Should i consider myself intermediate?

[djne]

Hi Mark,

i'll give you the details right up

Q1: Am i intermediate?
Q2: Do you recomend the program i have included for obtaining BP Personal Bests?
Q3: (short) regarding protein.

Height: 169 cm or approximately 5'7
Weight: 79.5kg / 175 lbs
time on novice program: approx 4 months, doing the chin up/pull up version with 1 deadlift session per week. for about 6 weeks of those 4 months i was pretty slack, trained on average 1.5/2 times per week. Have been back on it since then.

3x5
Squat: 140kg / 308lbs
Bench Press: 75kg / 165lbs
Press: 58.5kg / 128.7 lbs

1x5
Deadlift: 145kg / 319 lbs

chin ups: avg 9 reps
pull ups: avg 8 reps
dips: avg 10 reps with 10kg additional weight.

I've stalled numerous times and have got around to seriously considering changing to an intermediate program. Will i need to?

I'm using 1kg increments on my Bench presses and presses. bpress has stalled, press seems to be going ok but i doubt how much longer it'll go for. my press has stalled in the past numerous times. My squats have gone up from 125-140kg over period of almost 2 months - definitely not linear progress.

So i have just read more of practical programming before completing this post and i seemed to be convinced i'm intermediate. damn, feels good.
I'm excited to start something new but am not sure what exercises i'll need.

My goals:
1) Get 90kg bench press. first and foremost. this is the 1 thing i care about at the moment. Damn I'd die happy if I could get there by September.
2) Upper body hypertrophy
3) I'm going to start boxing, number 3 will have to be power.
(goals 2 and 3 are for later i guess)

So digging around i found this. I think it may suit. Your opinion?

Monday [High Volume/Moderate Intensity]
Squat 5X5
Bench Press 5X5
Power Clean 5X3 (or Bentover BB Row 3x8) I'll do the BB rows

Wednesday [Low Volume/Low Intensity]
Front Squat 3X3
Press 5X5
Back Extension/GHR 5x10
Chin ups 3x12

Friday [Low Volume/High Intensity]
Squat 1X5
Bench Press 1X5
or 5X3
or 5X2
or 5X1
Deadlift 1X5

I've decided to go for BB rows - not interested in PCs since i think they are useless in terms of real world strength. Educate me if i'm wrong.

Regarding protein: I eat around 140 grams or protein per day - is that enough?

Last thing - thanks for your amazing books and this site. You've drastically improved my training.
Cheers

[Rezart Erindi]

Buddy I'm around your height and weight (I'm 180 lbs and 169 cm) and I finished LP in pretty much the same numbers. I would up your protein intake to 180 grams and try do a last deload and try to break some new PRs but probably you are at the end of your LP.

I've decided to go for BB rows - not interested in PCs since i think they are useless in terms of real world strength. Educate me if i'm wrong.

This is absurd. Cleans are the most useful in terms of real world strength and power. Fuck rows.

I would just switch to TM as it has proven to be the fastest way to progress as an intermediate. It means your bench will progress the fastest way too. Good luck with your training.

[MikeC1]

Get more protein.

Heavy front squats on Wednesday is probably not necessary, especially since you aren't training the Olympic lifts, and that would make 3 heavy quad days a week. Just do light back squats on Wednesday.

Drop the 5x5 press on Wednesday and make it a light bench day. The heavy pressing is only going to hinder your ability to bench on Friday.

Unless you are a rower or grappler or do some other activity that require upper body pulling strength, the power cleans are much more useful than the barbell rows, especially since you're already doing chins.

Your numbers look pretty healthy, with the exception of your deadlift, which is a little low.

33 lbs on your squat in 2 months means you did something wrong.

[veryhrm]

Some thoughts (though intermediate programming is not my forte by any means):

You don't really WANT to be intermediate because it primarily means you're going to be making progress slower than before so squeeze whatever you can out of the end of your existing program.

Power Cleans: If you've read PP then you've read that power is something that needs to be trained independently of strength. If you're going to box then you're definitely going to care about power since hitting people is all about being explosive. How applicable PCs themselves are to boxing i don't know but hitting people definitely starts from the floor (from what i understand). I for one like PCs as they are different than the other lifts ... but that's just me.

Your wednesday day looks alright as long as you keep the weights down ,but how are you going to do 3x12 chins when you're currently only doing 9 and how is that low volume OR intensity ?

I've heard several people here speak well of this e-book that talks about how massage the TM in various ways. http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/05/t...method-e-book/ it's $30 but people seem to say it's worth it. (i haven't read it myself)

[Edit: when i started this response no one else had said anything so it's not meant as a response to those just some thoughts on the OP]

[MattJ.D.]

Curious for those of you 6ft 225 members what were your numbers when you moved to TM?