Lifter Levels and Program Selection

After the last post on dieting I received a message asking my opinion on different lifting plans and how they align with the different levels of lifters. There are so many programs out there that this could take days to list each program, so instead of labeling each and every program, (and then dealing with combating opinions) I'm going to give you a similar breakdown for the level of lifter and how I would define a training program.

Some people consider strength a measure of level, and I call bullshit. It's easy to fall into the trap that just because somebody moves a lot of weight, they must be a high level lifter. I have seen 17 year old high school students squat and deadlift over 500 pounds. I have watched a 6'6” 320 lb sophomore bench over 400. Their strength had nothing to do with their level; they were just strong. I've also seen very experienced and very knowledgeable people that can barely bench their bodyweight. Before judging level on the amount of weight lifted, you have to consider different body types (short limb-long torso, long limb-short torso, long limb-long torso, and short limb-short torso) and how their leverages make certain lifts harder or easier. You also have to consider what the person is training for before judging their strength.

A good starting point for determining the level of a lifter is time under the bar. (ExRx has a sample here) For most lifters, we learn by doing; we learn technique, we learn rep ranges, and we learn by paying attention. However, there is a huge downside to only considering time and I see it every day. I see the same people come in and do the same routine week after week, month after month, year after year, and make zero progress. If someone is training for five years and they aren't stronger, fitter, or more aesthetic, their five years of experience is as good as the person walking in the gym after three weeks. Months and years don't always equate to the level of the lifter.

We could also consider knowledge in determining the level of the lifter, but with a similar problem as experience. Tremendous book knowledge doesn't equate to a higher level lifter. Consider somebody that has studied books and watched videos on engineering. Does that make them qualified to build your house? A similar thing happens with lab research performed by non-lifters. There are countless studies by people with tremendous knowledge but with very minimal experience actually training. Do you rely on their book knowledge in a controlled environment to match up to your situation?

In my opinion, the only way to rank a person as a lifter is with a combination of time under the bar and knowledge. Typically, the longer a person participates in training, the more knowledge they will acquire from being under the bar, training partners, reading, and watching. And in the debate of knowledge versus experience, I'll take the experience every time.

Lifter Levels
Novice
Typically less than two consistent years of training. Knowledge of the basic lifts, but doesn't know much about how their body responds to different training protocols and in fact, their body responds to just about any training protocol.

Intermediate
They have a combination of research knowledge and several years under the bar. They've made it beyond the newbie gains and have reached their first true plateau. They are in a position where they have to be educated in structuring their program and choosing their assistance programming if they want to continue making progress.

Advanced
The advanced lifter has formal and informal education about lifting. They've spent time reading, attending seminars, and multiple years training. They're capable of demonstrating and explaining the lifts and have a good knowledge of how their body responds to different set / rep schemes. Their body requires varying stimulus and training methods to make solid progress and they can correlate assistance programming to gains in the main lifts.

Based on the above definitions, we can identify several training programs that will work for each level, but first, to identify the three main types of training progressions. By knowing the type of program, you can narrow down the appropriate programs that matches your level as a lifter.

Programs By Level

Novice	Intermediate	Advanced
1 set of 20 Bill Starr's 5x5 Stronglifts Starting Strength	Mad Cow Juggernaut Hepburn 5/3/1 Texas Method	Cube Sheiko Smolov Conjugate

Progressions
Linear Progression – These programs are characterized by their consistent and incremental increases. Each week, a consistent increase is applied to the lifts from the week before, whether it is increasing the number of repetitions or the increasing the weight. These are ideal for new lifters because their nervous system is learning to fire the muscle and they will see quick gains in strength and muscle growth. At some point these programs will fail to create progress because new muscle growth will slow and the weekly increases will exceed capabilities. If these programs could work indefinitely, an 18 year old benching 50 lbs and adding a mere 2.5 lbs per week would be benching over 960 lbs by the time he was 25.

Undulating Progression – After completing a linear progression, many typically move on to an undulating progression. This concept is similar in that there will be a change in the intensity and volume that can occur daily (DUP) or weekly. The variants most commonly seen increase intensity (weight) while decreasing volume (number of reps). Other versions decrease the weight while increasing the number of repetitions. After a multi-week cycle, the lifter “de-loads” for a week in order to let the body heal and prepare for the next cycle with a larger starting weight. These programs have greater potential for growth because they allow your body to adapt and to the increased load slowly over a period of weeks.

Non-Linear Progression – For those that move beyond linear progression and are typically more advanced there is the non-linear progression. It would be impossible to list all the variants of non-linear programming, but many popular powerlifting programs implement this technique. These programs vary in intensity (how heavy), volume (how many reps), and speed (how fast the bar moves) to create optimal strength, hypertrophy, and explosiveness. By using multiple training styles in the same week, the lifter is also minimizing the repeated stress on the central nervous system and connective tissue that takes a beating when training in only one fashion.
While this is how I look at programs based on level, there are always exceptions and varying opinions.

Programs By Progression Type

Linear	Undulating	Non-Linear
1 set of 20 Bill Starr's 5x5 Stronglifts Starting Strength Mad Cow	Juggernaut Hepburn 5/3/1 Texas Method	Cube Sheiko Smolov Conjugate

While there are many different opinions on what type of program will work best, I believe that there are some truths that cannot be debated.

1. If you are new to training, learning proper technique is paramount. All of these programs will tax your body, and poor form will inevitably result in an injury at some point.
2. Skipping to a more advanced program then you are ready for can result in nagging pains or severe injuries.
3. Every program has strengths and weaknesses. Don't just switch to a program because it's popular. Do your research to see if it matches your goal.

If you're having trouble choosing a program that matches your goals, or would like a custom designed program to meet your needs, contact us and we will be glad to help.

The Three Types of Dieters

The other day I was rolling through Facebook and saw a post about the three different types of dieters and it made me think about the battle that every person trying to change their weight faces. There are training programs written for each level of lifter and tagged as such, but what about diets? With so many books and so much free information on the internet it can shut down even the most capable of us and we could be in way over our head in a hurry. Whether we want to gain lean muscle (because who wants to gain flab) or trim the fat, we've all heard “calories in versus calories out.” And never fail, shortly after, some rocket math appears with crazy equations, calculators, and scales and immediately tells you to count calories and macros.

But why are we making it complicated? Because this is what the pros do?

Does it need to be this complicated? No, it needs to be appropriate for the type of dieter.

If we want to be effective in creating or implementing diets, we have to know where the dieter stands. For most beginning their weight transformation they are hammered with terms they don't know or can barely define; macro, protein, carbohydrate, and fat are just a few. They're told to measure everything and prep perfect meals, or the big kicker, eliminate foods. But there's a problem with this, and I want you to think back to when you were in school and you first encountered that subject you didn't understand (you know, Algebra, Spanish, Econ) or that you didn't want to take and answer one question... would you have continued with it if you didn't have to? If you're starting a diet, I encourage you to communicate with your coach so they know how to help you the most, whether it's just making good habits, or giving you a set of macros to meet your goals.

Remember that kid that couldn't do something because it was too complex or too restrictive and wanted to quit?
This is the first type of dieter, The Novice.

The novice has never been on a real diet. They've never seen a nutrition plan. They don't own a food scale and have likely never thought about prepping meals for an entire week. They have gotten this far on luck, but have no idea why the changes happen. They try extreme restrictions and believe the infomercials about fasting and detoxes a long term solution. They're ready for guidance, but not the over-complication of equations, percentages, and measuring. Many just starting on the journey will throw their hands up when it isn't working or quit before they even start because it's a hassle or they can't defeat the cravings because they're “too restricted.”

Then there are the other “simpler” diets. They look easy on paper, but in reality, it may be harder (and less healthy) in the long run. These diets mislead with promises of drastic changes by a simple elimination of a food. We've all seen the diets where a food group is eliminated because some wizard promises instant change (not for allergy or medical reasons)...and typically it does happen for the first few weeks, but if that's the only change, the transformation will stop and then the cravings hit hard...and then we're back to step 0.

For the new dieter, giving in may be the hardest “mistake” to overcome. They tend to have this perception that they must be perfect. Nothing can be further from the truth and nothing can be more detrimental to progress. Sweeping change is very hard and right now, making small positive steps is what it should be all about. Remember, these are the dieters that have never done any sort of diet before and now we've given them a pass / fail test if we make it too complex and say “YOU MUST.”

These dieters do best with simple, straightforward advice:

• Reduce the amount of soda from 5 12 oz cans to 2 12 oz cans per week.
• Drink a glass of water before every meal.
• Increase protein consumption by eating a hardboiled egg every day as a snack between breakfast and lunch.
• Switch your yogurt from Chobani 2% to Oikos Triple 0.

They are small, yet effective changes that are building in good habits that are sustainable. And more importantly, they aren't hard changes to make and they don't require extra effort.

Now you've grown enough that it isn't so miserable, but it still isn't easy. You still need help, but you're ready for more advanced topics.
The second type of dieter is The Intermediate.

The intermediate has tried to diet before. They can kind of define macros and how the body uses them, and they may even have tried some food prep. They may be more advanced than the novice, but they have no idea how to design their own meals or time them. They benefit greatly from specific meal plans with measurements and timing and from more advanced tactics like fasting, carb backloading, or carb cycling. These dieters are ready for some basic math, and this is where a program like FatSecret or MyFitnessPal comes in handy. These programs track and total the calories and macros for almost all common food and allow you to enter new foods for tracking. In addition, they show you the percentages so you can track progress based on how you are eating as well.

While these dieters have moved beyond the wholesale elimination of a food, they still have potential for making poor choices that can be counterproductive. Going back to the “calories in versus calories out” concept; we all know to lose you need a deficit and to gain you need a surplus. But there is debate over achieving the surplus / deficit. There are some that claim what you eat is crucial. And there are others that mistakenly believe IIFYM means you can eat any food you want if you just leave a space in your macros, whether it's Twinkies, Cinnabon, Ice Cream, or Bacon. **News Flash** It doesn't mean eat whatever you want all the time just because it “fits.”

An example of a poor use of IIFYM: a person trying to lose weight leaving space for carbohydrates in their macros by not eating post workout and proceeding to stuff down a bowl of cereal right before bed. I understand that Nutrient Timing has proven inconsequential for a lot of people, but by not understanding how insulin effects weight loss, the benefit of IIFYM can be lost. Eating a carbohydrate right before bed has a different effect on the body than eating right after a training session, just like High GI is different than Low GI.

These dieters have started to make healthy choices but now can use that extra direction with creating healthy meals or more complex strategies:

Meal 2 -
6 oz chicken breast or white fish
150g brown rice
80g green beans

Post Workout-
20 g protein shake made with water
1 medium apple

By providing examples of what and when, the dieter can learn to make smarter choices without all the stress of figuring out each meal. Many dieters are content to stay in this level, but if you get bored of eating the same meals over and over, I recommend making a conscious effort to learn.

You've made it to the point where you can make a lot of your own decisions, but there are still some things you struggle with. You have good habits and are consistent, but now you have shown you can have some freedom.

You've made it here, The Expert.

The expert is the most experienced of all the dieters. They know what macros are and they have an understanding about counting calories and matching macros. They accept that it will take time to see a progress and will stay with the plan long enough to see it happen. They have all the Tupperware, the slow cooker, the high tech scale, and the software to count all the macros with exact percentages, but they aren't sure what percentages would be best for them or their goals and still struggle occasionally to make good choices.

These dieters can take a little more self-direction with their plans:

Calorie Target – 2355 kCal
Protein Target – 42%, 250 g – Strive for lean meats (chicken breast, white fish) in all but 1 meal
Carb Target - 21%, 125 g – Majority to be consumed Pre and Post Workout
Fat Target - 36%, 95 g

These folks know their stuff. They know portion sizes, meal prep, can do substitutions with ease, and rarely miss their macros. While the experts tend to make good decisions, samples of meals that when consumed during the day, match the macros are typically included.

So how do you know where you are?

Look back through each of the types and see what seems most like you. Just because you become a certain type doesn't mean you can't struggle with the stages before. There is no shame in going back when things go wrong.

Novice – Never dieted before. Just trying to make healthy decisions. No knowledge of macros or counting calories. Unknowingly restricts self and causes more problems. Gets duped into things like fasts, detoxes, and wraps.

Intermediate – Has tried to diet, but never much beyond swapping out “bad” foods. Knows of macros and calories and knows about surplus and deficit but struggles to find the sweet spot. Just starting to meal prep and following a meal plan exactly. Can measure foods but still needs guidance to hit calories and macros.

Expert – Has dieted and knows about macros and calories. Only eliminates foods when absolutely necessary. Has the scale to measure food and can be left to just having macro numbers with basic meal examples. Can make intelligent substitutions and stays on point 90% of the time.

Pro - Not talked about because these people have made the lifestyle change necessary to keep making progress and have learned when to go back and make changes.

When choosing your diet (or working with your coach) be very realistic about what you are capable and confident in doing. Be aware of radical changes to your eating (elimination of foods) and understand,how they could effect you. Finally, choose a diet you can live with. Choosing a diet that requires strict measurements and timing when you don't like meal prep and you eat when you want won't work for you. If you choose the plan that matches your skill level, work hard at it, and continue to learn about how to make your diet better for you, you will continue to see progress and will develop that lifestyle we all talk about.

The following is just where I place some popular diets in terms of effort and skill to make them work for you.
Novice Diets: Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Body for Life, etc.
Intermediate Diets: Mediterranean, South Beach, Atkins, Renegade, etc.
Expert Diets: Keto, Paleo, IF, IIFYM, CBL, Carb Cycling, etc.