Info on Indigo Project Training Programs

Hello I’m looking for some info on the training programs from the indigo project. Couldn’t find it amidst all the logs because so many people seem to be doing their own thing.

  1. How long is a phase?

  2. How do you layout the workouts through the week, and when to do extra sessions?

Thanks!

Also;

  1. Do you do all the phases and then do deload?
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  1. It’s in the writeup, i.e. the PDF file with the program. Each phase is 4 weeks long.

  2. Do the 5 days of each week of the program in one week. If you have SERIOUS problems feeling a muscle group, do a spec session as day 6 for one month for that group.

  3. If you need a deload, do a deload.

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Should I do the extra work capacity workouts on day 6 if my work capacity sucks?

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You can.

What I did for a couple of months was follow the strength and hypertrophy templates (3 phases of each) and at one point for about 2-3 months during that I was doing 2-3 conditioning sessions in the evenings.

The conditioning sessions consisted of EITHER 1 or 2 of the work capacity complexes from the fat loss program OR CT’s abs shredder.

If you do it like this you will have to eat quite a bit. I was eating 3500-4000kcal and getting leaner for a while when doing this.

What was your bodyweight at that time?

It varied from about 76kg to 83kg if I remember correctly, bodyfat in the 11-15% range, leanest at about 80kg.

[quote]Braas wrote:
Should I do the extra work capacity workouts on day 6 if my work capacity sucks?[/quote]

Try the program for 4 weeks first. It is already a lot of volume and even those that were on INDIGO and PLAZMA/ANACONDA found it hard even with the recovery help provided. See how your body handles it before thinking of adding more work.

“PART 1 ? HIGH FREQUENCY STRENGTH
Perform 3-5 sets of the exercises listed. None of these sets are maximal as they will be trained
every day. Perform all 3-5 sets of an exercise before moving on to the next. Focus on exploding
on each repetition. Better err on the side of starting a bit too light than too heavy.
A. Power clean & push press
B. Back squat OR front squat OR trap bar deadlift OR deadlift
C. Bench press OR incline DB press”

When picking from these exercises, when will be the appropriate time to switch to a new one? Every phase, every day or something else?

[quote]Braas wrote:
“PART 1 ? HIGH FREQUENCY STRENGTH
Perform 3-5 sets of the exercises listed. None of these sets are maximal as they will be trained
every day. Perform all 3-5 sets of an exercise before moving on to the next. Focus on exploding
on each repetition. Better err on the side of starting a bit too light than too heavy.
A. Power clean & push press
B. Back squat OR front squat OR trap bar deadlift OR deadlift
C. Bench press OR incline DB press”

When picking from these exercises, when will be the appropriate time to switch to a new one? Every phase, every day or something else?[/quote]

You keep the same exercises for the whole phase at least… normally I keep the same ones for 8-12 weeks.

Should the reps on the last set feel just as explosive as the reps on the first? Even on stress week?

On phase 1; Having selected a 10RM weight for bench press I find myself too fatigued to do 4x8 explosive reps with it on week 2. Should I reduce the weight or do less reps with it?
I’m not having this problem with the other 2 exercises of the high frequency strength part.

i really cant find much feedback on this program, how did people go with their results?

im very keen to start the hypertrophy phase on monday, coming off 5/3/1 for a while

Sorry to re live this thread im going for a bump

Go to the Indigo training logs and you can see everyones progression.

@Braas - If you’re fatiguing on the 10rm weight then it’s probably not your 10rm weight. Try taking some weight off, do not change the rep scheme.

@Caino - I had great results with the Indigo programs, I did the hypertrophy programs 1-3. Follow the programs exactly, and be sure to have good workout and overall nutrition. They’re well designed programs, don’t try to over think it or change anything, just follow the sheets.

That was one of the things I liked best about it, it was a 12 week program that I could just look at the sheet and know what I was doing that day. Highly recommended, but be sure to commit the full phase, not try it for 2 weeks and move on to something else.

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I agree the Indigo Hypertrophy program is one of my all time favorites. Personally, I gained 10 lbs of muscle and increased the strength of my basic lifts by over 10% over the past year primarily by following the Indigo programs.

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[quote]jpg2219 wrote:
I agree the Indigo Hypertrophy program is one of my all time favorites. Personally, I gained 10 lbs of muscle and increased the strength of my basic lifts by over 10% over the past year primarily by following the Indigo programs. [/quote]

wow guys thats awsome!!! just what i was looking for!!
thats what i love about it too, all laid out on the platter for me niceeee and easy, buttt i cannot keep up with the volume as soon as i fail a set i abort thar exersize usually 2-3 sets in,

only thing i have bastardized is the back bicep day, added in some rowing and weighted pull ups and SGHP,

i remember watching the HP mass pricipals, and he always said to even out your push set with a light pull set e.g shrugs, face pulls, chins, etc did you guys do this in between your Military,Squat, then bench set?

cheers for the replys!

although i dont post much i read here every day!!

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Good luck with the program! If you are not able to keep up with the volume while taking Indigo and using good workout nutrition, try lowering the weights. The rep scheme and set numbers are essential to the success of the program, so if a lighter weight is needed to complete it, it’s an easy adjustment.

Just from my experience, I did not do any light pull sets between the press, squat and bench each day when I was on the hypertrophy program, I don’t recall that being in there (CT does state each program has slight variations.) I never had an issue with meeting the numbers or performance on those exercises, and with the length of these workouts, adding extra sets could put you in the gym for a really long time. If you feel you need them it couldn’t hurt to throw in a light set, but with the volume and amount of sets in each workout, you may not need it.

I am not doing the hypertrophy program currently, and I have been adding in some opposing lighter active rest sets, it’s a great way to get in some extra work without fatiguing the muscles used for your main exercise!

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[quote]robstein wrote:
Good luck with the program! If you are not able to keep up with the volume while taking Indigo and using good workout nutrition, try lowering the weights. The rep scheme and set numbers are essential to the success of the program, so if a lighter weight is needed to complete it, it’s an easy adjustment.

Just from my experience, I did not do any light pull sets between the press, squat and bench each day when I was on the hypertrophy program, I don’t recall that being in there (CT does state each program has slight variations.) I never had an issue with meeting the numbers or performance on those exercises, and with the length of these workouts, adding extra sets could put you in the gym for a really long time. If you feel you need them it couldn’t hurt to throw in a light set, but with the volume and amount of sets in each workout, you may not need it.

I am not doing the hypertrophy program currently, and I have been adding in some opposing lighter active rest sets, it’s a great way to get in some extra work without fatiguing the muscles used for your main exercise![/quote]

hell yeah man!

yeah its not even outlines in his HP MASS prgrams but in the videos he does say too,

your spot on there, theres no point adding extra work because it already is volume intenseive and id be there all night at the gym lol, i just thought that was always a principal of his as this is a pressing oriented program and dont want problems in the shoulders or rounding etc

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