Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Hi guys! It's been a while since I have made a post on the forum's, but I think I have come a long way just by looking back at some of my stupid forum questions earlier. I cant believe I wanted to lose so much weight and couldn't bear the thought of gaining any more weight. I was 127 and proud.... sadly I regret that, I am now 153 and happy!

Anyways, I am stuck at where I should take my workouts. I am currently 16, and I weigh ~153 and am about 5'6-5'7. I have been using the starting strength original novice program for a while now (I believe since November with a week break here and there) and I think I have gotten to a stalling point or plateau that I cant seem to get out of. I believe one of the reasons may be because of schooling and my sleep. I currently have to wake up at 6:00am for school everyday and the only times of real sleep are on Fridays and Saturdays. My second reason of thought is keeping down enough calories is actually quite a challenge. I usually dont feel like eating much after working out, and I am still careful about what I eat throughout the day. So I am going to post my progress below:

Squat: 95 to 215
Bench: 85 to 145
Deadlift: 155 to 280 (It is a 1X5 but I usually take a 30sec-1min break in between each rep. is that bad?)
Press: 55 to 110
PowerClean: 65 to 120

I am not sure, after reading and rereading the starting strength site, what I should do from this point. I do not know if I am in a true plateau or is it just the conditions I am dealing with because of school and the rest of my life? I usually also add some calfs, abs, and bicep/tricep workouts ontop of the SS basics. From what I understand, the SS and SL programs are for beginner lifters or still has room for heavy gains, and the MadCow program is to help you once you achieve your bodies natural ability of heavy lifting. I am not quite sure where I should be going now and that is my question. Which program should I be on since summer is right around the corner and that will give me more time to focus on my diet, sleep, and weight lifting.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

IMO stick to SS for now, and see if you can improve anything when it's summer time.. just to rule out sleeping / schooling affecting you. Milk SS for as long as possible.. and once you start stalling a ton (for reasons other than lack of recovery / sleep / stress).. move onto madcow.

and IMO 30 seconds - 1 minute between reps is far too long for deadlifts.

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Have you tried Deloading on SS?

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

I did try taking 10% off and going back up I think sometime in March, but it really takes me a while to go up in weights. For example, I can go up 5lbs, but the next workout I have to go down 10-20lbs (for squats) or else I may fail. I am not exactly sure how to explain this

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

And I guess I could try to stick with SS for as long as possible then, and is it okay to have the calfs, abs, bis, and tris in there still? Also, so if I wasnt to have to rests inbetween in rep, I guess my logical weight is probably more around 200-230 I would guess.

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Also on my bench, I have never been able to hit 145, no matter how much I try I try at least once a week, but I always end up having my spotter help me.

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Are you using Mark's or Babylover's varient?

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Stay on SS, don't deload or do anything else silly. Eat more. It's good that you've gone from 127 to 153, but you have to keep gaining weight if you want SS to work.

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

I am using the Mark Rippetoe's Original Novice Program

 

Program Help Please! (StartingStrength, StrongLifts, and MadCow)

Ok, depending on what everyone else says on around here, I will try to eat more. I already have my calories set on livestrong to gain .5lbs a week without including my workouts. and how much should I be gaining? I do understand that overeating doesnt always go on as muscle but some as fat as well, I wont mind cutting later on, but thats why I am only at .5lbs a week increase. And what should i do for my last 1.5 weeks of unbalanced sleep and complete controlled diet?