3 min read
Coaches often use the terms beginner, intermediate and advanced to match a client's ability level to the demands of a program. Your experience level is defined by your ability to perform movements, from simple to complex, with correct technique.
My strength programs follow these three levels. Each program runs for 18 weeks, so you can progress step by step from one level to the next.
Why your level matters
Choosing the right level works both ways. If you are well trained but follow a program designed for someone with much lower ability and fitness, you may experience detraining, even though you are training regularly.
On the other hand, if you are truly a beginner or intermediate but overestimate your experience, a program designed for highly trained individuals can lead to exhaustion, overtraining or even injury.
How do we define each level?
In general, there is a degree of subjectivity here, and different coaches use different definitions. These are the guidelines I use.
Beginner
The Beginner program is for you if you are completely new to strength training, if you have trained before but taken a significant amount of time off, or if you have been training regularly for less than 12 months. Over 18 weeks, the goal is to learn the basic movement patterns, develop awareness of your body and begin preparing it for the decades of exercise ahead.
In the first weeks of training, most of the strength you gain comes from better communication between your brain and your muscles, rather than from an increase in muscle size. Measurable muscle growth then builds gradually over the following months.
The Beginner program also aims to:
build an exercise habit and consistency
develop balance in strength and flexibility between your left and right sides, and between the front and back of each limb
strengthen the small stabilizing muscles
build a solid foundation of correct technique for all major muscle groups
Conditioning your bones, tendons and ligaments takes many months, and up to a year. That is why I recommend completing all three programs in order: together they cover 54 weeks of progressive training, just over one year.
Intermediate
The Intermediate program is your next 18 weeks after completing the Beginner program. It builds on everything above and introduces advanced exercise techniques, a variety of overload techniques and more variation in program design. You will train with high, moderate and low rep ranges, use a wider variety of exercises and apply several basic overload techniques.
By the end, you will be competent in most major lifts and basic overload techniques, and ready for the Advanced program.
A guide, not a judgement
Classifying training experience as beginner, intermediate or advanced helps you and your coach set the right intensity, volume, frequency, exercise selection and overload technique for your fitness and ability. It is not a judgement; it is simply a helpful way to choose the right program for your ability and needs.
Choosing your plan
If you are new to strength training, start with the Beginner program. After 18 weeks, move on to the Intermediate program for another 18 weeks, then finish with the Advanced program for a final 18 weeks. If you already train regularly, use the descriptions above to choose your starting level.
I hope this helps you select one of my workout plans. If a plan feels too easy or too hard, contact me at [insert correct contact email or URL] within one week of purchase, and I will be happy to exchange it.
