Really bizarre question: but I’ve been reading a lot of articles about beginner, intermediate and advanced trainees and how much muscle you can expect to add per year at each of these “stage”. The stages seem to be defined by how long you’ve been training. And every article seems to say 3+ years means you are advanced.
Now I’ve been training/lifting since 2009 but I’ll admit its been pretty garbage training - you would not look at me and think I’ve been lifting 1 year let alone 10 years! I’ve learnt a lot more in the last few months. I’m only 155lbs (5’7"), 34 years old. No idea what BF%, probably anywhere between 15-18%.
So what do I count as? Am I “advanced” simply because of when I first lifted a barbell or am I “beginner” because I’m still pretty small and surely still have some growth potential (maybe too old now?!)
I know its kind of meaningless but I’m been pondering it so I thought I’d see if anyone else has had the same thoughts and what I should expect to achieve. I’m fine if I should only expect to gain 5lbs a year because I am “advanced” but its just about managing my own expectations so I am correctly motivated!