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Thread: Intermediate Programming Step 1: Define Your Goals | Nate Mielke

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    Default Intermediate Programming Step 1: Define Your Goals | Nate Mielke

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    Eventually your NLP will end, and you will graduate to Intermediate Lifter status. An intermediate lifter is a lifter that can no longer complete the stress/recovery/adaptation cycle within 48-72 hours as was previously possible during the NLP. The cycle becomes longer, as the training stress required to drive further adaptation can no longer be recovered from in a matter of days.

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    Thanks for the article but I have one question. What do you consider to be a lot of volume to the point it would diminish the rest of your activities day to day?

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    You need to be honest about what you want. If you want to be the strongest version of yourself, you’re probably going to be a little fatter than you’d like. If you want to have a “shredded” physique, you’re not going to reach your maximal strength potential and you're also not going to the healthiest version of yourself (maintaining an extremely low bodyfat is not healthy). So, before you think about what program you should do, sit down, and write down your goals. You need to know where you’re going before you find the best way to get there.
    What does "being the healthiest version for yourself" look like in terms of strength and body fat?

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    It varies based on a lot of different factors but you should be able to tell if you’re overdoing it by your degree of soreness. If you’re constantly sore then you probably need to bring down the volume (assuming your exercise selection is in check). That’s going to vary widely person to person though. It’s good to add in volume slowly if you want to try to increase it. Maybe a couple sets a week. However, more volume doesn’t mean more progress and can be counterproductive if it’s too light that it causes soreness without making you stronger or too stressful to prevent adequate recovery.

    I’m not qualified to give an exact number and body fat %. Not sure there is one. Most people need to get a lot stronger than they are because most people are weak. I’d find out what the strong people in the starting strength community that are the same sex and age are lifting and shoot for that. Bodyfat I would think somewhere between 12-25% for males is the sweet spot. Much lower and you’re getting to an unhealthy leanness. Much higher and you’re being lazy with your diet and allowing yourself to get fat.

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    That's a really well timed article, I've consistently gotten to where its gotten hard to complete the work outs in NLP as well as do what needs to be done to recover between workouts and used my Sport to "put it off for another year" for far too long.

    You made me realise I lack a goal now that it's no longer easy. Great timing and great article. Thanks.

    Nitpick: "Many have advocated for using dumbbell bench presses, which allows for a greater range of motion, to grow the chest." I'm surprised that passed the editing process unless there's a good reason behind it.

    Who? And how much extra range can you get between a barbell touching your chest and dumbbells going past your chest, 1-2 inches at best? At the weights you'll be benching, wouldn't the physical size of the dumbbells interfere with the exercise?

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    Thank you Subby. Most bodybuilders love dumbbell benching. We’re not bodybuilders but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw in some dumbbell benching if your goal is to grow your chest. I’m not suggesting this as a replacement for the barbell bench. I’m saying it can be beneficial for some additional volume IF your goal is to have a giant chest. One thing to note is that you can only recover from so much barbell work. That’s where assistance exercises come in. They’re inferior because they’re lower stress so they can’t make you as strong but they have their place if your goal is physique. Something like sets of 8-12 of dumbbell bench after your main bench work is a good place for them. This is mentioned in practical programming. I can pull the exact quote for you if you’d like.

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    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by Subby View Post
    And how much extra range can you get between a barbell touching your chest and dumbbells going past your chest, 1-2 inches at best? At the weights you'll be benching, wouldn't the physical size of the dumbbells interfere with the exercise?
    1. 1-2 inches is a lot
    2. difference depends on efficiency of BB vs DB chest position, what hand position you use with the DBs
    3. DB weights are significantly lower than BB weights

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