Eat, Train, Progress.

Join

Deciding when you're ready for an "intermediate" program

Options
2»

Replies

  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Options
    I try to go by happiness rather than a specific number of stalls or whatever.

    I like that quote. It rings true. I like making progress and I sometimes feel like I'm the strongest person in the world when I hit a new PR (even though it's nothing extraordinary in general). Lately, everything just seems like a grind and any progress I make comes from superhuman effort and mental willpower more than actual "gains".
    Are you planning on coming out of a deficit anytime soon? If you've been dieting for 2 years, eating big for a while will surely have a positive impact on your gym performance.

    Good question. At this point I am planning on stopping my deficit when I hit 190lbs (~10% BF) or in October, whichever comes sooner. That will mark the 2.5 year point and I should be pretty close to my goal either way. I plan on doing recomp or bulk/cut cycles after that anyway so I'm not focused on any sort of ultimate goal at this point. I figure 2.5 years in a deficit to get me from 40% BF to ~10% BF is plenty for the first leg of my fitness crusade. So yeah, needless to say I am looking forward to being able to enjoy real gains for a change....


    Thanks for everyone's input in this thread, good to get a couple of outside viewpoints from people who have done it before me.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Options
    You might want to consider a short diet and training break first.

    I absolutely agree with rtalencar85 about happiness, but stagnant gym performance can also be stress related.

    A week at TDEE and if you've not taken a week off of training in a while, I'd consider doing both at the same time.

    If that doesn't seem to help things, swap programs.


    EDIT: Possibly 2 weeks at TDEE.

    I'm making the assumption that you've not done these breaks in a while.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    Options
    Are you still progressing in strength on your linear program?

    Well, yes. Slowly. Very slowly. I'm not adding weight every week or even every other week necessarily. But I'm still pushing it, even if it just means one extra rep on my final set. And then the next week, an extra rep on my last two sets. And then another week, maybe I'll try 5lbs more. That sort of thing. But I feel more worn out every week. For example, it's Sunday night and I'm still sore as **** from Friday's workout.

    Having said that I have only reset on my program once (back when I got hurt). Maybe I should try a reset and/or going to 3x5. Maybe once I hit a wall next time in the future, I'll move to 5/3/1. I should be pretty close to "intermediate" on everything by then I would imagine.

    I guess the actual point of this thread was to ask, how did all of you decide to move to an intermediate program? How did you know it was time?

    This is more of a general question to Patrick and Sara since they know more, but what about deload weeks? The 5x5 program doesn't specifically have any time for deload, but I would expect that at some point you're just tired. When is it a good time to incorporate deload weeks into a program like 5x5? How do you know if you need a deload week or a program with less volume?

    Have you taken any deload weeks or diet and/or exercise breaks?

    deloads are factored in when you stall and drop the weight back 10%. If you are stupid like me when I was on stronglifts and just drop it back a few kg then you don't actually get your deload. Live and learn :smile:
  • baxgilter
    baxgilter Posts: 246 Member
    Options
    Just following along
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Options
    We way over think stuff here.

    My HS lifting program was as follows:

    Bench, squat, seated 75* OHP (a very upright incline press), lat pulls owns/dips, and hang cleans.

    We did 3x12, 3x8, 3x5, 3x3 in a weekly periodized workout. I did this same workout for 6 years from seventh grade through my senior year...

    I was well into "advanced" in all my lifts by my junior year. Same workout entire time.

    I think too much focus is given to "when do I need to switch".

    Do what you can that doesn't injure you, do the major compounds as often as you can, and add weight when you can...so basically I'd say you may just need to increase weight less often or find what your sticking points are and weak areas and do a few sets of accessory work to get you over a hurdle.

Categories