What counts as a beginner, intermediate and advanced lifter?

[pmasterman]

You see various articles or routines that are designed for people with different levels of experience. But they never say what they class as a beginner, intermediate or advanced lifter. You're told to start with a couple of workouts a week and add more as you get more experience. But how long is long? I've been doing 5 workouts a week for over a year now, and the other day I got curious about whether I'd jumped to doing 5 a week too quickly. My progress has come to a bit of a standstill in recent times, and I was wondering if dropping down to 4 a week may actually be more beneficial than my current 5?

As it stands, my current workout is as follows:

Monday - Chest/calves

4 sets incline bb bench
3 sets flat bb bench
3 sets decline bb bench
3 sets chest dips
3 sets standing calf raises (this is done on a machine)

Tuesday - Legs

4 sets squats
3 sets leg press
3 sets leg extensions
3 sets curls

Wednesday - Arms

4 sets close grip chinups w/ bb curl superset
3 sets 21s
3 sets close grip bench press
4 sets rope pulldowns
3 sets skullcrushers

Thursday - Shoulders

4 sets military press
3 sets upright rows
3 sets lateral raises
3 sets side raises

Friday - Back

4 sets deadlift
3 sets bent over rows
3 sets seated rows
3 sets wide grip chinups

Saturday - Off

Sunday - Off

If I've been going to the gym for 2+ years, but only properly sorted my nutrition out in the last year and a bit, would this be too advanced, just right, or not advanced enough for where I'm at?

My lifts for the big three exercises are 100kg 1rm for bench, 180kg 1rm for deadlift, and as an estimate, 150kg for squats. All with correct form.

This next question screams beginner, but is something I never really understood: when resting, your muscles grow. Everyone knows this. But for example, if you've done your chest workout, then the next day you do your leg workout, does this count as rest? You're not using your chest muscles, so THEY are at rest, but your CNS is still being stressed and your body will have to repair two groups of muscles at the same time.

One final thing I'd like to get some input on! Comparing my current body to my ideal body, my arms are smaller than they should be. I've been on this program for a week or two, so I haven't given results time to manifest yet, but from the looks of my routine, am I likely to see more gains from my arm day in relation to the other days? If not, please feel free to give input on it

[jalamb86]

This link gives a decent description and should give you an idea of what level you're at on certain lifts

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLi...Standards.html

[pmasterman]

Thanks, that's actually really useful. Based on that I'm intermediate-advanced and I will continue with a 5 day split.

[Lucharilla0311]

This link gives a decent description and should give you an idea of what level you're at on certain lifts

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLi...Standards.html

I disagree. I've seen way too many people (especially here) that have been spinning their wheels for years (3-5+). Last thing I'll ever do is call them an intermediate (which is defined there as 2 years of training). If anything, I believe there can and should be a strength component to classification. If someone has been lifting for 5 years and still has a 250 lb squat, I'd still consider them a beginner.

[Hawks58]

This link gives a decent description and should give you an idea of what level you're at on certain lifts

Gotta disagree with this too. I look at his bench/squat/dead standards, according to that I would've been Advanced/borderline Elite senior year of high school. I always judge it based on what a person knows about diet/lifting/rest/supplementation and how well they can play that according to their body. Honestly it just boils down to:
Harder routines are typically made for people with more experience because they are going to know what it feels like to push their body vs breaking their body. They will know what foods to eat. What supplements to take and how they are going to effect their workout. What the workout is attempting to do. etc etc etc. It really just comes down to how well you know your body and what you are doing, and that can only be gained by actually pushing weight and finding out what different stuff feels like.

[CaptainGorgeous]

Beginner: someone who looks untrained for the most part

Intermediate: someone who looks pretty muscular

Advanced: someone who's jacked



Use common sense.

w/r/t training, beginners can get away with higher frequency. Advanced trainees can't because they use more volume. Theoretically, a beginner could use an advanced routine, but it wouldn't be optimal.

[Jippo]

Who cares what 'level' of trainee you are? If you're training hard and seeing gains then carry on what you're doing. Training is supposed to be enjoyable not some complex mind-game where you try and find the absolute ideal routine to fit your experience level. I personally detest bodypart splits, but lots of other people love them, we're both lifting in a way that we enjoy so who cares.

[pmasterman]

Jippo: I've stopped seeing gains, that's why I'm asking! I love training, I can't wait to hit the gym again as I'm leaving it after a workout.

Would anyone be able to answer my question about rest with a simple yes/no and a brief explanation of why they're saying that?

[Jippo]

It boils down to the amount of volume and intensity you hit a muscle group with. If you train chest and do 20 sets and 5 different exercises then it's probably not a great idea to train chest again for a few days. That's why i prefer fullbody routines. It's easier to focus on lagging areas by giving them more frequency throughout the week. If i really want to bring a lift or lagging area up then i find it works well to train that area everyday, albeit with varying exercises and intensities.

But in general i'd say people worry too much about rest days. Just experiment, it's not like you're going to die if you don't wait a whole week to train the same muscle group.

[pmasterman]

My 5 day split had 2 rest days, so I only trained each body part once a week as it was, each body part got 13 sets (except calves, biceps and triceps which got a couple lower). I've made a new routine that hits my biceps and triceps hard once a week and somewhat less intensely on shoulder (bi) and chest (tri) day. You've inadvertently answered my question about rest, so cheers

[jalamb86]

I disagree. I've seen way too many people (especially here) that have been spinning their wheels for years (3-5+). Last thing I'll ever do is call them an intermediate (which is defined there as 2 years of training). If anything, I believe there can and should be a strength component to classification. If someone has been lifting for 5 years and still has a 250 lb squat, I'd still consider them a beginner.

Pay no attention to the time frames on the first page, they're useless. If you click the different lifts, it breaks down training levels by gender, bodyweight, and how much weight you're lifting.

[qse7en]

Pay no attention to the time frames on the first page, they're useless. If you click the different lifts, it breaks down training levels by gender, bodyweight, and how much weight you're lifting.

I still dont agree with it either.
According to it, all my lifts are a little above intermediate and thats at 160 lbs.
I have been training pretty hard for 6 months but Ive played alot with different routines focused around sports and haven't really done a strength routine correct enough to consider myself even intermediate in my lifts.

unless of course I have dem genetics which I would love but I've never been really big in my life.