.e

  2. I would decrease calories- probably halving your fat intake.

  3. No. I think the program doesn’t work very well for you ,which isn’t a knock on you. It’s just one program.

3

Hi Jordan,

Thanks for such a quick reply! In terms of strength I feel I am responding well to the programme - i.e. getting stronger workout to workout. So just out of interest when you say I don’t respond well, do you mean in the sense that I’m putting too much fat on in response to the high calorie intake the programme demands?

I’ll halve my fat intake as you recommend. But can I ask whether you have an overall calorie suggestion in mind? Presumably to a deficit? (I had been planning on continuing to slowly gain weight, as I’m still only 172lbs and want to keep getting stronger).

These are the last questions! Many thanks again for your very helpful advice!

4

The program doesn’t “demand” high calories. A program based on sound principles should produce strength improvements without weight gain, especially in untrained populations. If you’re putting on a lot of body fat that’s a bad deal.

If your waist measurement is 40" (or close to it), I would advise a calorie deficit.