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GZCL Method
GZCL Method
Many of you know me from my recent meet report on the IPL World Championship
[1]. In that thread there were some that expressed interest in my training methodologies.
This article covers some of the finer details of how and why I train the way I train.
1 Introduction
First a brief overview of who I am and what I have done. I am a 26 year old man,
standing a whopping 50 500 or so; and I compete in the 148 lb weight class. I started lifting
for four years ago, and have been training specifically for powerlifting for the last two
years. I have been doing some variation of my own programming for nearly a full year;
generally following my own path, and trying out things I had seen or read about. My
first powerlifting competition was on January 14th of 2012, and I totalled 1113 lb. Only
10 months later, on November 9th , I totalled 1196 lb at the IPL Worlds (or 1211 lb if you
count my 4th attempt deadlift). I broke two California state records (deadlift and total),
and broke the IPL deadlift record with a 529 lb pull. That’s a gain of about 83 − 98 lb
to my total while following my own programming (and staying within my weight class).
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of stronger guys out there in my weight class;
guys that literally total 200 lb or more than me. So why should you listen to what I
have to say? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have totalled elite in less than
two years of training for powerlifting. Maybe it’s because I look at training like being an
architect, an engineer, and a mason, more than your average strength enthusiast. I’m not
here to bullshit you about how to be a tough guy or a badass. I’m not here to share life
lessons that can be learned in the weight room. Badass, tough guy, hardcore; those are
all subjective to personal opinions. What isn’t subjective is strength. In this article I will
discuss how I have become stronger.
So how did I get to the level I am at with my own training philosophy? Simply put, I
employ the pyramid as a metaphor for strength and training. The height of the pyramid
is determined by the intensities with which you lift (with respect to percentages of your
1RM) and size of the base of the pyramid is determined by your training volume. If you
want to have a pyramid that is tall you’ve got to make sure it’s also wide. Conversely, a
wide yet short pyramid isn’t too impressive. In order to build an impressively tall pyramid,
the base should only be as wide as is required to support its ever-growing height.
Too often I see lifters focus solely on the height of their pyramid and leave their
foundation to the wayside, resulting in a tall yet easily toppled structure. This can be
seen in programs like Smolov or similar peaking programs. Many times a portion of these
strength gains are lost after the program has been completed. These kinds of programs
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are great and have their place in strength training, especially for competitions. But to
me their results are too transient and therefore not optimal for building lasting strength.
If I am going to sweat, I want to keep what I have sweat for. Not only that, you cannot
train with these programs year round, which is possible with my methodology. Don’t for a
second believe that I’m saying Smolov is lacking in volume, because it isn’t. It will break
your ass clean off if you’re just going to throw yourself into it. But what it is lacking is
a supporting amount of volume in the main lifts and accessory lifts in percentage ranges
below and above the training thresholds I will discuss in this post. And if you think you
can just tack on more work to Smolov to “even it out” or to make it more “rounded” you
are retarded. Not to sound terribly harsh, but that’s the truth. If you disagree, be my
guest and give it your best shot. I am confident you will fall short.
Smolov is just one example where people can become strong but often leave the gym
without having done supportive work simply because they’re too drained or broken to
continue. This isn’t how I like to train. Training that way is akin to building a tower:
capable of extreme heights but easily toppled (injuries, diminishing returns, overtrain-
ing). Even the tallest and sturdiest of towers can be toppled more easily than the Great
Pyramids of Egypt.
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Personally, when prepping for the IPL Worlds I chose a weight that I could hit with a
slight struggle. Something that at best I could get 2 − 3 reps with on a great day or
just a single on a bad day. My plan was to train so I would be able to hit these weights
easily, any day of the week, under the shittiest conditions. The kinds of conditions I
might expect having completed a cut, and being nervous as hell on the platform. When
choosing your goal weight you can take 10% off your actual or estimated maxes or just
use the weight of something you can hit for a double or a grinder of a triple. The idea
is that at the end of a training cycle that goal weight can be moved easily on your worst
day.
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one form or another of your main movement. Examples of these are: rack pulls; deficit
deadlifts; high box squats; partial squats; push presses; and pin presses.
The percentages making up this tier are anywhere between 65 − 85% of your goal
weight. When you are warming up you will work through this tier as you approach your
main movements in the 1st Tier of your pyramid. These “warm up” reps count, as they
build motor patterns and general familiarity with the movements while using manageable
weight. Don’t be careless in this tier as it is primarily where you perfect your form and
build confidence under the bar. The time spent in this section of your pyramid is necessary
in order for you to build a more stable and permanent 1st Tier.
Within the 2nd Tier will also come your pulling variations: barbell and dumbbell rows;
pull-ups; chin-ups; shrugs; and cable row or lat pull-down variations. Think of your back
as the support structure that ties everything all together, because it does. You cannot
press with a weak back; you cannot squat with a weak back; and you certainly cannot
deadlift with a weak back. Can you make a row variant a movement in your 1st Tier? Sure,
but I think that deadlifting alone trains the back enough in those kinds of percentages
(> 85%).
Overall, the 2nd Tier the goal volume is 20 − 30+ total reps. I usually break these
reps down as 3 × 8, 5 × 5, 3 × 10, or 10 × 3. Again, remember the sets/reps you do while
warming up to your 1st Tier work count towards this volume. After your 1st Tier work is
done, come back down to this level and do some more within this range. The more reps
you complete, the more resilient your body and strength will be. I tend to end up doing
30+ on average.
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2.4 The Pyramid
Recapping the pyramid metaphor, I would like to remind you that there are grey areas and
overlaps between each of the three tiers. You can certainly max out on shrugs sometimes,
but should it be a staple of your programming? Should you try for a new shrug 1RM every
pressing workout? No, it would probably be better to alternate between max attempts
and gratuitous volume.
The pyramid is broken into three tiers.
• The 1st Tier consists of only your main movements in percentages greater than
85% of your goal weight for 10 − 15 total reps. All of those programmed reps are
mandatory.
• The 2nd Tier are percentages between 65 − 85% of your goal weight, for 20 − 30 reps.
The movements in this tier should primarily be your main movements or variants,
as well as supporting pull movements for back development. Those programmed
reps are also mandatory unless you are dying.
• The 3rd Tier is the most important and the foundation for your entire pyramid.
Percentages for your main movements are less than 65% of your goal weight for 30
or more reps, including warm ups or back off sets. Other movements in this tier are
isolation exercises or supportive exercises like face pulls or GHRs. I urge you to do
additional work here but if you’re stretched for time, leave the gym and do some
band pull-aparts when you get home.
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3 De-Loading
De-loading is an important factor when it comes to strength training. The problem
with de-loads is that if you don’t know when to do them then they can easily become a
hindrance to your progress. I have personally realized that de-loading every fourth week
(as in 5/3/1) is unnecessary for myself. If you’re an older lifter you might have a different
opinion. Paul Carter’s (Lift-Run-Bang) programs prescribe that the lifter should de-load
in their sixth week. My opinion is that you should train until you have to de-load. But
how will you know when this is?
You will know a de-load is coming when you miss a rep on a mandatory lift from being
exhausted or broken. If you are squatting for a 95% single and it is an inch high, that’s
not a missed rep which requires a de-load. That’s a rep you should make another attempt
at. What I’m talking about is when you’re benching and 250 lb staples you on a single,
when a few days ago you nailed 245 × 2 no problem. In that case you might consider
de-loading. Or when you skip out on 2nd Tier work altogether.
But how long should you de-load for? This is a huge confusion for newer lifters, and
sometimes experienced lifters too. Length isn’t the only factor in de-loading. There are
a number of factors a lifter can manipulate in their training in order to achieve a proper
de-load. Here are the ways you can de-load.
1. Decrease volume: Decrease the total reps completed per workout. If you find you
are having a hard time recovering this might be the reason. Try taking 10% off
the volume. It might seem like a little, but your body will thank you, and you can
continue to train. For decreasing volume, I’m talking about your main lift volume,
not your support work in the 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier.
2. Decrease intensity: Take 10% off the lift that you could not complete mandatory
reps of. If you miss the first rep of the working sets, take 10% off that number and
complete the required volume. If you missed a rep at the end of the workout chalk
it up as a loss and see how it goes the next workout. It is not necessary to decrease
the intensity on all your lifts if you are only having trouble with one.
3. Decrease density: Many people overlook this factor. If you are doing a lot of super-
sets or not resting adequately between sets you could try giving this a shot. Cut
back your supersets, or the number of different exercises you are doing per work-
out. This will have a direct impact on the total number of reps you are doing per
workout, so your volume is affected. When you are planning on decreasing workout
density the first things to go should be supersets. After that consider keeping all
the reps and exercises you are doing, and simply extending the amount of rest you
get. Instead of resting one minute between sets try extending that to 90 seconds.
It’s amazing what a little more rest between sets can do for your lifts.
4. Decrease frequency: Decrease the number of times you train per week. In my case
as of late, I train squats on Mondays and Fridays. If I’m having trouble completing
my required reps for squats, I might consider cutting out a day. This is the last
option for me to consider but it is sure to work as it adds in an extra 24 hours of
absolute rest between workouts.
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5. Any combination of 1 − 4: This should be your last resort. If one method doesn’t
work add in another. If that doesn’t work, you might be dead already. Seriously
though, combining all of them shouldn’t be necessary. I have never had to resort to
this final measure. But maybe that’s because I have never trained hard enough.
Something to remember is that maybe you don’t need to de-load. Maybe you have
forgotten to reload.
4 Reloading
If de-loading is removing work in the gym, reloading is adding supportive non-work outside
the gym. This is simply eating and sleeping enough. I say simply because it is easy to
remember. Unfortunately it is also easy to forget. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in
our lives that we gradually start sleeping a little less, or we skip a meal here or there.
Combine that missed hour from Friday and Saturday night, poor eating on each of those
days, a missed lunch on Wednesday at work; and by the time your next squat session
rolls around on the following Friday, you are feeling like Mike Tyson’s sparring partner.
That’s how people forget to reload, and then start worrying that they are in need of a
de-load, or that they have a case of the dreaded “overtraining.”
So before you start planning your next de-load, think about how you can first increase
the amount that you are reloading. I have strict bedtimes that I adhere to 95% of the
time. My wife knows that when I’m getting ready for bed, that’s it. I’m going the fuck
to sleep. There is no stopping me. Unless I’m cutting down for a meet there is never
a moment in the day where I think, “damn I’m hungry as hell.” Does that mean I’m
constantly stuffing my face? No. It means I have food around so that when I feel slightly
hungry I can snack on something or drink a protein shake.
Remember to reload before you de-load. Your time outside the gym dwarfs your
training time (assuming you train 10 hours per week, that’s only 6% of your total week).
Maximize that time before worrying about how to change the time spent in the gym.
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The percentages are as follows:
The top three rows are make up the 1st Tier. The bottom row is the primary assistance
work that builds the majority of the 2nd Tier. See how I was talking about that grey area?
On week three and four the primary assistance work is within that 85%+ range. Why
is that? Because that is controlled over-reaching, which is very helpful for strengthening
your 2nd Tier performance and capacity. I’ll touch more on that in Section 6.
If you look closely you can see that I programmed the 2nd Tier accessory work to
decrease gradually in volume as the intensity of the 1st Tier work increased (until week
four where it jumps back up to 30 total reps in conjunction with a peaked amount of
intensity). That week sucks, but it’s only 25% of the month, and you can handle it.
Believe me.
Below is what that above table would look like with calculated reps using 375, 265,
and 475 for squat, bench, and deadlift.
Week 1
Week 2
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Week 3
Week 4
This is damn near what I did leading up to the IPL Worlds. I squatted and benched
twice per week and deadlifted in the middle of it all. It might look like a lot to some,
and to others it might not. Those tables exclude most of my 2nd Tier and 3rd Tier work.
On deadlift days for example I would do 5 × 5 at 275 lb of 300 deficit deadlifts pulled
conventionally (I pull sumo in competition). I would also do chin-ups or pull-ups, usually
for 5+ sets of 8 − 10 reps. Shrugs or rack pulls would be added in also at the end of it all.
One week I would work up to a max single or a max triple on shrugs then the following
Wednesday I would do 5 × 5, or just do sets of 5 increasing weight until I couldn’t.
A brief explanation of the Thursday bench and Friday squat day: notice the “+”
on the days later in the week. Those are the days where I would rep out that last set.
Also during that workout my primary assistance work, the first and only programmed
work listed in the table above making up my 2nd Tier, would have a greater emphasis
on the pause on the chest for bench or in the hole for squat. That should clear up some
slight differences on my programmed second days. Another thing to consider is my non-
programmed assistance work, which would also be different on the second training day
that week than it was on the first day. On Tuesday I might have done close grip but on
Thursday I might have done weighted dips. On Monday I may have done jump squat but
on Friday maybe I did box squats.
Pressing days would have close grip, OHP, incline, or dips as 2nd Tier work, with
pull-ups or chin-ups supersetted throughout. (Behind the neck presses supersetted with
Pendlay rows are fun as hell.) If not those it would be band pull-aparts or barbell rows
for 30+ total reps, rarely using a weight more than 135 lb. At the end of my pressing
workouts I would do cable triceps extensions for 3 − 5 sets of 15+ reps supersetted with
curls for the same set/rep scheme. If not curls, then face pulls. If not face pulls, then
light cable rows.
I don’t like to program the finer details of what I am going to do in my 2nd Tier and
3rd Tier. I will put down one or two exercises that I will hit for sure (deficit deadlifts
being one of them), and then play the rest by ear day-by-day. What do I mean by “play
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it by ear?” Well, I would consider what I did last session or last week on that same day.
If I did strict press last Thursday and now it’s Thursday the following week, I might do
push press instead. If I did jump squats on Monday and box squat the Friday prior to
that, then this Friday I might do front squats. The idea is that you switch things up.
Keep your training interesting, well rounded, and fun.
Maybe you aren’t like me. Maybe you like to program all the details. That’s great.
Do your thing but make sure you’re building a pyramid that’s only as wide as it needs to
be. If you are spending a ton of time in the 3rd Tier, chances are you aren’t working hard
enough at the top of your pyramid. I can easily bang out 25 lb cable triceps extensions
supersetted with face pulls for 100 total reps each in about five minutes. That’s not a lot
of actual time spent in the 3rd Tier, but it is more than sufficient volume to fill it and
support your 1st Tier and 2nd Tier.
6.1 Over-Reaching
Over-reaching is the idea of pushing your intensities with extra volume. This is often
seen in AMRAP sets, or as in my example table above. Use this for no more than a
week at a time. Otherwise you are not really over-reaching your abilities are you? The
goal of over-reaching is to approach, as closely and in as controlled a way as possible,
that ever-feared and most-reviled nemesis: over-training. Doing AMRAP every day on
all your main lifts is damn stupid and looks a whole lot like Crossfit. Don’t do that.
It’s uncontrolled, haphazard, and fails to properly utilize the concept of over-reaching to
your advantage. Instead, plan one or two sets per week for AMRAP (optional) and then
program a brief period of increased intensities and volume as done in the table above.
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of the ROM. Examples of supra-maximal loading for squats are: walkouts using 125% of
your max; Anderson half squats; or squats to a high box for the top portion of the lift.
Examples for shoulder presses are push presses, etc. You get the idea I’m sure. Making
the true lift harder in one form or another is supra-maximal loading. Should this be in
every workout? No, not necessarily. But it helps to include it at least every other week
in one form or another. In the table above I would do jump squats on Mondays and then
squats to a high box or lockouts on Fridays. That way I was supra-maximally loading my
squat every workout, just in opposite ways.
Supra-maximal loading is always considered 2nd Tier work. Over-reaching is when you
are intentionally pushing your 2nd Tier into your 1st Tier.
7 Conclusion
This isn’t a “program” like 5/3/1 or Starting Strength, it’s my training philosophy. The
tables are merely examples of what rep/set schemes I like to train with. Sets and reps I
can manage (and enjoy training with) to accomplish moving the weight I need to move
while also adhering closely to my (1 : 2 : 3)-rule and pyramid structure. I’m not going
to outline precise sets or reps for you, only you know what you like to do in the gym.
The examples I provided are what I found work for me within my training philosophy.
What you like doing is something you are more likely to continue doing. That’s the key
to building strength. That’s the true foundation of your pyramid; each tier must first be
supported by training consistently and frequently.
Even if you have the perfect program, with each set and rep for specific exercises
planned out for weeks on end, it is all useless if you do not stick to it. Similarly, if you
aren’t in the gym training with focus, effort, and desire then you will build no pyramid
at all. All you will have is a neat piece of paper. Some numbers and units, a pretty piece
of paper, and the abstract concept of a “plan.”
Using this method you can be the architect, the engineer, and the mason that builds
your entire pyramid of strength. That way it will be pretty, strong, and gradually rise to
greater heights.
References
[1] GZCL, [Meet Report] 2012 IPL World Powerlifting Championship, reddit thread
(2012), available at:
http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/131rj2/meet_report_2012_
ipl_world_powerlifting/.
[2] GZCL, The GZCL Method for Powerlifting, blog post (2012), available at:
http://swoleateveryheight.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-gzcl-method-for-powerlifting.
html.
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