Week 1, day 1
Session 1- Barbell bench press67.5 kg3 × 5
- Incline barbell bench press55 kg5 × 6
- Behind-neck barbell press40 kg5 × max
- Dumbbell lateral raise10 kg5 × max · per dumbbell
The Rippler
A 12-week GZCL wave for strength and size.
Not sure it’s for you? See programs like it, ranked for you →Your numbers
Worked out for an example lifter who squats 100 kg × 5, benches 75 kg × 5, deadlifts 130 kg × 5 and presses 50 kg × 5. Change any number to see your own.
Ten-rep maxes (T3)
T3 starts at your 10-rep max. After weeks 3, 6 and 9 it goes up by 5 to 15 lb, depending on your reps.
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10-rep maxDetails
The program’s usual settings
Two-rep maxes
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10-rep max · Weight of one dumbbell.kg
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10-rep maxWeek by week
Every workout, as Catalyst would give it to you from the example numbers.
Week 1, day 2
Session 2- Back squat92.5 kg3 × 5
- Barbell stiff-leg deadlift77.5 kg5 × 6
- Pull-upBodyweight5 × max · added to bodyweight
- EZ bar curl30 kg5 × max
Week 1, day 3
Session 3- Barbell overhead press45 kg3 × 5
- Close-grip bench press55 kg5 × 6
- Incline barbell bench press57.5 kg5 × max
- EZ-bar pullover25 kg5 × max
Week 1, day 4
Session 4- Conventional deadlift120 kg3 × 5
- Front squat65 kg5 × 6
- Barbell row65 kg5 × max
- Dumbbell rear delt fly7.5 kg5 × max · per dumbbell
Here, in week 11, The Rippler asks you: “Test your one-rep max.” Only you can answer that, so Catalyst doesn’t guess: in the app, you answer and the program carries on.
Where it takes you
Each lift’s heaviest set, workout by workout, over the first 11 weeks, if every set is done as written.
A forecast, not a promise: it assumes every set is done as written. In the app, what you actually lift decides what comes next, by the program’s own rules.
What it trains
Working sets in the first week for each muscle, counted once for each muscle an exercise trains.
| Muscle | Main mover | Helping |
|---|---|---|
| Gluteals | 16 | 0 |
| Pectorals | 13 | 0 |
| Hamstrings | 8 | 0 |
| Quadriceps | 8 | 0 |
| Triceps | 3 | 13 |
| Deltoids | 3 | 0 |
| Serratus anterior | 0 | 16 |
| Spinal erectors | 0 | 16 |
| Anterior deltoids | 0 | 13 |
| Adductors | 0 | 8 |
| Upper trapezius | 0 | 3 |
The schedule
4 workouts a week, on whichever days suit you.
| Week | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 2 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 3 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 4 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 5 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 6 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 7 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 8 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 9 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 10 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 11 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
| 12 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 |
How it works
The program’s own rules, as Catalyst runs them.
Four training days a week for twelve weeks. Enter a recent two-rep max for each T1 lift, a five-rep max for each T2 lift and a ten-rep max for each T3 lift; do not use one-rep maxes. T1 and T2 weights are percentages of those maxes, rounded to your smallest weight jump. A plus means the last set is as many reps as possible; leave one or two reps in reserve, as on every T3 set. Keep each T3 weight for three weeks. After weeks 3, 6 and 9, the total reps of that week’s T3 sets add 15, 10 or 5 lb: more than 70, 60 or 50 reps after week 3, 60, 50 or 40 after week 6, and 50, 40 or 30 after week 9. Week 11 trains T1 only. Week 12 tests your one-rep max on squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press.
What you need
Everything its exercises call for. Missing something? The app suggests swaps that train the same thing.
- Adjustable bench
- Barbell
- Dumbbells
- EZ curl bar
- Flat bench
- Pull-up bar
- Squat rack
Not sure it’s the one?
See every program like it ranked for what you want, how often you train and what you have, each with why it fits and what doesn’t. Compare any three side by side.
Run The Rippler in Catalyst
Every set ready. Every weight right.
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