Hey everyone. I’m not sure if this is the best place for this or the nutrition section. I have been running SSLP for almost a year. I have gone from 160lbs to 198lbs. My lifts have gone up and i am stronger than ever. I recently have noticed that while I am stronger and nearing the end of my LP I look and feel like crap. I am to a point were I am almost not interested in lifting weights because I just feel fat. My clothes are not fitting, my wife has told me I look fat and she’s worried I will have a heart attack. I have looked at myself in the mirror and I have gut, my knee sleeves hurt to get on because of how tight they are. Some might say I’m just complaining but I don’t like being this big anymore. I’m at a point were Id rather feel good than have PRs. My question is what is a healthy weight for someone that is 33 years old, 5’10". According to my BMI scale, which I think is way off most of the time, It says I should be in the 160-170lbs range?
Wicat,
Thanks for the post and I hope you’re doing well otherwise.
A few things jump out to me here:
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You mention running LP for a year, which seems unlikely. What I mean by that is I’m not sure anyone can do an LP for 12 months unless they’re taking a lot of breaks in training or resetting a number of times. LP “lasts” for about 9 weeks on average before an initial reset is needed.
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What is your waist measurement? If it’s 37" or higher, you are likely carrying too much body fat. If your waist is <37" then you may or may not be at risk of disease secondary to carrying too much body fat, though that would require some additional history gathering.
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The BMI “scale” doesn’t suggest weights typically, rather BMI is an anthropometric scaling metric designed to compare one’s weight and height. It tends to be very good at identifying those individuals carrying too much body fat when BMI > 30, though it misses a substantial amount of folks with lower body weights, but whom also are carrying too much body fat.
So, what to do from here?
I’d recommend measuring your waist and reporting back so we can get a better handle on this. I would also likely recommend moving on from LP to The Bridge, General S/C 1, or Powerbuilding 1.
I started LP in july of 2018 after having surgery on my wrist. I wanted to get strong and SS was always recommended so I went for it. I would say since around Feb I have been following SS by the book. Before I was doing rows instead of Power cleans and I wasn’t adding in any Chin ups. So to be fair I have been doing SS for about 4 months. I have just moved into the advanced novice.
I measured my waist a few days ago and I was at 39. I have most of my adult life have worn a 36" pants size and recently I have a struggle to fit into everyday clothing.
I mentioned the BMI because that’s what most people use or refer too. I understand its not the best tool and that it is a poor judge of character. I was very skeptical when many people said if you want to get strong you have to eat and you have to get to 200 pounds and I mean I got there and i’m strong but it seems that its not the healthiest for me.
Sure, I understand.
I think that BMI is very useful when appropriately applied, but has nothing to do with an individual’s character.
I think that I would reduce your weight via a calorie deficit to get your waist <37", change your training program to The Bridge (Free) or Powerbuilding 1 Template (including the conditioning recommendations), and avoid engaging with the SS community.