Last Updated: April 10th, 2020
There are now 6 training programs on the site. This can be confusing, so I hope this article helps you choose between them.
In it, I argue that training program choice should depend on our level of training advancement, but that it is foolish to try to gauge this by how much we can lift.
Instead, it’s our familiarity with the lifts and how quickly we can recover and progress that should guide us in program selection.
Your Training Program Should Depend on Your Training Level
The training program you should choose depends on how advanced a trainee you are.
I’m sure you know this. But how can we define it and therefore make program selection easier?
First, let’s start with how not to define training level.
It’s not a good idea to define your training level based on how much you can lift.
I’m going to take an extreme example here to illustrate my point:
My friend Greg benched 275 lbs (125 kg) and deadlifted 425 (193 kg) on his first real day in a weight room.
He was 14 years old and weighed ~170 lbs (~75 kg), a rank novice!
Greg then went on to squat mid 500s (~250 kg), bench 400 (~180 kg), and deadlift 600 (270 kg) not long after turning 16 at a bodyweight hovering around 195-205 (~90 kg).
These are numbers that many of us dream of one day getting.
Yet, there is no argument; he was still an intermediate trainee at that time for he went on to set a few world records in his early 20s.
Now, if you were to look at his lifting numbers in isolation, many would conclude from the start that he was an advanced lifter and recommend him a program as such.
But this would have been dreadfully inappropriate.
How about defining lifting advancement by strength relative to body weight?
Well, this doesn’t work either.
Greg was benching and deadlifting 1.6x and 2.5x body weight on his first day and squatting close to 3x, benching 2x and deadlifting 3x within 2 years. — Something many of us will only achieve after many many years of grinding away, if ever.
This is the point where people say to me, “Hey, but Greg’s a clear outlier, stop using stupid examples. Bodyweight targets can be useful!”
While I don’t dispute that having a strength relative to bodyweight goal can be a great motivator, this is no way to prescribe a training program.
Just as Greg is a genetically gifted freak, what about all those that have been training hard, with good form, for years and are still below average?
Are you going to prescribe these ‘genetically un-gifted’ folks a novice program just because their relative strength pushes them into that arbitrary category, dooming them to further stagnation?
It just isn’t helpful to treat those struggling as average. Therefore prescribing training protocols based around average relative strength at each stage is a bad idea.
I think a far more instructive way of doing things is to categorize training advancement in terms of familiarity with the lifts, and then how quickly we can recover and progress with them.
How I Like to Think About Training Level
As you can tell from what I have written above, I’m not interested in any arbitrary distinctions of training advancement based on strength.
It just isn’t useful in any way.
Similarly, size doesn’t tell us how advanced of a trainee someone is either.
Sure, consistent effort, dedication, and avoiding injury play a significant role in what you can achieve, but there is absolutely no question that some people win the genetic lottery and others don’t.
(Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was probably born with bigger biceps than all of us.)
The fact is, you’re either as strong and jacked as you like, or you aren’t. And if you are not, you gotta figure out how to get yourself to the next level.
There are only two times I think about categorizing training advancement:
- Estimating how quickly someone can gain muscle when in a bulk phase, and
- Deciding on appropriate programming.
So how do I do that?
I like to do this by considering how competent people are with the basic lifts (whether they need more form practice), and then their ability to make progress (the less complication they need in their training, the less advanced they are).
This leads me to two pieces of advice that I believe are universally applicable whether you choose to use one of the training programs on this site or not.
Keep exercise variety low, initially
This means if you’re new to lifting, get some practice in with a few key movements and choose a novice program that allows you to do that.
You will limit your long-term strength gains by loading heavy early on with shitty form. You want to ingrain the movements such that your body will naturally move in certain ways without you actively thinking about it.
If you take up many different exercises right from the start, you will have many different movements to ingrain, and this will often slow down the learning process of each exercise.
By focusing on a limited number of exercises, you will develop your ability to keep proper lifting form under heavy load, and this will enable you to train safely and more effectively.
Keep your progression method as simple as you need to
If you’re comfortable with your form, you can think about how well you are currently recovering.
A simple way to think about recovery is how complicated we need to make our training to progress.
If you can increase the weight lifted (or the number of reps performed) from session to session, this is called linear progression.
If you can use linear progression for the majority of your exercises then I would class you as a novice trainee. The novice programs are likely a good place to start.
Don’t let the word ‘novice’ bruise your ego. If you can use linear progression, then you should use linear progression as this is the fastest way to make progress.
If you need to alternate training intensities and volume, and split your training into blocks in order to still make progress (this is called periodization), I’d class you as an intermediate trainee.
You probably need a higher level of training volume, and the intermediate programs are likely a good place to start.
Don’t try an intermediate progression model such as linear periodization too early.
Train As Much As You Need, Not As Much As You Can
The programs you’re about to see may or may not be less volume than what you are already doing, what you like to do, what ‘feels’ right or compared to other popular programs or what your favorite athlete or influencer does or suggests.
But, unless you are an experienced lifter who knows from well-recorded observations over years what your specific volume needs are, I’d advise at least trying to progress using similar volumes to what we recommend first, before deciding it’s too low.
If you don’t make progress and it’s too easy… fantastic, just do more volume and now you know more about your body’s needs. But in my experience as a coach, it’s just as likely (if not more likely) that you could progress just as well, if not faster, with a lower volume.
Let’s put this all together.
Choosing a Training Program
For the beginner, I would suggest that you start with The Big 3 Routine. This will have you performing the squat, bench press, and deadlift every training session.
(As you gain more proficiency, you will need to tweak things in order to recover sufficiently between sessions. I have guidelines for this covered in that program’s article.)
When you are confident in your form, consider moving on to one of the following programs.
If you are proficient with the compound lifts, I would suggest you start with either,
The former is slightly more skewed towards aesthetics and the latter more towards strength, but don’t worry about the difference, just choose based on your preferences on how you would like to train as ‘size vs. strength’ is mostly a false dichotomy at this stage.)
If you find that you can’t progress from session to session, one of the following may be your appropriate start point:
However, only if you are:
- sleeping well;
- keeping stress low;
- eating a caloric surplus (If you’re dieting, more in the next section);
- consuming enough protein, defined as at least 0.7 g/lb+ (1.6 g/kg) of body weight;
- not constantly training too close to failure or too far from it (aka. minding your ‘RPE targets’, which you’ll see I’ve talked about in the training program articles); and
- confident that your lifting technique is solid.
Otherwise, concluding you need an intermediate training program could be the wrong decision and put you further in the recovery hole. Fix these first.
(An aside, if you lack confidence in your form and don’t have anyone local you can trust, consider this excellent video guide by my co-authors on The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books and their colleagues).
Advice On Program Selection When Cutting
So then, this leads the obvious question for some people:
“If I am cutting phase, how do I know whether the intermediate training programs are more appropriate than the novice ones, or if my lack of progress session to session is due to the lack of a caloric surplus?”
This is a very good question.
To answer this, I want you to think of your training volume as the number of sets per body part (or movement) that you do per week.
Count the number of sets you are performing each week per body part or movement and choose the program — novice or intermediate — that is the closest match to this.
(The novice programs are around 10 sets and the intermediate programs around ~15 sets per week.)
Consider also that when we’re bulking (in a caloric surplus), our training volume needs to be sufficient to drive growth (or we’ll just get fat), but not so high that we fail to recover.
When we’re cutting (in a caloric deficit), our training volume needs to sufficient to maintain muscle mass, while allowing growth if possible, ideally, without any regression.
Needless to say, the amount of volume we can handle when bulking is greater than when cutting. But your personal need depends on what you are adapted to.
This means that it is not possible to say that a routine is for cutting or bulking — what might be an appropriate volume level while cutting for one person might be too much for another.
What we can say in general though is as follows:
- As you switch from a cut to a bulk, the addition of a set or two to your current exercises (or adding exercises) may be a good idea.
- When you start cutting, if you find yourself failing to recover, consider reducing the number of sets (or exercises) performed.
Anticipated Questions
How much progress can I expect to make when cutting?
This used to be a section of this original article five years ago, but I decided to expand on the content and published it as its own article here: What is Realistic Strength Progress While Cutting.
What about classifying training level by the amount of training volume needed?
This is one of those good ideas in principle but in practice, it falls flat.
The amount of training volume we need to progress will go up over the course of our training careers.
The weight of current evidence suggests 10–20 hard sets per muscle/group or movement is an appropriate volume to prescribe when no foreknowledge of individual needs/tolerance/genetics exist.
So, should we say that if you’re currently progressing on the low, mid, or upper end of that range that you’re a novice, intermediate, or advanced trainee?
The problem is that on average people train with more volume than needed, and while they might be making progress, they’ll likely progress better with less.
—
Thanks for reading. Questions welcomed in the comments.
– Andy
Please keep questions on topic, write clearly, concisely, and don't post diet calculations.
Privacy policy.
Hi Andy,
1) I would consider myself an intermediate lifter as I can’t add 5 lbs to the bar every session. However, I like the simplicity of the novice power-lifting program. Could I simply use that template but add a set or two to each exercise if I find my self not making progress?
2) Also, I like the simplicity of linear progression. I have microplates and can add as little as a pound to the bar each session. Is there any reason to switch to the more complicated forms of progression?
3) For example, you suggest that intermediates use a double progression method with exercises using light weights. But isn’t adding a small amount of weight practically the same as adding a rep to a set? Thanks
Hi David, thank you for the questions.
1) Yes. The intermediate program is just an extension of that idea, with additional sets and eventually exercises.
2) I would recommend using the simplest method that drives progress. So, if you have microplates, please feel free to try that. Past a certain point though, the stimulus needs to change. This is where the different methods of progression come in.
3) Similar but not that the same.
How will I know when it is time to move from the novice program to the intermediate?
Hi Lars, thank you for the question.
The novice and intermediate programs are suggested places to start for people who wish to follow a template rather than build their own program.
The idea isn’t that you switch from one to the other.
Take your novice program, follow the load progression rules, then add volume (sets and exercises) over time as needed to break training plateaus to keep yourself progressing. By doing thank, you’ll end up with your own version of the intermediate program.
Hi Andy, I hope this message finds you well. I’m having some trouble in choosing between the intermediate programs, and I am looking for some suggestions. My primary goal is strength, but I’d like more focus on my physique (back and arms specifically).
Also, I read a comment of yours on another article that you no longer program dips, but they’re still included in the intermediate BB program. What would you suggest replacing them with? Close grip bench press perhaps?
Thanks in advance.
1. The bodybuilding programs have a physique focus, but they will still get you strong. That’s what you want. Do that.
2. Yes. Eric likes dips, I don’t for the reasons I mentioned (injury risk). Eric is the lead author, so I didn’t force my point. This is a sample program from the books, which is why they are here.
Hey Andy,
I am an endurance athlete and I am on the Novice Bodybuilding Program. I ride 2-3h every day.
Would it be worth it to continue the novice program and just make progress as long as possible? Or go with the intermediate program?
My maintence calories are 4300. What do you think my macros should be to gain muscles?
I don’t know what to eat to not overconsume protein… so, do you have any food/ meal recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Jan, thanks for the questions. As an endurance athlete, it would be best to ask your coach what supplemental training may or may not be appropriate for the delicate recovery balance you must run.
That said, here are my answers:
1. Continue the novice program for as long as you make gains.
2. See my guide to bulking here.
3. See my guide to making meals out of your macros here.
Hi Andy , I am currently treating a lower body injury so cannot train lower body . Can you suggest an upper body program to follow in meantime . Thanks .
Hi Chris, thanks for the question.
If you can’t train anything in your lower body, then just do the upper body days of the bodybuilding programs.
If you’ve just injured the one side though, use single leg work (extensions, curls, RDLs, leg presses) in replacement. This seems to have a crossover effect on the other side, though I don’t think the mechanism is known.
Thanks Andy for your advice and knowledge .
Most welcome, Chris!
Andy. How loose is your definition of progress from session to session? I’m in a cut and really liking the novice bodybuilding program. I was on the John Meadows Onslaught but realized his programs are waaaay to high volume and probably not suited for a natural trainee. I can make strength gains fairly easily because I took 12 months off. However, personally I like to stick with a weight for 2 sometimes 3 weeks in order to allow the stabilizing muscles to recover properly before I add weight. Would you consider myself a novice or intermediate trainee? Is it okay to use a novice program like that even if you are an intermediate trainee? Maybe switch to Int pgm when bulking? Thank you
Hi Trevor,
As long as you make progress it’s absolutely fine to use a “novice” program.
Thanks Andy!
Most welcome, Trevor.
Hi Andy, great article, thank you very much for writing it! 😉
Just out of curiosity, you mentioned The Rock as a guy gifted in the genetic department when it comes to arm development, but dont you believe is possible that its also because he may be using anabolic steroids?
Whether he’s taken steroids or not (no idea), there is no denying he’s a genetically gifted individual.
Hey Andy, first I want to say thanks for all the free content.
Secondly, my question is I’ve been training for about 7-8 years now, most of which has been program hopping. I’ve made a little bit of progress and can perform most lifts with really good form. I’m a 23 year old male, 6’0, 225 lbs, and roughly 18-20% bf at the moment. I want to cut down to 205-ish so I’ll be around 10-12% bf before massing. Would it be worth it to start with the novice program and just make progress as long as possible while in a deficit and then focus on maintaining through the rest of the cut? Or go with the intermediate program? Thanks in advance!
Hi Taran,
Have a look at your current weekly training volume and choose whichever of the two programs (novice or intermediate) closely matches it.
Awesome, thanks! One other question, would it be alright to do a little extra volume for side/rear delts and arms?
If you have good reason to believe (past lifting data, for example) that doing so will benefit you, you can add anything you wish. The key is that you recover sufficiently and progress better than you otherwise would.
It can be a mistake to add more training volume than necessary too early in a training career. So, if you don’t have this data, I’d leave things as they are at this novice stage and see how you go first.
Do as much as you need to progress, not as much as possible. More detailed thoughts on this at the end of the intermediate bodybuilding program article.
Thanks!
Hey Andy, on the progress tracker that you’ve given as a free download, how would you structure the big 3? Given that the workouts change days each week, I’m wondering how to set this up on the tracker as it’s based on days of the week with weeks going across horizontally. Probably not making much sense in text form, but should make sense with the visuals.
Hi Brian,
I just set the spreadsheet up like this for clients.
Hi Andy, I really appreciate the reply, but I don’t think I explained very well.
Let’s say you have a ‘strong lifts’ type of routine, with an A workout & a B workout to be performed 3xpw.
On the sheet you’d have A on day one, B on day 2 & then A again on day 3 for week one, the following week you’d have B on day one, A, on day 2 & then B again on day 3,
The problem then occurs with listing the workouts on the sheet, since the workouts are changing days each week, but sheet is structured with a fixed specific workout to a specific day of the week.
I’m sure there’s other ways, but I like the simplicity of your sheet. Hope this makes sense & Thanks again
Ah I see the confusion. You referred to “The Big 3” which is the name of the three-day beginner workout I have on the site.
If you have just two workouts and rotate them three days a week, as with Medhi’s Stronglifts, just write the two workouts in the left column and in place of the “weeks” write the dates performed. (I sometimes do this with clients on a schedule constraint but with a 4-day program.)
Perfect, I hadn’t though of that, thanks!
Most welcome, Brian.
Hey Andy,
I have a fair few clients who can only train x2 / week – most due to life & circumstance, others as lifting isn’t their main sport (e.g combat sports being the most common)
I’ve always kept things simple and more often than not followed a linear approach to increasing volume these guys (as discussed in your article above)
After reading the strength pyramid and what looks to be “optimal” volume etc it got me thinking…
So My Q:
As it’s harder to hit those more optimal volume targets over just 2 d/week, would you lean towards having bigger longer sessions e.g more sets?
Or just keep at an appropriate level without overtraining and know progress might not be as fast as volume is lower?
How would you go about structuring a 2d/w plan for a novice and intermediate?
Appreciate any thoughts, tips & guidance! 🤗😎💪🏻!
As it’s harder to hit those more optimal volume targets over just 2 d/week, would you lean towards having bigger longer sessions e.g more sets?
Yes. It would be a necessity. For the true intermediate, two days won’t likely be enough to deliver sufficient training volume.
As for how to structure it, start by condensing what we have in the novice program into two days and tweak from there. You have our book so just apply those principles.
Hello Andy,
I have been following your work for a few months now and definitely want to follow one of your programs. I’ve read a lot of the content on your site, but was wondering if I could get some advice on my situation to go along with the info.
I am a 22-year-old male with a couple of years of training experience, though I have been bad about program hopping and what not. I have been very inconsistent for the past six months or so and feel I have lost a lot of my strength and I have gained a good bit of fat. I figure I should start with a novice program to build back up, but am not sure whether to fo with something such as the Novice Bodybuilding Routine, the Big 3 routine, or Novice Powerlifting Routine.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Unless you like to keep things super simple, go with either of the others. Read the introduction paragraph to each and choose which excited you more.
Thank you so much for the quick response! When you go with either of the others, do you mean besides the Big 3? As in pick either the novice bodybuilding or powerlifting depending on which sounds most exciting?
Thanks again so much for the response and awesome content!
Yes, exactly. Sorry for the lack of clarity and thank you for confirming.
Most welcome, Brandon!
I’m 31 I’ve been going to gyms for 5 years now, before all i did was outdoor stuff (rock climb, mountain bike, kayak, surf, skate, etc…) when i started i had no idea what i was doing so I’ve hopped around trying many different programs from mass builders to CrossFit and HIIT, and always find myself in an overtraining situation and I think it comes from two things; initially i felt guilty if i wasn’t constantly training to get better for a navy SO contract I was chasing and now I just really enjoy exercise and working out so I tend to over do it. This program is very simple and short which i know is by design but I’m worried I’ll get bored. Is it okay to do yoga or something in addition?
My goal is a better physique I’m fine with strength levels currently. My diet is trash but I’m changing it.
6’1” 223lbs ~15-18% bf
315 bench (bad shoulder)
430 squat
520 deadlift
P.s. as someone with two very bad shoulders. I️ can’t agree more with avoiding dips and kipping pull ups. I️ even have trouble with my bench and push ups because of it.
Hi Sebastian,
Just think about it in terms of recovery. Yoga, while fun and with great views of girls in Lulu Lemon pants, is not going to provide a progressive overload for you as an experienced trainee, and thus the recovery demands are minimal. You can consider it active stretching and yes it is absolutely fine to include.
I’ve been training for 1.5 years now, gained 27lbs by doing a full body routine and lately an upper/lower split. But due to my upcoming exams I can only train 2 times a week.
Would a full body (A/B) style still be effective?
Also, my TDEE is around 2400 calories, should I lower this to 2200 now that I’m only working out 2 times a week instead of 3-4?
Thanks!
Hi Glenn, thanks for the questions.
1. ‘Effective’ depends on your goal and thus how you define that. Your exams are temporary, thus your goal should be physique maintenance. To maintain, you need less volume than to grow, so, twice a week may be enough, but you might consider putting three days of volume in those two if you can recover from that.
2. Your energy expenditure and needs will be slightly lower, so it makes sense to bump things down a little if you were maintaining weight at the current caloric intake.
Hi Andy,
How do you tell if you have sufficient recovery? I’m 190lbs, 45yo, with a 4×5 of 200 bench, 215 squat, and 280 dead about 6 months in using an ABAB weekly split. (I tried a Big 3 type AAA weekly and my lifts quickly cratered at my age). I’ve stopped progressing, and can’t tell if I should add sets or decrease volume to an ABA split. BTW I naturally have a big chest and long thin legs so the bench and squat numbers being so close doesn’t really surprise me.
Hi David. There are multiple ways to define it, but in this situation gauge it by whether you are able to progress. As a rule of thumb:
Great stuff thanks Andy – you answered a couple of questions already 🙂
Good to hear, Elton. 🙂
Hi Andy, do you have any information on training resources catered specifically to women?
I have a sister that is in the process of trying to improve her physique. She has gotten her dietary lifestyle locked in and has been shedding a lot of body fat. Now she is in a position where she wants to increase the intensity of her training. Like most women, she has the phobia of getting “too big/bulky.” I have tried to dispel these worries to an extent, telling her that at this point she still just needs to focus on weight/fat loss, but admittedly my knowledge regarding training is pretty much exclusive to men. While I believe wholly in the training approaches you espouse on the site, I would like to provide her some more specialized resources regarding training approaches for women. Any resources you would recommend? Thanks!
Girlsgonestrong.com
hi my name is oliver, i was wondering if you offer any time up of training program, As in work out program or service that i could maybe get to follow . I am not so good at setting up a program to do my self. i am currently trying to prep for a novice bodybuilding and want to try the methods you teach and try a workout program if you offer it of course
Hi Oliver, thanks for the question.
Currently I offer full on monthly nutrition and training coaching, only. There’s no pleasure (or education) for me in setting up a program and not guiding people through it. The key to success is tweaking things to keep people progressing. If you think that may interest you, please have a read of the coaching page.
The other option if you would like to teach yourself if to get a copy of The Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book. This will teach you the principles of how to develop a program for yourself and adjust it to keep progressing.
Hey Andy. I’ve been lifting for about 5 years but never really followed a solid training program. My strength numbers would leave me still at the beginner level. I always followed a bodybuilding style routine, 5-6 days per week. Would I benefit from using a 3 day split and focusing on building strength with RPT?
Sure try it, see if you enjoy this style of training Andrew. You will have a base from your years of lifting that you won’t be able to use to the fullest potential at the start. The initial phase will be skill acquisition and neurological adaptation, building up to the point where you start to push the limits of what you’ve got and building new muscle.
Love your site and articles, Andy. I was just wondering, if alright with you, that i can have some suggestions to further study this? Do you have textbooks i can look up or literature to search on this articles topic. I am not challenging you or doubting the information provided, i just want to learn and further research this (weight training while on a deficit, cardio, stress, and dieting). Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Gabe, I’ve got you covered here:
• Top Nutrition & Training Resources On The Web
Hi Andy,
First of all, thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise – it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I’m on here most days.
I’m currently coming to the end of my cutting phase – 12%BF and lower abs almost visible – and began planning my bulking routine after a two week stabilisation period (I feel more a sign of enjoying the journey/thinking than rushing to the next step)
However, I’ve found that using kettlebells at home to the form of training I can stick to most – routine, cost and general enjoyment wise. 5×5 has helped me make well above expected progress towards my cutting goal along side your nutritional advice.
Would you have any kettlebell routine recommendations for the bulking phase?
I’m considering German Volume Training with front squats and military presses – however, reading of their potential detrimental effects on strength go against your advice to focus on strength and size will come.
I’d consider myself begginer-intermedieted.
Kindest regards,
David
Hi David. Not personally no. The principles will be the same but I haven’t played around with Kettlebells much (they aren’t a thing in Japan) so it’s really not my area to make suggestions I’m afraid.