Duration of intermediate phase

[unruhschuh]

Hi Andy,

there has been a lot of misinterpretation of SS regarding the duration it can be done. If you really stick to it, it lasts maybe 3-6 months, or a little more, if you're young and very male. People sometimes run themselves into the ground by "doing it" for more than a year, resetting constantly.

While the novice phase is characterized by strength increases every workout, in the intermediate phase, strength increases on a weekly basis. It obviously ends, if weekly progress is no longer possible.

Nevertheless, my question is, how long does the intermediate phase usually last if you stick to it? 6 months? 1 year? 3 years? When do you usually have to incorporate more fancy periodization?

To make it more specific, let's assume our client is male, between 20-40 years old, no other sports, only interested in getting stronger and not cutting or doing other stupid shit that prevents progress (yes, that's me ;-))

Tom

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Maybe a couple of years. But the line between a late stage intermediate and an advanced athlete gets very hazy if you want to follow a very strict definition. Most people wind up as perpetual intermediates because they aren't consistent enough with their training to ever be anything else. That's why Rip felt it was important to state that, by definition, advanced lifters ARE competitive in the barbell sports. Because in the absence of competition there isn't any "glue" to hold the trainee to a routine for a long period of time or enough impetus to push a trainee to really drive their lifts continuously upward in the face of all the obstacles life will throw at you. Competition has a way of doing that for you.