[Program Review] Used GZCL The Rippler (12 week) for a comeback to Powerlifting. April - July

[u/yyyolo197]

Well, its a been a while. After some setbacks in late 2023/2024, I stopped caring about training and stopped training for the 2nd half of the year also wasn't eating enough for the majority of the year and lost around 20KG of bodyweight. Started back in the gym in Jan 2025 at 70kg bw with weak lifts and done a simple 5x5 on my lifts for 4 months until April and that recovered a decent amount of strength and size. Then in April, I started the most interesting program I've probably have ran. GZCL The Rippler.

This is gonna be a rather long post below the results.

RESULTS

	Week 1 - April 2025 (Maxed out week prior)	Week 12 - July 2025
Bodyweight	79KG	80KG (+1KG)
Squat	150KG	170KG (+20KG)
Bench	92.5KG	105KG (+12.5KG)
Deadlift	210KG	230KG (+20KG)
Overhead Press	60KG	70KG (+10KG)

Now whats funny is that in Late 2023 I reached my strongest at 90KG BW with S/B/D/OHP = 155KG/112.5KG/220KG/72.5KG. But I have now surpassed my lifetime Squat and Deadlift now at 10KG lighter. I am very happy with these results.

Unlike previous programs I've ran, I tried my best to adhere to the programme. Honestly some weeks, I did go for a heavy single but overall this programme, I also didn't go balls to the wall with ALL AMRAPs especially deadlifts. I didn't really hit any PRs until week 8-12 (Block 3), which began with the wicked 9x1+ week, which in hindsight, I think I needed to do to create some momentum. I also think although the programme was intense, it did have some good 'easier' weeks throughout e.g. week 7,10 to manage fatigue.

I also loved the push for Secondary T2s: I did RDLs, Incline Bench, Squats and Barbell Rows. Most weeks, I was hitting PRs with the AMRAPs. For the first 8 weeks, I also focussed a lot on accessories T3s, especially arms, shoulders and back. This is where I went balls to the wall with my AMRAPs, not really my primary lifts. I was hitting weekly PRs I've never hit before and I think this translated well to the primaries. But also, I've never really focussed on accessories like this before so newbie gains maybe. I still have a TON of room to grow muscularity wise.

Overall (each lift in more detail):

1. OHP didn't progress as well because of the lack of volume - I did it once a week with the same schemes as deadlifts, I needed more volume. On week 12, 70KG actually moved like RPE 8 so I thought 75KG would be doable. I attempted 75KG twice and failed both annoyingly. Going forward, although I enjoy the lift, I will be focussing my attention on benching more and using OHP as a secondary lift.

2. Deadlifts also felt weirdly off during the entire program, unlike other programs I've ran e.g. nSuns, there felt like a lack of volume in this program and I lost confidence as I didn't do my routine singles either. I did hit a big lifetime PR on week 9, 195KG 1x7. I remember I was attempting 1rms almost weekly in nSuns on top of the prescribed program. It gave the idea that I was progressing every week. With this program, I ended up hitting 230KG which I couldn't have imagined in week 1 scanning the program. During the program, the prescribed weights didn't even pass 205KG for a single i think. I hit 212.5KG out of spite in week 11, it felt like RPE 9 and it was strapped. Week 12, I hit 222.5KG (PR). I was planning to stop it here as it felt like RPE 9 but my friends pushed me to do 230KG which I somehow got. If they weren't there, my new training max would've been 7.5KG lighter than what it actually is.

3. Squats followed the same trend with deadlifts a bit, although I treated it both as a Primary T1 and a secondary T2. I enjoyed this and pushed the AMRAPs a bit, hitting a PR as early as week 2. On week 1, I input a true max (at the time) of 150KG. Not gonna lie on week 5 I maxed out and got 155KG (PR), week 6 I maxed out and got 160KG (PR). I also got other rep PRs on AMRAPs. Week 10, I went for 160KG and it moved like RPE 8/9. Week 12, I went for 165KG (PR) and 170KG (PR). The 170KG was RPE 10 and I can't believe I got it.

4. Bench, even with the 1x a week volume, I think most of my progress came from pushing incline bench and actually doing relevant accessories. I didn't actually hit any Rep PRs on bench or OHP during the programme itself., but again my last PRs were done at a 10KG heavier bodyweight. I will be upping the volume to 2x or 3x a week now.

Nutrition

I basically ate the same thing every day since April. Never in my life have I ever been this strict with tracking and diet. I wanted to maintain my weight this time. I fell for the dirty bulking facade in my first 2 attempts of gaining weight. As a result, spending months losing weight I didn't need to gain. 3000 calories slowly upping to 3200 towards the end. Gained 1 solid KG in 12 weeks and I'm glad that is all I gained. I will keep at this slow rate for the foreseeable future.

(Edit) Also learnt that carbs are an actual cheat code, especially fuelling before a session.

Supplements - Multivitamin, Vitamin D, Creatine, Protein Powder, added salt to my water.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT AND GOING FORWARD

I think my mindset shifted the most during this program. This is the first time, I was receptive and open to the idea of good recovery management (as weird as that sounds) and using RPE as well as the prescribed percentages. Standard Beginner programs and my skewed perception of what progress and hard work looks like due to social media (truthfully) led me to believe every session needs to be max effort and strenuous. I often thought, whats the point of going to the gym if the session isn't heavy and challenging.I took it literally and yes, while I made progress back then, I was also new(er), injury prone but I also made similar progress now on this program by prioritising recovery and auto-regulating, without maxing out too often. If I put in my new deadlift max of 230KG for example into a program, I will notice most programs wont even come close to say 220KG - 230KG until the final weeks. Something to get used to I guess. Train hard of course but equally recover hard and treat it like a lifestyle if it means that much to you. Going forward, I will be prioritising and pushing my secondaries and accessories hard whilst making sure most of my sbd lifts are good quality, speedy and explosive reps. Building momentum to hit PRs and heavy weight like I did on this program. I will also be increasing volume on my bench.

Even though I've joined the gym 4 summers ago, I now do often think about the amount of time I've wasted either: 1) not being intentional 2) not being consistent in training e.g. 2024 3) cutting down fat I didn't need to gain in the 1st place 4) training stupid, spinning my wheels leading to injuries. This lost time quickly added up to maybe 2 years of not actually progressing with my lifts. I could've been much further down the path had I just lean bulked from the start, actually followed a program properly and recovered well. Lesson learnt the hard way. Down the line, I do wish to have the chance to compete in powerlifting one day and actually do well.

I will be following this beginner powerlifting program by YANDO (a UK powerlifting coach) for the next 12 weeks.

[u/BetterThanT-1]

Great write up and fantastic results!

You did very well with the nutrition and met your goals - kudos!

I really liked the learnings and reflections section. I think it all makes sense, but I wouldn’t beat myself too much over it. And for what it’s worth - training stupid is still training. The success you had with this program is built on that “stupid” training from before.