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Other/Mixed Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Justin_M

Justin_M

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I was reading this article series on Stronger by Science and it made me think of how we define beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2
I feel it's pretty common for the definitions to take one of two paths, either:
  1. How many years someone has been training, or;
  2. How long it takes to make progress
However, after reading these articles, I thought it might be more appropriate to define it by how efficient and close to potential a person is. Maybe those categories look more like
  • Low efficiency, far from potential
  • Low efficiency, close to potential
  • High efficiency, far from potential
  • High efficiency, close to potential
 
Justin_M said:
I thought it might be more appropriate to define it by how efficient and close to potential a person is. Maybe those categories look more like
  • Low efficiency, far from potential
  • Low efficiency, close to potential
  • High efficiency, far from potential
  • High efficiency, close to potential
Click to expand...

I like it. In 2017-2019 when I was working as a part-time personal trainer on the military base where I work my regular job, I got a variety of trainees -- some of them young and not very fit military looking to meet standards and get fitter, some of them already fit and interested in learning new kettlelbell and barbell skills, some of them older (not military) and quite untrained with many challenges and restrictions, some of them older and fit in some ways looking to get fit in other ways. I did somewhat assess their potential to progress in the way you describe. In the order that I described them, those would probably be examples of HF, HC, LF, and LC.
 
@Justin_M, I've recently come up with a simple working definition for myself as to how to differentiate advanced from anything else: when just doing the main lift no longer yields progress. To say it with a few more words, if - and this is an important "if" - training has been consistent, form is solid, the numbers reached correspond with "good" or better, and there are no obvious problems, then it's time to say one is moving from intermediate to advanced. Our PlanStrong course discusses this, although not in great detail, as it regards percentages of training devoted to the main lifts or to other things.

-S-
 
Amazing articles...

Let me do my math...at 198 height
112 kgs at 12% BF and I'm at 103 kgs at around 16% BF... I'm still far away from my potential...gosh I'll never reach that!!
 
offwidth said:
There are people with 20 years experience in something (like training)
And then there is the person with 1 year experience 20 years in a row...
Click to expand...

I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about this, and ways to ensure I don't fall into the that trap
 
Benjamin Renaud said:
I've felt like this the past 6 years. Train-joint pain-rest-repeat.
Click to expand...

That's the trap my cross-country highschooler was in for a few years. He had recurring knee injuries till we figured out that his pronated feet caused his knees to cave in when he gets fatigued close to peaking time for meets. The issue was finally fixed with supporting footwear and proper squat mechanics.

Some times those traps won't go away until their root causes are diagnosed and dealt with.
 
barrak said:
That's the trap my cross-country highschooler was in for a few years. He had recurring knee injuries till we figured out that his pronated feet caused his knees to cave in when he gets fatigued close to peaking time for meets. The issue was finally fixed with supporting footwear and proper squat mechanics.

Some times those traps won't go away until their root causes are diagnosed and dealt with.
Click to expand...
I've been seeing PTs for various issues since I started training 8 years ago. I try and get to the root causes but I guess there are many and I'm still working on getting those issues identified and resolved. It's mostly knee issues with some elbow and shoulder issues too.
 
Justin_M said:
I was reading this article series on Stronger by Science and it made me think of how we define beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2
I feel it's pretty common for the definitions to take one of two paths, either:
  1. How many years someone has been training, or;
  2. How long it takes to make progress
However, after reading these articles, I thought it might be more appropriate to define it by how efficient and close to potential a person is. Maybe those categories look more like
  • Low efficiency, far from potential
  • Low efficiency, close to potential
  • High efficiency, far from potential
  • High efficiency, close to potential
Click to expand...
Quite interesting.

Of course, there are different aspects of possible progress:
Max Strength
Neural strength
Muscle mass
Endurance
Strength endurance
Power endurance
New skills and movements
Better movements patterns

Personally, I have never had fast progress. No quick beginner gains. In none of the aforementioned categories...

Does this mean, that I am close to my potential or just slow? Who knows. I have come to accept and just progress in my own speed with waviness. But as I plan to keep on training for the next fifty years, I don't see the rush... (but sometimes I feel it anyway).
 
Benjamin Renaud said:
I've been seeing PTs for various issues since I started training 8 years ago. I try and get to the root causes but I guess there are many and I'm still working on getting those issues identified and resolved. It's mostly knee issues with some elbow and shoulder issues too.
Click to expand...

I was like that when I was younger, always coming up with ways to injure myself training.

I would say this, take notes to the point of including impressions if necessary. Question everything, trust your observations. You can head off a lot of trouble if you act at the first hint of "here we go again".

Lastly, train what you can that is pain free, ignore what you cannot.

These days all of my injuries are non training related, but I work around them the same way.

For many years I had 3 years experience. Only when I started to consider training others for $ did I start to demand more from my knowledge and experience base. Became the trainer and critical trainee. "Why are you having me do this? Why aren't we doing that?"
 
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