This strength training program is designed specifically for intermediate lifters.
I would recommend starting this program when linear progression on this strength training program for beginners or any strength training program that’s geared towards beginners is no longer possible.
Not being a novice lifter anymore means that it’s no longer possible to add weight to every workout, even after you tried to deload to break through this strength plateau. Thus, you must switch to a more advanced strength training program with more advanced programming.
This will eventually happen to all of us if we lift long and heavy enough. With this intermediate strength training program, you will still be performing full-body workouts. It will however teach you valuable and more complex skills like programming, deloading, non-linear progression, and most importantly, varying training intensity to recover adequately. These skills are all vital for making progress as an intermediate lifter.
The biggest difference in this intermediate strength training program compared to my beginner strength training program is the non-linear form of periodization. This means that the amount of sets, reps, and weight being added is not constant and will vary from workout to workout. Instead of adding weight to the bar every workout to get stronger, we’ll try to hit a new 5-rep max each Friday. Our volume days on Mondays and recovery days on Wednesdays are calculated based on our hopefully new weekly 5 rep max.
