The GZCL Method is Not a Program

It was never intended to be.

I have simply laid out the tiered structure, the correlating intensities, as well as the volume gradients attached to each tier. I have given suggested exercises as well as suggested exercise pairings. I have written about all kinds of things relating to training, in the general sense, in order to avoid making a “GZCL Program.”

The guidelines or "soft rules," oversimplified.

It is not a program. It is a method.

Of course I have created programs from it. Programs that are found on TheSquatRack.com, found in the original body of the text, and various other places. Hell, I have emailed excel files to people; programs that I have used previously. But those are only examples of what can be done with the GZCL Method and the road doesn’t end with those.

Hell, most of them are not perfect. No program is. Most of them weren’t made for you.

Unless you made it, chances are it wasn’t made for you. That means you will probably have to make a few small changes- that is your program.

Think of it this way, my method is simply a map. The programs I have put out there using that map are only routes. How you navigate that map is entirely up to you. It is your efforts that will take you from Point-A to Point-B, and getting there- even if using the exact same route, could have very different experiences from lifter to lifter.

A map is what every lifter needs. Lacking a map is often what keeps people from starting an adventure- and that’s all training is, and should be. An adventure. I’ve published a map and it is up to the owners of that knowledge to use it as they deem fit. If they put it on a bookshelf to collect dust so be it. But I am genuinely honored to hear about everyone who has taken my map and wore it out in their back pocket.

Making their journey, under their drive, and to their destination.

Whether or not someone has used my map and routes doesn’t mean I’ve somehow magically gifted to them their destination. Helpful information is nothing without action and it is action that causes reaction. That reaction is newfound strength.

Now for a small new addition to my map...

A new addition to the “soft rules” or guidelines I’ve put out.

The Priority Continuum

Consistency: Are you training often enough?  

Frequency: Are you training your T1 movements frequently and consistently?

Volume: Are you programming with adequate volume in all tiers, frequently and consistently?  

Intensity: Are you moving intensities with adequate volume in all tiers, frequently and consistently?

Diet: Are you adhering to a diet that guarantees your continued performance in the above four?

Drugs: Are all above matters in order?

More on this in a later blog post.

Again, use my method as such, and never think it to be strict sets-times-reps-times-weight-times-whatever. Because that is not what it is. If something isn’t working out for you along your route with this map, guess what, stray the path and go bushwhacking. Murder a few oxen in a river crossing and maybe get stranded in a blizzard and eat your family.  

Because all that matters in this adventure is whether or not you end up stronger at the end of it.