Ivysaur 4-4-8 Program: Routine, Progression & Spreadsheet

Ivysaur 4-4-8 is a free three-day beginner barbell routine originally shared on Reddit. It alternates heavier sets of four with higher-volume sets of eight across a two-week cycle.

Bench and overhead press appear often, while squats and deadlifts alternate. Chin-ups and rows provide the main pulling work.

Commonly preserved base increases are 15 lb for squat and deadlift, 10 lb for bench and row, and 5 lb for overhead press. An AMRAP of eight or more doubles the next increase for that lift.

Those jumps are aggressive. Use the smallest plates available when the default increase would compromise the prescribed reps. Rows use the base increase without an AMRAP multiplier; chin-ups can progress by completing all sets before adding load.

Start lighter than your best set of four. Some implementations use about 80% of a training max for the 4-rep work and roughly 90% of that load for the 8-rep work, but clean completed sets matter more than a perfect percentage.

Track each lift separately. After repeated misses, reduce that lift by about 10% and rebuild. When several lifts keep stalling after sensible resets, move to a slower progression.

Choose Ivysaur if you know the basic barbell lifts and want a higher-volume alternative to simple sets-of-five programs. The two-week rotation requires more careful logging.

It is not a good fit for dumbbell-only training, advanced lifters, or anyone who cannot recover from frequent pressing.

Ivysaur is useful when you want beginner progression with rep variation and regular bench work. Start conservatively, use smaller jumps when needed and leave the program once repeated resets stop restoring progress.