Knowing When You Are Ready for an Intermediate Program - Brooks Kubik

 

Let's determine an intermediate trainee. 

First, see here: 

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-most-effective-progression-system.html

So, how do you know when you're ready to move from beginner-level programs to an intermediate program?   

I define an intermediate trainee as a trainee who has: 

1) Completed three to six training cycles using either single or double progression while doing ONE set of each exercise in his three-times per week program; 

and

2) Completed three to six training cycles using either single or double progression while performing TWO sets of each exercise in his three-times per week program; 

and

3) Completed three to six training cycles using either single or double progression while performing THREE sets of each exercise in his three-times per week program. 

To put things in concrete, specific terms, an intermediate trainee will have progressed from performing one set of each exercise to performing three sets of each exercise in his three-times per week workouts -- and he will have increased the amount of weight handled in his upper body exercises by 45-90 pounds, and increased the weight in his squats and deadlifts by 90-180 pounds. 

Thus, the intermediate trainee will be ENORMOUSLY stronger and better conditioned than he was when he began his training -- and will be carrying much more muscle mass. 

He'll also know how to perform all the basic exercises safely and efficiently, and he'll understand the mental aspects of strength training. He'll know he needs to concentrate and focus on his training, avoid distractions, stay positive and optimistic, and be confident that he will succeed in building the strength and muscle mass that he desires. 

He will have developed what I refer to as "the Success Habit" -- meaning that he has experienced steady increases in reps and weights, and steady increases in strength and muscle mass. He KNOWS that strength training works -- and whenever he trains, he EXPECTS each workout to be another step on the road to even greater strength and muscle mass. Thus, he trains with quiet confidence. And because he expects to succeed, he does. 

Developing the Success Habit is one of the primary benefits of the single and double progression systems. They not only strengthen your body, they strengthen your mind. By allowing you to succeed over and over, they teach you to view success as inevitable. That's an incredibly powerful asset for anyone seeking to build Herculean strength and muscle mass.

Successful lifters of the past developed the Success Habit early, and so will you -- IF you have the patience and self-discipline to start slow and easy, and to use single or double progression to progress -- slowly, steadily, and inexorably -- to the level of an intermediate trainee.

But what if you've been training for a while, and you're beyond the beginner state, but you didn't follow the progression system that we outlined for beginners, and you're not sure if you qualify as an intermediate? 

In that case, let's put it in simple terms. At a minimum, an intermediate should be able to do the following: 

1) Barbell bench press - 3 x 6-8 reps with bodyweight.

2) Standing military press - 3 x 6-8 reps with 70% of bodyweight. 

3) Squat - 3 x 6-8 reps with bodyweight plus 50 pounds. 

4) Deadlift - 3 x 6-8 reps with bodyweight plus 50-75 pounds. 

If you're an older trainee, you may need to lower these numbers to reflect your age. This second book in the series explains how to adjust your numbers relative to age in greater detail . . . 

    

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V7UJP6C?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_1&storeType=ebooks

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Enjoy Your Lifting!