The Icarus Program - Maybe Proving People Wrong

[KelevraSoldier]

I present to you The Icarus program, designed by yours truly with the intent to make some superior strength and size gains.

I’ve named it the Icarus program as I’m well aware this is far from your regular Novice program due to the high exercise selection, advanced training modalities and High Volume; meaning I may be flying too close to the sun but you don’t get a tan without risking some red.

I designed the program because
1: I like making my own programs and incorporating a variety of different modalities.
2: Dissatisfaction with the regular brand of novice programs due to their minimalistic approach.
3: I wanted to challenge preconceived notions on what is too much or too advanced.

The thought process behind the program is that the larger base you build the higher the peak.

The program runs on a 2 week schedule
Mon A Wed B Fri A-F
Mon B Wed A Fri B-F
Repeat

Basic Info:
Weight: Around 152 Pounds (165 Goal Weight)
Height: 5.6 Feet (6 Feet Goal Weight)
Age: 25
Occupation: Military
Picture: In The Weekend
Experience: I have experience with a variety of programs and have previously been something of a Program Hopper. I’ve previously run intensive training blocks of a few months before an extended leave of absence from the gym.
Diet: The Vertical Diet forms the basis of my eating habits and looks like this
1 Large Smoothie - Monster mash Lunch+Dinner (Beef 67% Chicken 33%) - Steak, Potato & Greek Yoghurt Latenight Snack

Phase 1: 1st Month
Getting back into the groove - Focusing on form on the compounds - Getting Familiar with the routine - Adjusting the Set up - intensity is found in the later half of the workouts such as auxiliary, accessories and finishers - Getting the Diet On point (Vertical Diet) 2500 Calories and slowly increase to account for increased Work load and Recovery

Phase 2: 2/3 Month
Compound Movements have reached a challenging weight - Strength is increasing across the board - Accessory Movements and Finishers Begins rotating -

Phase 3: 3/4 Month
Lifts Start Stalling - Adjust routine (Barebones?) - Increase Frequency and Volume of Main Lifts - Swap Auxiliary Movements - S

Phase 4: 4-5 Month
The end of Linear progression? Double progression or Transition to intermediate program incorporating percentages or other intensity/volume modalities. Mini Cut?

[KelevraSoldier]

Training Principles:
- Super Sets and it’s many variations are superior in terms of getting the most bang for your buck in terms of time and optimal recovery between, some even increase strength.
- More Rest is Better for Strength gains and a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle
- Progressive Overload is King
- Strength must be trained in a variety of Rep ranges and angles to produce a functional athlete.
- Combining phases of volume and intensity is optimal, volume builds or expands upon the foundation while intensity builds that peak.
- Get more out of less weight.


Overview: Progression Models

Linear Progression: Main Compound Movements
5/10 Pounds Weekly
First Stall - Decrease Weight and Increase Sets by 1 - Rotate Exercise to be first in the Workout Increase Rest Periods
Second Stall - Decrease Weight and Increase Sets by 2 - Rotate to first in workout - Decrease Rep Range - Increase Rest Periods - Introduce As Back Off Sets on similar exercise variations on separate days in order to increase frequency
Third Stall - Either Rotate Exercise, perform Higher Rep work and start new Volume To intensity Cycle - Or Play around with frequency/Percentages see Texas/Madcow/Conjugate/5-3-1

Descending Rep Ranges: Auxiliary Upon First Stall.
First Stall - Decrease Rep Ranges 8-10 ~ 6-8 - drop Weight 10% - Increase Volume by 1 Set -
Second Stall - Switch to Double Progression (3~5~3 sets) - Decrease Rep Ranges in order to squeeze out last bit of strength - Drop weight by 5%
Third Stall - Rotate Exercise/Variation

Double Progression: Accessory (Phase 2)
Works by increasing Volume (Reps or Sets) at certain intensity (weight), then decreasing the volume and upping the weights (intensity) - Repeat -

Overview: Modalities

Warm Up:
Dynamic Movements to energise the body Band Work (Inspired By Wenning) 1-2 Exercise designed to open up the body or warm an important muscle
The Exercise

A1 A2 System: Supersets
The system is used in 3 distinct ways
Superset Style: In which you train the same muscle group in different intensities (Rep Ranges).
Contrast Training: In which you pair opposing muscle groups to reach higher force production and streamline training efficiency.
Bundle Style: Pairing “random” Movements for greater efficiency in the gym.
Power Training: Pairing a heavy exercise with an explosive movement ie. back squats with box jumps - Benefits include increased force production and strength gains.
Combo Style: A combination of the above

Rest Periods:
Rest Periods start low and gradually increase together with the intensity.
Superset Compound Movements: 60S Increase by 5S weekly until 90 Second
Supersets 8-12 Reps: 30-60S
Supersets 12+: 30S
Single Sets: 90S to 4M

Exercise Rotation:
I believe in maintaining a high exercise in order to; minimise wear and tear, Muscle Confusion?, New growth/strength, Have fun.
Exercise are swapped when; Exercise doesn’t feel right/good, Progress Reaches a stand still, When peak strength is reached,

DUP:
Daily Undulating Periodisation: Utilising different Rep ranges and exercise variations on a weekly basis to confuse (brospeak) the muscle (most likely include a mental component(freshness of mind/Drive)

Tempo: Determines the tempo throughout the movement. And goes like this Eccentric-Bot Position-Concentric-Top Position
Main Compound movements follow a 1-0-X-0 Unless otherwise specified, in phase 1 we utilise a slower eccentric and a 1S pause in the most difficult Pos
Auxiliary Movements: 2S Eccentric
Accessory Movements: 2S Eccentric

Shock; Intensity/Volume Drivers/TUT

Forced Reps: If the Trainee doesn’t hit the required Rep ranges he can take a small rest Period (10/30S) and crank out remaining Reps.
AMRAP: Perform as many reps as possible, is used to RPE 10/9/8
- Used on last set on compounds if feeling extra strong
- Isolation Movements (Sparingly)
Mechanical Drop Set: In which one use 2 exercises to target the same muscle group and performs the exercises after one another with minimum rest, ex. DB press to DB flies
Negatives: Negatives are commonly used to increase time under tension and to induce muscle damage, are to performed sparingly and intelligently.
Used to finish of a muscle group in a workout, getting more out of less weight and to boost hypertrophy - Due to increased recovery needs I primarily utilise them on Fridays which are followed by 2 rest days or on small muscle groups which recover faster.
Back Off Set: In which you reduce the weight in order to perform more reps/sets for reasons; Volume, CNS, Frequency

[KelevraSoldier]

A:
A1 - Box Squat 4-6
A2 - Box Jump
B1 - Floor Press 4-6
B2 - Pendlay Row 4-6
C1 - Stiff-Legged Deadlift 8-10
C2 - The Double Katana 8-10 (Cable - Imagining Drawing 2 swords from your back)
C3 - Barbell Curls 8-10
D1 - Hanging Leg Raise 10+
D2 - Hanging Knee Raises 8-12
D3 - Hanging Oblique Crunch 8-12
E1 - Band Pull Apart 30-40
E2 - Blackburn - Y/T/W - 10S - +1S Every time
E3 - Triple Threat 8S

B:
Box Squat 4-6
A1 - Paused Overhead Press 4-6
A2 - Hip Thrust 4-6
B1 - Close-Grip Bench Press 6-8
B2 - Weighted Chin-up 3-5
C1 - Weighted Plank 30-60S
C2 - Instability Plank 5-15S
D1 - Arnold Press 8-10
D2 - Rear Delt Rows 10-12
D3 - Band Face Pulls 15-20

A-F
1.5 Front Squat 8-10
A1- Slow Eccentric - Floor Press 4-6 (4 Sets) - Same Weight as Workout A
A2 - Blocks - Pendlay Row 8-10 - Same Weight as Workout A
B1 - Leg Curl 4-6
B2 - Slow Eccentric - Romanian Deadlift 8-10
B3 - Full Contact Twist 4-6
C1 - Chin Up 8-12
C2 - Triceps Ext BW 8-12
C3 - Neutral Pull Up 6-10
C4 - Diamond Push Up 8-12
C5 - Plank to Push Up 8-13
C6 - Slow Eccentric - Inverted Row 6-10
C7 - Slow Eccentric - Push Up 6-10

B-F
A1 - Low Bulgarien Split Squat 8-10
A2 - Push Press 4-6
Sumo Deadlift 5x5
B1 - Natural DB Bench Press 8-10
B2 - Poliquin Chest Fly 8-10
B3 - Pull Up - Chest to Bar 6-10
B4 - Inverted Row - Underhand 8-10
C1 - Larry Scott Press 6-8
C2 - Poliquin Side Raise 12-15
C3 - Face Pulls 15-20
C4 - Dragon Flag - Negatives 4-6

I Will Let you know how the first session goes tomorrow, also I would appreciate any and all comments critiquing the program or suggestions on how to optimise or improve the set up.