A progression from the recommended Ivysaur 4-4-8 Beginner Strength Program, the Ivysaur intermediate aesthetic program is a 5 day per week linear progression hypertrophy program. On it, you’ll be adding weight to your lifts every 3 weeks.
Table of Contents
How the Use the Ivysaur Aesthetics Program
The program was originally shared on Reddit via /u/ivysaur. They go into detail about the program. I’ve done my best to summarize below.
- Your first time through, do not increase weight for the first 3 weeks (i.e. cycle 1).
- Pick a starting weight for week 1 for all lifts. You’ll be doing sets of 4 for squat, bench, and deadlift, so start with something you can hit for 6 or 7 reps.
- You’ll be adding weight quickly so don’t start too heavy. Be patient.
- Pick a starting weight for week 1 for all lifts. You’ll be doing sets of 4 for squat, bench, and deadlift, so start with something you can hit for 6 or 7 reps.
- If you complete all programmed reps, add the following amounts for week 1 of cycle 2.
- Squat, Deadlift: add 10 lbs
- Bench Press: add 5 lbs
- If you complete all reps, keep the weight the same for next week.
- If you do not complete all reps, return to the weight you used for the previous cycle for the remainder of your current cycle. You will attempt to add weight again when week 1 of your next cycle comes back around. This will give you 1 or 2 weeks of slightly lighter weight to help you recover and reduce fatigue. Take it.
- If you’re confused, there’s a flowchart below.
- Accessory exercises are shown in black bold. These should be AMRAPs (as many reps as possible each set).
- Since every set is an AMRAP, it’s okay to drop weight after each set and immediately start the next set. These are called “drop sets.”
- If you’re very unsure, just start slow, feel it out, and add reps each week. You’ll start to get a feel for when to really push yourself and when to pull back a little bit.
- If you’re blowing past 12 reps for each set, add weight.
- It says “every 6th cycle do 2 fewer sets.” Assuming every cycle is 3 weeks, that’s a deload every 15 weeks – which seems kind of long time to go without a deload in my personal opinion. If you’re missing lots of reps – take a deload early.
Program Cheat Sheet
Ivysaur Aesthetics Program Spreadsheet
lvysaur's Intermediate Aesthetic Routine Print.xlsx
Weight Progression Flowchart – How to Add Weight
