Am I a beginner or intermediate? Completed Bill Starr's 5x5, now what?

[muffinman241]

Hey Guys,

Some background, I'm 5'10" and was around 120-125lbs. I completed 2 cycles of AllPro's beginner routine and got up to around 135lbs last year. I got much stronger, but obviously wasn't eating enough. Then after a long break transitioning to a new job, I started Bill Starr's Intermediate 5x5 program.

I am now 150lbs. My goal is to get to 165lbs. I thought that my progression from AllPro's beginner to Bill Starr's intermediate would be okay, but I'm reading that an "intermediate" is generally considered someone who can squat 2x their weight and bench 1.5x their weight. I currently max squat 200lbs for 5 reps and max bench 170lbs for 5 reps (for 1 set after ramping weights). I've also heard of 300lb squat being a good indicator of an intermediate lifter.

should i have done the beginning lift program longer? i made gains on the 12 week intermediate program, but can i still make better gains on a true beginner program?

i feel like im in the middle between a beginner and an intermediate. i am confident in my form and everything like that, but i want to make sure that i choose the right program to make the best mass/strength gains.

any thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks for any help!

[boathead]

man, are you over thinking things.

stay on madcow. things will sort themselves out. if you eat enough, you can pack on some nice mass on madcow starting about week 5 or 6.

[muffinman241]

man, are you over thinking things.

stay on madcow. things will sort themselves out. if you eat enough, you can pack on some nice mass on madcow starting about week 5 or 6.

haha you may be 100% right. i've just heard some people rage about starting an intermediate program too soon and got nervous that i should take a step back toward a beginner's program.

[musikguy72]

One sure way to tell is if you run a beginners routine for a few cycles and start to stall because it advances too fast. Then you might need to find an intermediate program. Otherwise, you will just keep running the program. The problem will work itself out.