Novice and Intermediate starting %

[teki911]

At which percentage of my max should I start a novice and intermediate program?

[Tom Campitelli]

We are not a fan of percentages here. For a novice, they are completely meaningless. Even for an intermediate, they tend not to be useful. Do increasingly heavy sets of five as you warm up until the bar speed starts to slow a little. Then do two more sets there for your first 3x5 workout. Much easier and more useful than worrying about 1 RMs or percentages. Also, buy and read Starting Strength. These topics and many more are covered there in great detail.

[teki911]

We are not a fan of percentages here. For a novice, they are completely meaningless. Even for an intermediate, they tend not to be useful. Do increasingly heavy sets of five as you warm up until the bar speed starts to slow a little. Then do two more sets there for your first 3x5 workout. Much easier and more useful than worrying about 1 RMs or percentages. Also, buy and read Starting Strength. These topics and many more are covered there in great detail.

Sounds great but what about an advanced lifter that already has 1RMs? Is it recommended that they work up too? And I do own both of Mr. Rippetoe's textbooks which is the reason I have these questions.
Thank you for your time and patience!

[Tom Campitelli]

An advanced lifter would not be a candidate for a linear progression. They would already know their 1 RMs, or be able to guess them within 5 or 10 pounds. Percentages can potentially be useful to an advanced lifter, but there are plenty of programs that do not rely upon them. Open up the third edition of Practical Programming and start reading at page 108 for a more complete discussion of this.

[Randy Winfrey]

Are your questions about yourself or someone else? You are asking about novice, intermediate and advanced lifter programming. Which one are you? As Tom said, percentages are useless for a novice and most if not intermediates as well. Advanced lifters already know their 1RM and what has worked to get them there. We would be glad to help, just give us more info about yourself and we will provide more details if necessary.

[Tom Campitelli]

Are your questions about yourself or someone else? You are asking about novice, intermediate and advanced lifter programming. Which one are you? As Tom said, percentages are useless for a novice and most if not intermediates as well. Advanced lifters already know their 1RM and what has worked to get them there. We would be glad to help, just give us more info about yourself and we will provide more details if necessary.

If I had to guess, the OP's question is primarily a fishing expedition.

[teki911]

If I had to guess, the OP's question is primarily a fishing expedition.

I'm asking because I'm going to start a one of the programs and my lifts are a mixed bag. Some lifts I've been doing for more than 10 years, others I've done but not with any training consistency. I'm certainly not fishing.

[Tom Campitelli]

Assume you are a novice until proven otherwise. If you can put five pounds on your 3x5 squat every workout for even a few weeks, do so. Unless you are competitor in the barbell sports who is winning, or placing, in meets, the chances that you are an advanced lifter are effectively zero.