The Rippler

What is The Rippler?

The Rippler is Cody Lefever's 12-week GZCL block, from his free GZCL Program Compendium and his 2016 write-up GZCL Applications & Adaptations. There are four days: bench, squat, overhead press and deadlift, each the day's T1. On his calendar they fall on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and he says to train no more than four days in a row. Each T1 has a T2 partner (incline bench with bench, stiff-leg deadlift with squat, close-grip bench with press, front squat with deadlift) and two T3 exercises: behind-the-neck press and lateral raises, pull-ups and EZ-bar curls, incline bench and EZ-bar pullovers, rows and rear delt flyes.

The name is the T1 wave: two weeks up, one week down, in weight and in reps. Week 1 is 85% for 3 sets of 5, week 2 90% for 4 sets of 3, week 3 back to 87.5% for 3 sets of 4, and so on up to 97.5% for 9 singles in week 8 and one set at 100% for as many reps as you can in week 10. The T2 climbs in three-week waves, from 5 sets of 6 at 80% in week 1 to 5 sets of 3 at 100% in week 10. Week 11 is T1 only, and week 12 is Cody's test week: a 1RM on squat, bench, deadlift and press, one a day.

Is The Rippler right for you?

Lifters past the novice stage who want twelve weeks of steady T1 progress and a test at the end, with four days a week to train. Every T1 and T2 weight comes from a training max you enter at the start, so you need a fair idea of your 2-rep and 5-rep maxes before you begin. Sessions take about 30–45 minutes.

How progression works

Cody sets each tier's training max as a rep max, not a 1RM: T1 percentages are of a 2-rep max on that lift, and T2 percentages of a 5-rep max on the T2 lift ('Do not use 1RMs!'). Durata asks for exactly those when you start and suggests them from your logged sets. The maxes stay fixed for the whole block; the wave is the progression. On a set marked +, go for as many reps as you can while leaving one or two in the tank.

T3 work is sets for as many reps as you can at a weight you could lift about 10 times: 5 sets in weeks 1 to 3, 4 in weeks 4 to 6, 3 in weeks 7 to 9, 2 in week 10, then none. Cody keeps the T3 weight the same for the first three weeks, then adjusts it by your total reps for the movement: after week 3, more than 70 total adds 15 lb (7.5 kg), more than 60 adds 10 lb, more than 50 adds 5 lb; after week 6 the marks are 60, 50 and 40, and after week 9 50, 40 and 30. You choose the T3 weights, as in his sheet, and each lift's note gives his guide. Rest 3 to 5 minutes between T1 sets, 2 to 3 for T2 and 60 to 90 seconds for T3.

Durata runs this progression for you — every session's weights are computed from your training maxes, and your logged AMRAP sets are what move those maxes.

The Rippler — every set, every session

Percentages are of your training max (TM). AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the sets marked AMRAP.

The Rippler — common questions

The Rippler side by side