Please understand from the outset that I believe most labels and definitions miss their mark in a large number of cases. But to be at least somewhat precise in any field means they must still be used.
I am going to attempt to better define who and what a beginning trainee consists of so that you may better plug yourself into the correct training modality.
The number one problems I see in the lifting world other than poor diets are:
- Beginners doing intermediate lifters' programs.
- Intermediates doing advanced-style routines.
- Advanced lifters doing elite-level routines.
No one wants to believe they are further down the rung of the ladder than they really are, so they convince themselves they are something they are not.
A beginner is someone that has been lifting a year or less, or someone that has potentially been lifting many years and has failed to achieve results. I have had many people contact me as potential training clients that had been lifting for five to 10 years, yet still can't bench 200 or squat 300. While everyone has strengths and weaknesses (as a example I know lifters that squat and deadlift in the mid-500s and still cannot bench 300), you can safely assume that if you bench under 200 and squat/deadlift under 300 you are a beginner.
Now, many of you (beginners) are probably wondering why I am using the squat, bench, and deadlift as barometers. Simply put, they are the lifts most often used in both the bodybuilding and powerlifting community as "standards" of overall strength.
A guy that goes to the gym and benches 230 and squats 345 the first time he tries is still a beginner despite having lifts well above the following criteria - you still start at the beginning regardless of how high the starting point is. How come? No matter how high the initial point is the body will make both neural and metabolic adaptations at a very fast rate (assuming the training and diet are correct, and that unfortunately rarely occurs for beginners).
The good news is unless the training load is way too high (like the new guy getting his routine straight out of "Flex" magazine), or the diet horribly too low. The trainee will usually make very significant gains in both size and strength at a rapid pace. If done correctly, first year gains of 20-50 pounds are quite common (although 50 pounds only occurs in a relative smaller number of lifters than the 20-40 pound gains that are achieved by most THAT DO THINGS CORRECTLY.
And that statement is where the problem arises and most people spend their first year making some very quick initial gains, and then watching progress dry up. Most beginners get their info from the popular websites, channels and mags and while some of the info may be suitable, it is usually not the type of routine Joe Average newbie lifter picks. He picks things WAY beyond his capacity.
All he needs is simple progression on the BIG compound lifts, not some 5-day-a-week split guaranteed to hit all muscles from all angles. A simple chest/shoulders/triceps day; a back/biceps/abs day; and a leg day is all the split a beginner needs, and an upper/lower split, or full body routine are also great ways to go and all the beginner needs.
If the trainee is doing a SIMPLE routine and strength gains are not forthcoming, diet/rest/stress are the issues. Assuming stress is manageable, the training is getting AT LEAST seven hours of solid uninterrupted sleep (more is usually better), assuring protein is at least 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight (beginners often do fine on 1.25) and the diet is over maintenance, and you have a growing lifter every time unless there are metabolic issues present (as in extreme hardgainer), and that is simple not all that uncommon.
Don't waste your potential time for the best and fastest gains of your career doing something unsuitable for you. It would be nice to be considered an intermediate lifter after only a year or so, not the many years so many lifters take to get there by doing "flashy" routines and skimping on food.
Are You Sure It's Enough?
That's a question I field constantly from new training clients when we go over their routine. A beginner or low intermediate needs to be training for strength - PURE AND SIMPLE.
Strength training IS size training at that stage. But most are so mesmerized by reading the advanced routines they are sure they're missing things. There are few things worse, and yet funny as hell at the same time when a guy with a 39" chest that benches 175 asks about his "upper inner chest development." Dude, you don't even have a chest yet, how could that be an issue?
Your training MUST be tailored to the level YOU are currently at.
And if you are relatively new to the sport with relatively small lifts (benching UNDER 275-350, squatting under 375-450, and deadlifting 405-475, rowing under 225-300) you need to be worried about strength gains.
I am not telling you that you have to train like a powerlifter (but that would not necessarily be a bad idea), but you do have to be doing simple, strength-based routines if you want to get there this decade. It is almost universal that the more volume you use (at this stage) the slower your strength gains.
That doesn't mean you only need to do 2 sets per bodypart, but I assure you that for most of you, trying to do 20 sets a bodypart will ensure it takes about forever to reach those numbers mentioned above unless you have good genetics. While on a simple strength-based routine with a good progression hitting them in 1-3 years will be EASY. After that, more work will be required to continue progressing and strength, in and of itself, will not necessarily be your primary goal.
You can make this as difficult or as easy as you want for yourself but please keep in mind the big guys are also actually the damn strong guys and trying to do pure hypertrophy work without a solid strength base is fools' work . . .
Don't be a fool.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
I am liking this graphic novel adaptation that came out end of September this year.
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