Ivysaur 4-4-8 Beginner Program [with Spreadsheets]

Starting out with weight training? You have a great opportunity to make a lot of progress in the first few months. Even if you’re new to lifting weights, your body is ready to gain muscle from almost any type of exercise.

As a beginner, if you make good use of this time, you can build up more muscle with less effort.

Stronglifts and starting strength are the most popular beginner workout programs. Everybody recommends these programs because they have seen results with SL and SS.

Yes, they are more effective than other normal bro split beginner workout programs. But they have some drawbacks as well. We’ll talk about the problems with Stronglifts and Starting Strength after the program specifics. Anyway to overcome the drawbacks of SL and SS Ivysaur created the 4-4-8 program for beginner lifters.

Now, let’s jump right into the program.

All credits goes to Ivysaur

Starting Weight

You know yourself best, so you get to pick the weight that feels right for you. But remember, the weight you use for doing 8 repetitions should be about 90% of the weight you use for doing 4 repetitions. It’s a good idea to start with a lighter weight so your body can get used to the exercise.

Progression

The weight progression is little bit complex, here you follow different progression rates for different exercises.

Add weights workout to workout to meet the weekly progression goal.

• Squat/Deadlift: 15 lb/week
• Bench/Barbell rows: 10 lb/week
• Overhead press: 5 lb/week
• If you hit more than 8 reps on AMRAP set, double next week’s progression rate for that exercise.

Workout Schedule

If you train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you will get one recovery day between each workout and two recovery days before next workout on Monday.

1. Monday: On
2. Tuesday: Off
3. Wednesday: On
4. Thursday: Off
5. Friday: On 
6. Saturday: Off
7. Sunday: Off

Ivysaur 4-4-8 Program

Ivysaur 4-4-8, a simple way to become stronger and bigger. This routine is excellent for building muscles and gaining power gradually, making it suitable for beginners and those looking for steady progress in their fitness journey.

Week A

Day 1

• Bench- 4 Sets of 4 reps
• Squat- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Overhead press- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Chin-ups- 4 Sets of 8 reps

Day 2

• Bench- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Deadlift- 4 Sets of 4 reps
• Overhead press- 4 Sets of 4 reps
• Barbell rows- 4 Sets of 8 reps

Day 3

• Bench- 3×4 + 1xAMRAP
• Squat- 3×4 + 1xAMRAP
• Overhead press- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Chin-ups- 4 Sets of 4 reps

Week B

Day 1

• Exercise- Sets x Reps
• Bench- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Deadlift- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Overhead press- 4 Sets of 4 reps
• Barbell rows- 4 Sets of 4 reps

Day 2

• Bench- 4 Sets of 4 reps
• Squat- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Overhead press- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Chin-ups- 4 Sets of 8 reps

Day 3

• Bench- 4 Sets of 8 reps
• Deadlift- 3 Sets of 4 reps+ 1xAMRAP
• Overhead press- 3 Sets of 4 reps + 1xAMRAP
• Barbell rows- 4 Sets of 8 reps

Ivysaur 4-4-8 Accessories 

• If you feel comfortable and capable, you can increase the set count to 5
• You can incorporate chin-ups into every workout session. If you can do more than 4/8 Chin-ups, try weighted Chin-ups.
• Add 2 squat sets to deadlift days.

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What to do when you hit a plateau?

You can’t add weight workout to workout forever. Eventually you will hit plateau. Plateau/failure is also part of bodybuilding. If you fail to reach the weekly progression goal, reduce the weight by 10% on that exercise next workout. Continue your weight progression and increase the weight workout to workout to meet the weekly goal.

Ivysaur 4-4-8 Spreadsheet

Enter your starting weights for week 1. All the rest will be calculated for you, rounding down to the nearest 5lb. Check the box to the right of the weight if you hit 8+ reps on an AMRAP set, and the next week’s progression will be adjusted accordingly.

If you wish to deload, do so by manually adjusting the target weight for the week and exercise in question.

This spreadsheet differs from Ivysaur’s 448 only in that there is an extra session of rows and AMRAP-based progression for rows on Week A, Day 3. I found this spreadsheet on a reddit thread. Unfortunately the author deleted the thread, so I don’t know who created this spreadsheet.

Click on the below button to download the simple Ivysaur 4-4-8 spreadsheet.

Disadvantages of StrongLifts 5×5

Low Frequency

Majority of weight lifters says StrongLifts offers high frequency. But it is wrong. Because in a 2 week period of SL workout, you train your pecs, biceps, and shoulders only three times. A simple PPL program will offer more frequency than this.  If you are following StrongLifts you are not utilizing your muscle protein synthesis efficiently.

Muscle protein synthesis is the main driving force for muscle hypertrophy and it lasts only up to 36 hours after training. To keep muscle protein synthesis at peak level you have to hit the same muscle groups after every 36 hours. To fix this problem in SL, you have to preform bench press and overhead press every workout along with other default exercises of StrongLifts.

• Ivysaur 4-4-8 program enable you to hit the same muscle groups after every 36 hours. 
• Frequency of Ivysaur 4-4-8 program is ‘3’, which means in Ivysaur workout you will train every muscle groups 3 times per week.

Low Volume

Beginner lifters can experience notable muscle and strength gains in a relatively short period of time, as muscle mass and strength are closely linked. Some scientific studies recommend a minimum of 10 sets/week is required to see good muscle gain.

But in StrongLifts you will get 7.5 weekly sets for chest, shoulders, and biceps and 1.5 weekly sets for hamstrings. 

• You have to incorporate more sets or reps to see good progression.
• In Ivysaur 4-4-8 program you will do optimum number of sets so that you can effectively use your initial months of weight training.

Lack of Biceps Training

If you want make some aesthetic look then SL is not good for you. Because there is no separate training for biceps. Everybody knows barbell rows and cleans are not effective exercises for growing biceps.

Biceps act as a secondary support muscle in these exercises. Also rows and cleans will never take your biceps close to failure. So you need separate training for biceps. 

• In Ivysaur 4-4-8 workout you will do Chin-Ups. It is one of the best exercise for biceps. Chin-ups will also do some extra work for back and lats. This will also help you to balance your increased bench progression.

Lower Body Heavy Program

The StrongLifts program may not be the best choice if you’re aiming for a aesthetic look. It focuses a lot on exercises for your lower body, especially squats.

Moreover, doing just one set of 5 repetitions for deadlifts every two weeks might not be the most effective way to get stronger. In this program, you end up spending a lot of time warming up just for that one set.

This type of weightlifting technique is primarily utilized by experienced lifters to prevent Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. However, beginners typically don’t lift heavy weights, so CNS fatigue is generally not a concern for them.

Same Reps Range

Rep range is not varying in this program. Reps range is held constant just to make the program simple. But this is not a good way for maximizing strength and muscle hypertrophy. For preventing muscle adaptation you have to change number of reps, sets, loading weight, exercise etc. 

Boring Progression

The StrongLifts program goes at a slow pace when it comes to making your exercises more challenging. This means it can take quite a while before you start lifting heavier weights.

This slow progression can be a bit boring because you might end up using lighter weights for the first 1-2 months. This can be discouraging for beginners, potentially leading them to lose motivation before they reach the more exciting phase of lifting heavier weights.

• Ivysaur 4-4-8 program utilizes frequent AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) sets to make the program more challenging. 
• Including AMRAP sets in workout will help you to incorporate more volume.

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