Hey CT. I’m running you Indigo Strength Training (including HFSW) again since I’ve had more success with that program than any other I’ve done. This is my first week back on it and I’m loving it! I lift in the evenings now except for Friday which is mid-morning Squat Pattern.
Since that’s only about 14 hours between the Thursday night workout and Friday morning Squat, which workout do you suggest I do Thursday evening (OHP Pattern or Lats/Arm) so that I don’t hurt my Friday morning workout?
Sunday - Bench Press Pattern
Monday - Deadlift Pattern
Tuesday - OFF or HIIT intervals
Wednesday - OHP Pattern or Lats/Arms ???
Thursday - OHP Pattern or Lats/Arms ???
Friday - Squat Pattern
Saturday - OFF
Just my $.02: I’d stick with the lat workout Wednesday. Reason being the HFSW doesn’t really fatigue me, but they are the most joint stressful days. Because of that I’d rather do a couple a little closer together than three in a row.
And I’ll agree with you. I just started doing the strength one again because these have been my favorite programs.
[quote]TrainForPain wrote:
Just my $.02: I’d stick with the lat workout Wednesday. Reason being the HFSW doesn’t really fatigue me, but they are the most joint stressful days. Because of that I’d rather do a couple a little closer together than three in a row.
And I’ll agree with you. I just started doing the strength one again because these have been my favorite programs. [/quote]
i cannot for the life of me find what HFSW is lol?
High Frequency Strength Work. Check out the Indigo-3G programs under the “workouts” tab. It’s a set of lifts you perform sub maximally 4 times a week, on your main training days.
[quote]TrainForPain wrote:
High Frequency Strength Work. Check out the Indigo-3G programs under the “workouts” tab. It’s a set of lifts you perform sub maximally 4 times a week, on your main training days. [/quote]
thought so, yeah i been doing it, im on phase 2 of hypertrophy cycle, if anything i have lost weight but i have gotten very very vascular, my lifts are also minmally going up, but they are in any case!!
theere is another topic on here saying that you should take 2 weeks on 2 weeks off the HFS work? did you guys do this? or take any breaks between cycles?
I’ve done 3 cycles of the Indigo Hypertrophy program over the past 24 months and I’ve always done all HFSW as written in the program. I never had any issues with the volume of work. I was careful to make sure that I was getting stronger from week to week and month to month. If I struggled with a particular weight, which happened occasionally, I backed off the weight slightly.
For example, on the OH press I lowered the increase in weight slightly from week to week as the prescribed increases seemed a bit too high.
I really liked the programs and it’s the program I usually am excited to get back to after a 6 week break. Currently, I’m running a 6 wk HP mass cycle but will probably go back to the Indigo programs afterwards.
I know it’s not CT’s style to revisit a subject but I always wished for an Indigo 2.0 workout!
So I see you guys are getting great results strengthwise from this routine.
I’m currently reading all of Christian’s stuff and I’m really looking forward to trying one of his complete programs.
In particular the Indigo project strength template caught my attention.
My goal is packing on as much size and gaining the most strength as possible.
What were your results regarding body recomposition and mass gain with it?
I am a little worried about back strength and posture because of the low pulling volume compared to pressing
I have used the Indigo Hypertrophy programs several times in the past and I’ve seen great results. I should note that I also started using Indigo, Plasma, MAG-10 at the same time so my results were based on the combination of all of these changes.
I’m tall, thin and usually with body fat levels just beyond 6-pack (>15%). Over the past year and a half, I’ve probably gained 15 lbs while getting leaner (more visible abs) up from 175 lbs to 190 lbs. The biggest changes have been to the “power look”, capped shoulders, etc…
I was worried about the perceived imbalance of the program at first too. Lots of pressing, limited pulling but it was really unnecessary worrying. CT knows what he’s doing.
I did add face pulls in between sets of bench pressing or see CT’s latest article on benching, in which he advocates band pull a-parts in between sets.
I also have underdeveloped traps so I added in the back thickness specialization program, which has helped add trap thickness. This has contributed to more of a “power look” as well as kept my shoulders and elbows healthy.
I tried the Indigo Strength program but the high frequency deadlifts were problematic for me, likely due to some improper muscle firing (low back not glutes and hamstrings). I also found that I had a harder time recovering from the volume of work of the Indigo programs at the heavier weights. Regardless, I’ve improved all my lifts (PR’s on OH, Bench, Squat, and Deads) using the Hypertrophy program.
Hope this helps. I’d give the Indigo Programs a shot (full 3 month program).
Very interesting!
Thank you for giving me such a detailed answer
Could you name some strength numbers you achieved by doing the program?
Strength/Mass is really 50/50 priority for me…
Very interesting!
Thank you for giving me such a detailed answer
Could you name some strength numbers you achieved by doing the program?
Strength/Mass is really 50/50 priority for me…
Sure, I rarely go for singles so a 3-rep max is a better number for me.
Bench: 3 rep max went from 225 to 255
Squat: 3 rep max went from 245 to 275
OH strict press: 3 rep max went from 125 to 145
Deadlift: 3 rep max went from 275 to 335
Again, it wasn’t my focus as none of those numbers are terribly impressive. My goal was size (while staying joint healthy) and strength came along for the ride. I’m sure other’s on the forum have seen much better results.
To be fair, I probably achieved those gains from two cycles of the Hypertrophy program. I wasn’t tracking it that closely so I didn’t re-test after a first cycle. The second cycle, the weights went up easier and I really pushed it the last week of the hypertrophy phase, which calls for 3 x 3 in the HFSW. I was surprised at the weights I was lifting as they were all PR’s for me.
One last caveat as I want to be transparent to help you decide what’s best for you. I had been lifting for years without much progress after the initial beginner’s improvements. The high frequency lifts really improved my core lifts because I don’t think I had mastered them yet. It was the first time I really focused on getting the right amount of work in.
In my case, it was likely that I improved from being an “experienced novice” to a more intermediate level lifter. If you’re more advanced, you may see different results. From what I gather, it’s hard to beat 5-3-1 from a pure strength gain program.
Ok today I tried to get as much information as possible about the indigo programs (unfortunately it’s really hard to find something about the laid out ones).
The one thing I’m a bit concerned about is my time… it’s very likely that I often won’t be able to train 6 days a week, more likely 4-5 times max.
Makes me wonder if something like HSS-100 is suited better for my needs…
The one fact that is certain is that I want to do a laid out program by the lifting god CT - enough with trying around with my own routines.
I’ve been eyeing this program for when I “graduate” from CT’s beginner template that he drew up for me. Currently it has me doing a 3-day split with Bench, Dead and Squat everyday, plus a focus (legs, back, shoulders)…so basically a watered-down Indigo program. I had similar concerns with the amount of push volume vs pull volume, though.
Glad to know that it’s not going to cause a large imbalance. I’m already pretty back-dominant, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world to let my presses catch up, but I also want to ensure proper posture and structure, esp in the upper back/scapula region.
Either way, I definitely know CT knows his stuff; I’ve put on ~50-60lbs on all lifts since I started in late Dec. Crazy.
Damn I really can’t decide what to do…
Somehow I want to do something different from the standard do 4 x 6-8 reps of this or 5x5 of this that’s why the Indigo Program makes me so curious
But on the other hand I need a laid out program because otherwise I will try around and end up doing what I always did (and what somehow worked, even though not perfectly)