GZCL VDIP
VDIP, short for Volume Dependent Intensity Progression, is Cody Lefever's linear progression built entirely on max rep sets, published free on his Swole at Every Height blog. Nothing fixes the reps: the total you get across your sets decides next week's weight. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load.
What this program is
Four days a week, each built around one main lift (the T1), a close variation of it (the T2), and two accessories (the T3). The pairings are the ones from Lefever's own worked example.
A max rep set is a rep-out stopped one or two reps short of failure. Every set in the program is one. Lefever's summary of the idea is a theory of effort: trying harder usually works better, and a fixed five by five only asks for real effort on the last set or two.
How the weight goes up
At the end of each workout you total the reps for every lift and read them against his Tiered Volume Goals:
| Tier | Total reps across 3 sets | Next week |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | 15 or more | +10 lb |
| T1 | 10 to 14 | +5 lb |
| T1 | Under 10 | Reduce |
| T2 | More than 30 | +10 lb |
| T2 | 25 to 30 | +5 lb |
| T2 | 20 to 24 | Same weight |
| T2 | Under 20 | Reduce |
A near or actual failure also brings the weight down, whatever the total. Downward-trending rep totals are expected: as the weight climbs, the reps fall, and the run ends when the T1 can no longer reach ten.
At a glance
| Discipline | Powerlifting |
| Author | Cody Lefever (GZCL) |
| Experience level | Intermediate |
| Length | 5 weeks, then a deload and a fresh max test |
| Training days | 4 per week |
| Equipment | Full power gym |
| Loading | Percentages of a training max (a confident 2RM), moved each week by the reps you logged |
| Price | Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes |
Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.
How it works in Ægir Iron
The rule runs itself. Each week of the program is its own cycle, so when you finish the fourth day Ægir Iron reads every set you logged, totals the reps per lift, and offers each one its new training max sized by Lefever's table. Accept it and next week's 85 and 65 percent rows land exactly 5 or 10 lb heavier on the bar. Under the floor, or with a set logged as a miss, the proposal comes down 5 percent, the low end of his range, and you can lower it further. Log every set, warm-ups marked as warm-ups, and the totals are right.
It asks for eight starting numbers: the four main lifts and the four variations, because each variation moves by its own reps. Lefever defines the training max as a confident 2RM you could hit today and asks you to start light rather than heavy. Week one is the calibration week: most lifters get five to eight reps on the first T1 set, and ten to fifteen on the first T2 set.
The program runs five weeks, the length of his example; he says the guidelines hold for four to six before a deload and a new max. His write-up also describes stretching it past that with a fourth and then a fifth set, and a singles-led variation for lifters whose deadlift will not hold three rep-outs. Those are judgement calls on how the first block went, so they are described in the program text rather than written into the weeks.
Start GZCL VDIP
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick Powerlifting, then choose GZCL VDIP from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? It is free on iOS, Android, and the web, with your data synced across all three.