A Weak Nobody’s Conjugate Training Method

As my training log indicates, I did some Conjugate (sometimes referred to as Westside) training the past few months. Conjugate training is a ton of fun and forces me to get out of my comfort zone on a variety of lifts and focus on weak points (although most days I feel everything on me is pretty weak). I’m not an expert on Conjugate and I’ve never stepped foot in Westside Barbell. I have read just about all of Louie Simmons’s books and have tried to watch and learn from his videos and DVDs. Certainly this is no substitute for training at Westside, but I came to grips with the fact that I’m not Chuck Vogelpohl a long time ago.

Nothing that I write here is new, groundbreaking, or hasn’t been said before. This is just an attempt to lay out how I run the program in plain terms. Hopefully someone will find it useful. The best resource that I’ve personally come across on Conjugate training is, “The Vault” e-book from Dave Tate at EliteFTS. Dave trained at Westside for a decade and has dedicated his life to giving back to the world of powerlifting. “The Vault” does a masterful job of detailing Conjugate training and years of hard-earned wisdom from Dave Tate. Let’s get started on my take.

Methods

Max Effort

The goal here is simple: Handle some relatively heavy weight and strain. There is just no substitute for loading up a heavy bar, getting under it, or getting it in your hands, and fighting to lift it. Conjugate training allows you to perform max effort work every single week with a different week which keeps training fresh, interesting, challenging, and fun.

Pick one major lift work up to a 1, 3, or 5 rep max. Every week I change the exercise, rotating through a variation of good mornings, squats, and deadlifts. The exercise can also be modified by using a different bar and adding bands and/or chains which offers a ton of variety.

Dynamic Effort

The goal here is to move a relatively lighter weight as fast as possible, putting maximum force into the bar with each rep. Make no mistake, the weights may be lighter but this is not a “light day.” Dynamic effort days, sometimes called, “speed days,” progress through a three-week wave, with goal weights on each respective week being 50%, 55%, 60% plus 25% of band tension added. We’re talking percentages of a one rep max in whatever movement you’re doing that day. In my experience, these percentages are a ballpark estimate and can vary a bit from person to person. I’ve seen some articles related to Conjugate training that give lower (40-50%) and higher (60-70%) for the three weeks. More importantly than the exact percentage is the speed at which you can move the bar. These sets should be fast and explosive, basically the complete opposite of a slow grind like on max effort days. Bands are ideal here because they provide an overspeed eccentric, pulling you down faster than just gravity working on the weight. They also allow you to push throughout the entire range of motion without naturally slowing down at the top to prevent the bar from going airborne. When I’m at the bottom of a lift using bands, I always think to myself that I need to, “out-run,” the bands, meaning that I need to come out of the bottom as hard and fast as possible. I need to get into the bands quickly, because I know that if I go too slow, they’ll win and I’ll get stapled.

Repetition

The repetition piece of this is just a fancy way to think about typical bro/bodybuilding movements. After your main lift is done for the day, either your max effort or dynamic effort work, pick a few isolation exercises and hit some higher rep sets. If I’m being honest, this is where I slack the most. My training always focuses more on movements rather than muscle groups, so repetition sets don’t really seem to do much for me. I’d rather hit a variation of one of the main movements for sets of five to eight reps or get in some kettlebell work to finish off the workout. Sometimes I’ll throw in some curls or triceps extensions at the end for the hell of it, but I could take it or leave it.

Days of the Week

• Monday - Max Effort Lower Body - Remember, the goal here is to handle some relatively heavy weight and strain. Some examples include:

  • Good Mornings with cambered bar or safety squat bar - Out of the rack or from the bottom up. These can be done with a straight bar too, but it can really feel like shit on the shoulders. I typically don’t do a max single with good mornings, instead opting for a 3 or 5 rep max.

  • Squats or Box Squats with cambered bar, safety squat bar or straight bar.

  • Deadlifts - Sumo, deficit, block pulls, snatch grip, trap bar.

• Wednesday - Max Effort Upper Body - Same rules and rationale as Monday. Sample lifts include:

  • Bench or incline bench press with neutral grip bar, straight bar, or axle.

  • Pin press with neutral grip bar, straight bar, or axle.

  • Floor press with neutral grip bar, straight bar, or axle.

  • Overhead press or push press with neutral grip bar, straight bar, or axle

• Friday - Dynamic Effort Lower Body - Remember, this is a fast/explosive day, not a light day. Sample lifts and sets x reps schemes are below. Hitting 15-25 total reps is a good goal.

  • Box squats with safety squat bar, cambered bar, or straight bar with bands and/or chains. Bands tend to work best here. After each three-week wave, feel free to switch bars, box height, band tension, weight, sets x reps scheme, rest periods, or whatever feels best. Rest periods are kept to 45-90 seconds between sets, so this goes fast and should get your heart rate up. For sets x reps, I like to work with 12 x 2, 8 x 3, and 5 x 5. You can change these as you progress through each wave and the weight gets heavier. For example:

    • Week 1: 12 x 2

    • Week 2: 10 x 2

    • Week 3: 8 x 2

    or

    • Week 1: 8 x 3

    • Week 2: 6 x 3

    • Week 3: 5 x 3

    or

    • Week 1: 5 x 5

    • Week 2: 4 x 5

    • Week 3: 3 x 5

  • Deadlifts - Sumo or conventional with bands and/or chains. For these I like to do 15 - 25 singles with 20 - 30 seconds of rest, but there’s nothing wrong with doing some doubles or triples. I often do either deadlifts or kettlebells in addition to dynamic effort box squats.

  • Kettlebell Work - Kettlebells are a perfect complement to dynamic effort day. Swings, cleans, snatches, you can’t go wrong. Have fun with it.

• Sunday - Dynamic Effort Upper Body - Same rules and rationale as Friday.

  • Bench with straight bar or neutral grip bar with bands and/or chains. Play around with the sets and reps just like on Friday.

This is my practical approach to Conjugate training four days per week. Obviously adding in other stuff will have an effect on recovery, but I also do a ton of walking, hiking, and other light cardio throughout the week. Don’t be afraid to jump right into Conjugate training. It may take some time and effort to figure out what works best for you, but that’s part of the fun.