How long must you lift before gains are no longer "newbie" gains?

colors_fade
colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I read this a lot - that beginning lifters get PR's all the time because of the "newbie" gains. And then it tapers off. From that point on, it seems if you're making gains, they're "real" strength gains - as in adding muscle mass. But I never hear anyone give a timeline for this phenomenon. Is it 3 years? 5 years of training? When are the newbie gains really over?

I've been lifting for just over two years, 3x per week, heavy. Started with StrongLifts 5x5 and have transitioned to a more DUP-style over the last few months. At the tail end of June I hit 1,000 lbs. combined weight on deadlift/bench/squat. Last week I hit three PR's (two on squat, one on deadlift), and when I tallied up my lifts I was at 1,075 lbs. combined for the three. So I've gained 75 lbs. on the three lifts over the past 10 weeks, which makes me really happy, but also makes me wonder: am I still on the "newbie" gain train? Is that why I'm still seeing progress like this?

I'd probably have a better answer for myself if I had taken measurements long ago when I started this journey, but I did not. And I'm just curious: are my gains, after two years of lifting, more due to increased muscle size and strength, or am I still dealing with newbie gains?

Thoughts, comments, all thanks.

Replies

  • jersey_54
    jersey_54 Posts: 278 Member
    Yea you aren't newbie anymore brah, More like intermediate or advanced level. And that's normal rate on lifts brah, keep killin it. It means you doing it right, Noob gains usually stop after 3 months
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    A couple months, tops. I guess it depends on how you define newbie gains, it sounds like you're more describing neuromuscular gains which don't require additional muscle necessarily. That can go on for years. At some point you run into diminishing returns and more and more muscle is required for a potential increase in strength. But different people have different starting points for total muscle mass (and leverages, and hormone levels, and desired rate of progress etc) so there is no real defined timeline for this sort of thing.
  • BrentJulius
    BrentJulius Posts: 89 Member
    edited September 2015
    If you've been lifting weekly for 2 years I would say you're way past the newbie "mind muscle connection " gains haha
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,616 Member
    Your rapid gains in the lifts could be technical, as in you're simply getting better at the lifts, or psychological, as in you feel more confident and are more willing/able to push yourself towards your true max, not just what your mind tries to tell you is your max.

    There will also be a bit of a "newbie" prerogative for individual lifts. For instance, I didn't do deadlifts the first 3-4 years I lifted. When I finally did start doing them, I was hitting new PR's every single workout for a while, as if I was a newbie, even though the rest of my lifts were far more stagnant. Eventually those DL gains slowed down to something more commensurate with the rest of my lifts.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    I figured after I stalled a couple of times on each of the lifts that I was past newbie gains (following Starting Strength). Took 3-4 months, I think. Except deadlift - grip is the problem there so I've only reached the limits of my hands.

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