ACTIVIST
QUALIFICATIONS
If the shoe fits...
Training lifetime: < 18 months
Push: 75% | 50%
Pull: 75% | 50%
Squat: 100% | 75%
Dead: 100% | 75%
Run: 1m
Fun: Base Mobility / Yoga
You have been training between 2 to 4 years, including falling out once or twice
Training has become one of your favorite things to do Cause you started to see some results
You’ve likely overcome one or two major hurdles relating to motivation and education
You can’t stop talking about your new workout
Nothing makes you more excited than discovering a new workout because you were beginning to think that you’ve done them all
You don’t understand why your family and friends don’t get into training
You are convinced that you figured out the secret
Your feed has become mostly training stuff
Your wardrobe has begun to change considerably
You have begun to annoy your friends
You are no longer intimidated by your sedentary friends, but are by the more advanced gym regulars
You likely have gone through a couple eggs and pains and a few suspicious minor injuries
You have not experienced a major life and training altering injury yet
Your performance could be considered as respectable, but still requires high effort of input
If we’re being honest, You have picked up just as many bad habits as good habits
You have made the majority of the minor mistakes, however, and have learned from them
You hold three or four pet peeves or low level resentment towards somebody at the gym
You have become friends with some of the consistent gym strangers without ever actually meeting them
You have a base understanding of gym etiquette, and headphone hand signals
You have discovered the power of music and caffeine
You’re have set two or three legitimate personal best
But with kind of shaky technique, if you’re keeping it real
You’ve trained at three or more major gyms
You no longer fear the gym, but you don’t understand how many people actually still do
“Trust the science”
“What does the science say”
“You should watch Jeff Nippard’s video…“
“That’s not what so-and-so says on YouTube“
Body dysmorphia has fully set in
However, you were still on the naïve optimistic side and have yet to dismantle your entire self paradigm based on some unexpected water weight gain
You don’t know the difference between body fat and water weight but you probably think you do
You have seen your body fat go up and down respectable amounts
You have gained respectable muscle, but likely just as much fat
You are the fittest person in the gym if you get lucky
You have managed to modify your regular routine, but still struggle with snacks at the wrong times
Probably signing up for a 5K
Or bragging about their most recent
This is generally when people start acquiring accessory training equipment, such as a white belt or lifting straps
The type to wear gloves seriously
AMATUER
QUALIFICATIONS
If the shoe fits...
Training lifetime: >18 months
Push: 100% | 66%
Pull: 100% | 66%
Squat: 125% | 100%
Dead: 133% | 100%
Run: 3m
Fun: hike
You have been training between 18 months and 3 years, including falling out once or twice
Training has become one of your favorite things to do Cause you started to see some results
You’ve likely overcome one or two major hurdles relating to motivation and education
You can’t stop talking about your new workout
Nothing makes you more excited than discovering a new workout because you were beginning to think that you’ve done them all
You don’t understand why your family and friends don’t get into training
You are convinced that you figured out the secret
Your feed has become mostly training stuff
Your wardrobe has begun to change considerably
You have begun to annoy your friends
You are no longer intimidated by your sedentary friends, but are by the more advanced gym regulars
You likely have gone through a couple eggs and pains and a few suspicious minor injuries
You have not experienced a major life and training altering injury yet
Your performance could be considered as respectable, but still requires high effort of input
If we’re being honest, You have picked up just as many bad habits as good habits
You have made the majority of the minor mistakes, however, and have learned from them
You hold three or four pet peeves or low level resentment towards somebody at the gym
You have become friends with some of the consistent gym strangers without ever actually meeting them
You have a base understanding of gym etiquette, and headphone hand signals
You have discovered the power of music and caffeine
You’re have set two or three legitimate personal best
But with kind of shaky technique, if you’re keeping it real
You’ve trained at three or more major gyms
You no longer fear the gym, but you don’t understand how many people actually still do
“Trust the science”
“What does the science say”
“You should watch Jeff Nippard’s video…“
“That’s not what so-and-so says on YouTube“
Body dysmorphia has fully set in
However, you were still on the naïve optimistic side and have yet to dismantle your entire self paradigm based on some unexpected water weight gain
You don’t know the difference between body fat and water weight but you probably think you do
You have seen your body fat go up and down respectable amounts
You have gained respectable muscle, but likely just as much fat
You are the fittest person in the gym if you get lucky
You have managed to modify your regular routine, but still struggle with snacks at the wrong times
Probably signing up for a 5K
Or bragging about their most recent
This is generally when people start acquiring accessory training equipment, such as a white belt or lifting straps
They type to wear gloves seriously
ATHLETE
QUALIFICATIONS
If the shoe fits...
Training lifetime: >3 years
Push: 115% | 75%
Pull: 115% | 75%
Squat: 150% | 125%
Dead: 166% | 125%
Run: 6m
Fun: sport/ dance
“Go hard or go home”
You have been training consistently for 3 to 6 years
You are likely setting some significant and respectable performance bests
Most strange training things have simply become their way of life
Like drinking out of funky smelling shaker cups, and carrying food with you everywhere
You could be what one would consider “obsessed”
Your feed is only training videos and icons
You’re likely the fittest person at your job
You’re likely the fittest person in the gym, half of the time excluding peak time
Body dysmorphia has begun. It’s sinister twist and while your physique has never been better, you begin to feel like it is never been worse
Because the reality of the sacrifices that it requires for small incremental improvements, you begin to fear you will never be to where you think artists or adepts are
But you can’t admit it yet because they’re still too high level of delusion that your special
You have seen one medium level injury to both your body and your mind
Something always feels funny or is a little sore
You unconsciously have begun to modify many different movements because of a twinge or a tweak here and there
You’re not able to keep up with your personal best anymore because you’re setting them in so many weird small departments
You look down on most commercial gym trainers for the amateurs that they are
You spend most of your time digging into more and more niche training related topics
You’re beginning to see the science repeat itself, but you haven’t quite gotten to hip to it yet because you’re too busy promoting it
You no longer care about your original friends who didn’t lift and have become friends with some sketchy individuals who do
At this point, you have either join some kind of specialty gym or have built your own
At least for a little bit of training time
Your favorite thing to do is find ways to “humble brag” about your lifts or moves
Truly, believe deep down, you might be the greatest of all time you just don’t know in what area yet
You have your favorite supplements and you enjoy making fun of amateurs who are riding trends
You’re probably on your third different fitness wardrobe
You’re ripping jeans at a concerning pace
You begin to resent the sedentary
And enjoy judging people as a weak
This is where you find most jocks
The good and bad ones
The top performers in this category are generally the actual athletes even in most professional sports
If you’re gonna go pro, you were likely getting close to it by now
Or at least your performance qualifications are objectively close
You’ve begun to realize field of professional athletes are not all the same
And you could have an alcoholic golfer qualified as a pro
Just as a teenage tae kwon do, sparring champion
From a performance perspective, your max numbers may not ever go higher than what they set during this phase
(Many lifetime, personal strength and conditioning best are set during this phase)
Unfortunately, serious injury is the most common reason for falling off
Whether it be physical or mental
ARTIST
QUALIFICATIONS
If the shoe fits...
Training lifetime: >6 years
Push: 133% | 85%
Pull: 133% | 85%
Squat: 175% | 133%
Dead: 200% | 133%
Run: 13.1m
Fun: striking
These are those who have trained for 6 to 9 years excluding time off
(so active time)
These are those who have become specialists within a certain niche
You can safely consider within the top 10% of the fitness world based on intentional reps performed
You are “that guy”
You are almost always the most fit person in the gym (but within your niche)
You are usually repurposing some shit out of convenience or curiosity
You are the most judgey
And the least fun to be around
You are the most entertaining to watch
For a reason, most mysterious
You don’t even realize how much you know because you’ve kind of become silo off in your own little area
You may think that you have some kind of secret knowledge
You can’t even waste emotional energy dealing with the profane & sedentary
The climb down off your high horse is often very lengthy
Nothing scares you more than losing your craft
There are two types of artists
Ones that cannot be bothered to help others out of selfish self-righteousness
And others who escape through service
You receive mysterious energy when people are watching you
You have a weird love-hate relationship with being watched
You find it more annoying than complementary when somebody ask you questions or gives you compliments
You lost count of how many gyms you’ve trained
at a while ago…
You are essentially getting away with dietary murder but hey, that’s the prize for sticking with the process
At this point, Pretending fitness isn’t part of your personality is disingenuous
You can’t even remember the last time you were physically concerned about a friend
You can remember in fine detail each moment your ego was threatened in the past two years though
If you’re honest, you would admit that the seemingly smallest details drive you the most crazy
You could create your own line of supplements based on your favorite cocktails and concoctions
You could write a book with all your opinions
You don’t really share fitness memes anymore because your personality is essentially interwoven with it
And After a long period of training for health and fun you may be considering becoming a professional
You are likely a genuine expert with your amount of knowledge. It is just mostly limited to your own experience.
By hierarchical definition, you have not mastered any secondary niche yet but maybe growing in familiarity with many
ADEPT
QUALIFICATIONS
If the shoe fits...
Training lifetime: >9 years
Push: 150% | 100%
Pull: 150% | 100%
Squat: 200% | 150%
Dead: 225% | 150%
Run: 26.2m
Fun: grapple
You have been actively training for over 9+ years
You lost count of all your minor injuries
You have recovered from at least two major injuries
You are likely a lonely dawg
You don’t really care about the numbers anymore as long as you can train more pain-free
You like to lecture others about safety and proper technique
“You shouldn’t do it that way”
You don’t like to humble brag because you don’t like those who humble brag anymore
“I remember that phase”
You have mastered more than one area of training
“Certifications are for amateurs”
You have been coaching for less than one year or have worked with less than 100 people
You are the go to guy advice from your friends
You are almost always the most experienced in the gym if going by sheer amount of reps
Your body has fully adapted to some kind of strange supplement
Usually multiple
You spend the majority of your training time doing random things for education and entertainment
Doing something new is more fun than anything else
You find unique ways to modify the old time tested techniques to overcome daily obstacles
You could write a book just based on the sheer amount of bullshit you have seen
You prefer to be incognito or wear some kind of baggy clothing to cover your pump
Until it’s time to reveal it
You are happiest in the gym
you are usually the happiest person in the gym
The best workout is the one you enjoy doing.
If you find yourself doing more stressing or guessing than gaining, then I hope you'll click that button.
Ya know, as long as you're not scared...