I’m 99.9% this gets asked a lot but as someone that’s just starting out in all this I’ve tended to see 3 different answers.
The amount of weight you can lift in any given lift.
The amount of time you’ve been lifting
The inability to add weight to the bar workout to workout regardless of how much you are actually lifting.
To me the one that makes th most sense is not being able to put extra weight on each workout. But I was wondering if there is a set in stone rule
Beginner, intermediate and advanced are in reference to skill level: not accomplishment. Specifically the ability to be neurologically efficient at the exercise, such that one can dig deeper into their nervous system and move weights that actually ARE close to their max.
The consequence of being so efficient is that, the more advanced we are, the more recovery we require for such efforts. You tell a beginner “do 10 singles with 90% of your 1rm” and they do it and can come back the next week and repeat it. You tell an advanced trainee the same thing and you’ll see them next season, once they’ve recovered. The beginners “90% of 1rm” is really more like 70%: they simply can’t even APPROACH their ACTUAL 1rm in the first place to come close to generating that amount of fatigue. The advanced guy CAN get there: and it comes at a cost.
This confounds us into thinking beginners can train more often/recovery faster/etc. No: advanced guys can do that too: the percentages just need to be appropriately dialed in. They need to stay further from failure if frequency is the goal.
But the other consequence here is that single set work works REALLY well for advanced guys, as they can really dig DEEP into that one set and get results. Whereas beginners tend to need a few more sets to be able to accumulate meaningful volume for growth.
Right ok. I ask as I’m doing a LP programme currently. I have been doing it whilst cutting calories so I’ve built a very small amount of muscle, just an amount that I can feel rather than clearly see. My deadlift is still going up but my bench and press are stalled at really low weights. 32kg for the press and 50kg for 5 reps in the bench. I’m really not built for pushing, long arms etc, but it still seems low. I have safety rails, I push the last rep until I need to be “saved” by the rails.
Just wondering if it’s time to change it to something like a 4 day 5/3/1 irrespective of the weight I’m using
There’s never a bad time to use a real program. Linear progression is there to teach a trainee how to lift. Good for about 12 weeks.
Also, constantly hitting failure like that isn’t going to help with progression. It’s going to put you in a deeper recovery debt. It’s all a balance between stimulus and recovery.
Good to hear. I was stuck in the mindset of I need to hit a certain weight before using the next stage of programming.
You could look at a strength level site telling you bullshy*te like you should be able to deadlift three times your weight.
The real definitions:
Advanced: Spent enough time in the gym to know what works best and after one lift knows when a workout will be useless so changes it. Designs own workouts maximizing efficiency with proven results. Solid numbers much increased over time. High level of technical prowess and neurological adaptation. Meets goals.
Intermediate: Can tell good advice from poor programming. Has fairly good idea of what works best for them. Consistent improvement in all areas. Shows up regularly. Has tried dozens of programs and novel lifts, and also much improved diet, recognizing this is important.
Solid Beginner: Understands basic lifts. Strong wish to improve and push to increase loading and difficulty. Can follow program. Gaining technical proficiency. Does not yet know how to design personal program or what works best. Eager to learn.
I like these definitions.
There aren’t any universal definitions, and people use them differently in different contexts, but overall what you and @T3hPwnisher said is roughly something people usually mea.n when talking about novice/intermediate/advanced.
Cheers 
Been spinning my wheels a little using a linear progression. To be fair I was trying to lose weight and I had to had a month or 2 off during that period which meant I had to drop the weight and build back up but I’m really progressing in it anymore.
I pretty much dislike labels for most everything, unless there is shared understanding of exactly what the labels mean.
I never use the labels Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced because I don’t believe that I understand what it means, and I question what the person I am communicating with understands it, either. Next, I have trouble with the lines of demarcation between Beginner and Intermediate, and Intermediate and Advanced. The entire conversation turns to mush.
I find this is a good explanation.
I would also note time is a poor metric. I see people in the gym who have lifted for years who, in my presumption and arrogance, I would say are beginners. They use the same weight in the same machines, try nothing new, do not push themselves or try free weights or new exercises. Their goals are their goals - this does not necessarily make me better than them. But I have known people who lifted for twenty years who are missing out on the miraculous ability of the body to adapt, increase and grow.
But RTNomad has a point. The bullshy*te quotient is high.
Ive been training for 20 years and don’t feel ive ever cracked into “advanced.” I feel like my knowledge of my body and how I respond is advanced, but ive never been more than an intermediate lifter.
Yeah. Novice is the only one I find actually useful. People who are learning the movements and getting grasp of the basics. Besides that it gets quite blurry.
IMO to be objective in definition, you have to have objectively defined measurement. “I’ve worked out for 10 years” doesn’t cut it. So have a bunch of fat fucks at an 8th grade strength level. Someone may be ten years in, but if they’re still at a beginner level of strength who gives a shit about the time.
Typically these titles, and the addition of elite and/or professional, track with percentage of strength in a lift related to bodyweight and come from strength sports.
But what if he does only one set? One set to failure VS 3 sets to 2 RIR in terms of muscle building, fatigue and recoverability? Idk. I have always gone to technical failure but I am a 15 year novice that always gets burnt out so maybe that is why. I have tried the RIR thing but I couldn’t figure out how to actually progress… with failure you either do it or you don’t. With RIR it is hard to know if you actually got stronger or you just went closer to failure
Who is “he” in this context?
The OP. Since you said him going to failure (having to rely on safety pins) isn’t good for progression
If you don’t have a training partner you need to rely on safety pins unless you are prepared to dump the weight, and it better be behind you
I just do the roll of shame if we are talking bench
Not at all. I want a human spotter when doing a barbell bench press with real weight.
I am taliking about the barbell squat. I just recently read here about someone squatting to failure. Who plans on doing that?