Proven program, faithfully implemented
Ivysaur 4-4-8
Ivysaur 4-4-8 is a novice programme that trains two rep ranges instead of one: the 4s build maximal strength at around 80% and the 8s accumulate the volume that builds muscle. It runs on a two-week rotation of six sessions, and each main lift is tested once per cycle by turning its last heavy set into an AMRAP.
About the program
Created by: /u/lvysaur — Ivysaur 4-4-8 (Liftosaur), corroborated by Dr Workout.
Who it's for
- Best for: A first programme with more bench and deadlift volume than the classic novice routines give.
- Experience: Beginner, or returning after a long layoff. There is no isolation work at all, so arms and abs are yours to add.
- Time: Three sessions a week for three to four months. The progression is deliberately aggressive, so most people stall inside it.
How it's built
The shape of the program — sessions, sets and rep scheme. Iron Forge fills in the exact weights for you from your maxes.
4-4-8
Week A · Day 1 — heavy bench
- Barbell Bench Press — 4×4
- + 3 more exercises
Week A · Day 2 — heavy deadlift
- Barbell Bench Press — 4×8
- + 3 more exercises
Week A · Day 3 — bench & squat test
- Barbell Bench Press — 3×4, 1×4+
- + 3 more exercises
Week B · Day 1 — heavy press & row
- Barbell Bench Press — 4×8
- + 3 more exercises
Week B · Day 2 — heavy bench
- Barbell Bench Press — 4×4
- + 3 more exercises
Week B · Day 3 — deadlift & press test
- Barbell Bench Press — 4×8
- + 3 more exercises
How Iron Forge runs it
How it works
Three sessions a week on a two-week rotating cycle — six sessions before anything repeats. Every session is four lifts: a bench press, a lower-body compound, an overhead press and an upper-back pull. Each lift alternates between a HEAVY day of 4 sets of 4 and a LIGHT day of 4 sets of 8, and the light weight is 90% of the heavy one. Bench press is in every single session — the whole point of the programme, its author argued, is that Starting Strength and StrongLifts under-train it. Squat and deadlift take turns, and the pull follows them: chin-ups on squat days, rows on deadlift days.
How the weight goes up
Once per two-week cycle each main lift is tested: on day 3 its last heavy set becomes an AMRAP. Complete the session and the weight goes up — +15 lb7.5 kg squat and deadlift, +10 lb5 kg bench and row, +5 lb2.5 kg overhead press. Get 8 or more reps on that AMRAP and the jump DOUBLES. Miss the prescribed sets and reps and the lift drops 10% and rebuilds. Each lift is tracked on its own, and the light day follows the heavy one automatically at 90%.
Why 4 and 8
The 4-rep sets sit around 80% of your best single and build maximal strength; the 8-rep sets sit around 72% and accumulate the volume that builds muscle. Alternating them gives a beginner both, instead of picking one rep range and hoping.
Chin-ups, and what to add
If you cannot do bodyweight chin-ups, use a lat pulldown or band assistance; if you can, add 2.5 lb1.25 kg after every two good sessions. The programme has no isolation work at all, so arms, side delts and abs are yours to bolt on.
How long to run it
Three to four months. The progression is deliberately aggressive — up to +30 lb15 kg a cycle on the squat — so most people stall inside it. Time to move on when you are deloading two or more lifts regularly or your AMRAP sets are barely reaching 4.
Ivysaur 4-4-8 in Iron Forge
FAQ
- Why is the cycle two weeks instead of A/B?
Because the lifts rotate on two schedules at once: bench appears every session but alternates heavy and light, while squat and deadlift take turns as the lower-body lift. Those only line back up after six sessions, which at three a week is a fortnight.
- Why is the light day 90% of the heavy day?
That is what the source prescribes. It also describes the two days as roughly 80% and 72% of your one-rep max, which is the same statement — 72 is 90% of 80 — but the 90% link needs no max you may not have measured.
- How does the weight go up if only one set is an AMRAP?
Each lift is tested once per two-week cycle, on day 3. That single AMRAP decides the whole cycle's change for that lift: complete it for the base increase, 8+ reps to double it, fail the session and drop 10%.
- Why does bench press appear in every session?
Deliberately. The author's case against Starting Strength and StrongLifts was that they squat too much relative to everything else and press too little, so bench gets three sessions a week and squat drops to twice per cycle.
- There is no arm or ab work — is that a mistake?
No, it is the design; the source says so and calls it out as a drawback. Chin-ups cover the biceps indirectly. Anything else you want, you add yourself.
- What should I run afterwards?
The source suggests GZCLP, 5/3/1 for Beginners, or Phrak's Greyskull LP — all three are in the catalogue.
- How long should I run it?
Three to four months, which is what the eight cycles here come to. It is a beginner-to-early-intermediate programme with no isolation work — when the fortnightly jumps stop landing, that is the signal to move on rather than to keep resetting.
- Why does my row have a rep-out when the published tables do not?
Because without one it could never progress. The source gives the row the same 10 lb5 kg per cycle as the bench and includes it in the doubling rule, but never gives it a set to earn either with — so its heavy 4×4 carries the rep-out here. The prescription is unchanged at four reps; it just becomes the set that decides the row's next weight.
- What happens if I have a bad light day?
Nothing immediately. Each lift is judged once a cycle, on the session carrying its rep-out, so a light day that falls apart is not caught until that lift is next tested. That is deliberately narrower than "any missed session drops the weight" — but if a light day is genuinely beating you, take the 10% cut yourself rather than waiting for the cycle.
- What weight do I use for chin-ups?
Whatever you are actually doing — you set it at the bar. The source progresses them on their own rule, adding 2.5 lb1.25 kg of extra weight after every two good sessions, and that is a count you keep rather than one the app keeps. If bodyweight chin-ups are out of reach, use a pulldown or bands, as the source suggests.
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