Popularized by Jason Blaha, Ice Cream Fitness is a novice strength program with more accessory work than similar programs like Starting Strength and Strong Lifts, so you add size while you add strength.
In 2019, Blaha released Ice Cream Fitness 2.0. It reduces working sets to 3 sets of 5 instead of 5 sets of 5 and reduces some of the exercise variety. The core goal of the program, helping novices rapidly gain strength and size, remains the same.
Table of Contents
Ice Cream Fitness Spreadsheets
Ice Cream Fitness 2.0 Spreadsheet
This is the spreadsheet for the Ice Cream Fitness 2.0 program.
Ice Cream Fitness 1.0 Spreadsheet
8 weeks are laid out in the spreadsheet below, but because this is a linear progression program it can be run indefinitely until the athlete’s lifts begin to stall.
Now available as a Google spreadsheet for easy on-the-go access and editing.
Program Overview
This is the overview of the updated Ice Cream Fitness 2.0 program. To see the workouts for the 1.0 version, open the spreadsheet.
Program Structure
There are two types of workouts: A workout and B workout.
The athlete completes 3 workouts per week, alternating A and B workouts.
For example:
Week 1: A/B/A
Week 2: B/A/B
Week 3: A/B/A
A Workout
| Lift | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 3 | 5 |
| Bench Press | 3 | 5 |
| Deadlift | 1 | 5 |
| Overhead Press | 3 | 5 |
| Barbell Curl | 2 | 8 |
| Facepull | 1 | 20 |
| Standing Crunch | 1 | 20 |
B Workout
The B workout swaps out the deadlift and substitutes it with the barbell row. The rest of the workout remains the same.
| Lift | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 3 | 5 |
| Bench Press | 3 | 5 |
| Barbell Row | 3 | 5 |
| Overhead Press | 3 | 5 |
| Barbell Curl | 2 | 8 |
| Facepull | 1 | 20 |
| Standing Crunch | 1 | 20 |
Progression
Here is how much weight to add from session to session as long as all reps are hit. If you miss any reps, lower the weight for your next session by 10%. This is called a “reset.”
To run the program as designed, you should buy microplates (aka fractional plates). They are relatively inexpensive and will last you a lifetime.
If you don’t have microplates and won’t buy them, the program will still work, you just will repeat some weights before progressing to the next 5lb increment (the spreadsheet does this automatically for you).
| Lift | Progression per Session |
|---|---|
| Squat | 5 lb / 2.5 kg |
| Deadlift | 5 lb / 2.5 kg |
| Bench Press | 2.5 lb / 1.25 kg |
| Barbell Row | 2.5 lb / 1.25 kg |
| Overhead Press | 2.5 lb / 1.25 kg |
| Barbell Curl | 2.5 lb / 1.25 kg |
For example, if you are squatting 120 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps and you hit 5 reps for all 3 sets, then the next session will be 125 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps.
If you can’t complete all 3 sets at 125 pounds, you will reduce the load by 10% for the next session (125 x 90% = 112.5, rounded down to 110 lbs).
Video Summary
Here’s a video from Jason Blaha going over the program details.
