Conjugate Training for Athletes 101 The Method Behind the Madness
At Arete Strength and Performance we use a conjugate based training system for the athletes that we train. Soviet Russia was the first people to begin using conjugate programming in their training of olympic lifters and then it was made popular in the United States by Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio.
Conjugate is a type of periodization for training like block or linear training, and in my opinion it is the best way to train athletes of all ages or skill levels when it is properly programmed. Before we begin conjugate training with a new athlete we always do preliminary work first. General physical preparedness (GPP) training is very important, but often overlooked because many athletes and their parents think that they need “sport specific” training. As the great Louie Simmons said “a pyramid is only as tall as its base.” People tend to want to skip straight to the sport specific or more advanced levels of training, but there is no point in doing that if the athlete doesn't have a high base level of training. The preliminary work we do is different for every athlete. Some athletes come to us and have been training in the gym for many years and they are able to begin a conjugate based system after just one three week wave of GPP work. Other athletes have never had a strength and conditioning program before, and depending on their age it could be three years before we move to a conjugate training system. This is why I started the beginner strength and conditioning class for ages 11 and under. This gives them a head start to train for three years and develop a big base of GPP so they will have a higher level of potential later on in their athletic career. This is called the rule of three. I will write an article later on this topic explaining the importance of youth training and why every youth athlete should begin a strength and conditioning program when they are young. If we begin training an athlete that doesn’t have much of a background in weight training but is a junior or senior in high school then we try to progress him into the conjugate system as fast and as safely as possible. Our main focus is to make sure all the athletes that train here are injury free, but if they have high athletic aspirations then an upperclassman needs to move into specialized physical training (SPP) faster than an untrained Jr. High athlete would need to. This is why it is important to have your son or daughter begin working with a qualified strength and conditioning coach at an early age.
When a new athlete joins our program and is physically prepared enough we begin to move into a more advanced conjugate periodization system. This system can be used to improve any weakness the athlete may have without neglecting another aspect of his training. The goal is similar for athletes that play a variety of sports. Improve maximal force is certain positions (FM), improve the rate of force development (RFD) and optimize the athletes body composition. From what I’ve researched and have seen in my own gym this system is the best and fastest way to make an athlete bigger, faster and stronger
A traditional conjugate training week has four main training days with smaller recovery workouts in between.
Max Lower (FM)
Max Upper (FM)
Dynamic Lower (RFD)
Dynamic Upper (RFD)
Max Effort Lower
The max effort lower day, could also be called a heavy lower day. On this training day we will start with a warmup, targeting the hips, hamstrings, quadriceps and lower back. These are the main muscles that we will be using on this day, so they need to be good and prepared before we move into the main movement for the day. After the warmup is complete we move into the main lift for the day. We usually alternate weekly between a sumo deadlift variation and a sumo squat variation, but will also mix in some good morning type movements and lunge variations as well.
If the athlete has a high base of GPP then he will work up to a 1RM, 3RM or a 5RM on the variation of the lift that we are doing that week. The max effort method is the best and fastest way to increase your absolute strength and the maximum amount of force that your body will be able to produce in that position because the body only responds to the demands that are placed upon it. When an athlete maxes on a lift he is improving his inter and intramuscular coordination. This is a key component for any athlete. In every sport it is beneficial to be able to generate a large amount of force from your lower half. Depending on the sport you play there may eventually be some diminishing returns once you get to a certain strength level, but it is important to remember that strength is never a weakness. No coach has ever said that he doesn’t like that athlete because he is “too strong”.
Yes, the athletes we train here will max out weekly once they are capable of handling that type of load. (Although there will be alterations depending on the time of the year, how their body is feeling and how consistent they have been with their training.) In my opinion when done correctly it is just as safe to train this way as it is to a high rep low set program. When an athlete has a lot of reps on a certain lift in their program, for example 4 sets of 10, if they are pushing themselves properly then usually by the 8-10 rep range and on the 3rd-4th set at the 5 rep range form drastically begins to break down. This can and will eventually lead to injury. When our athletes max, we typically end the max training session when form begins to break down. At that point the coach training the athlete is able to see where his weaknesses are and what muscle groups need to be targeted for accessory work.
After the main movement of the training session we will move into plyometric work. I like having the athletes do this because we go from training one end of the force velocity curve to the complete opposite end. The max effort work is training maximal force and absolute strength, the plyometric work trains for explosive power. Both are needed to be an elite athlete. For plyometric work we usually stick with one exercise for three weeks. Every week we will bump up the weight, volume or the band tension being used. For example, if the athlete is doing a three week wave of box jumps, then week one he may start out just doing body weight, the next week he might be holding 10 lb dumbbells or a medicine ball and then the third week it would be a heavier dumbbell or medicine ball. After the three week wave ends we switch up the type of plyometric work that the athlete is doing.
For example:
Wave 1 Week 1 - Box jumps on a 24” box
Wave 1 Week 2 - Box jumps on a 24” box holding 10lb dumbbells
Wave 1 Week 3 - Box Jumps on a 24” box holding 15lb dumbbells
Wave 2 Week 1 - Kneeling Jumps
Wave 2 Week 2 - Kneeling Jumps with a 10lb medicine ball
Wave 2 Week 3 - Keeling Jumps with a 15lb medicine ball
Training like this helps the athlete achieve the desired training effect while avoiding the law of accommodation and without overworking the athlete's body.
After plyometric work is completed we move into the accessory lifts. These are programmed specific to the athletes needs and weaker muscle groups. Most of the time we are attacking the posterior chain. Hamstrings, calves, glutes, hips and lower back. It is important to switch up the accessory lifts occasionally as well so the athlete avoids the law of accommodation. The law of accommodation is a biological law that states that if someone keeps doing the same exercises over and over then progress will stop and eventually move backwards. This becomes tricky because you want to switch up their workouts, but you don't want to add too much variation especially to a non advanced athlete.
Max Effort Upper
Max effort upper day is the upper body version of the max lower day. The goal is to work on producing as much force as possible through a 1-3 rep max on the main upper body lift for the day. We begin this training session by warming up the shoulders, triceps and lats. This is usually done through high rep band work. Most of the athletes I train are baseball players, so I like having my athletes do a lot of high rep band work on the upper body to help thicken up the ligaments and tendons that they use in a throwing motion. This helps bullet proof their joints and will help prevent injury. The typical exercises we use for this are band pull aparts, different variations of tricep extensions, straight arm lat pulldowns, and face pulls for about 2-3 sets of 30-60 reps. Be sure to switch your exercises every 3 weeks to avoid the law of accommodation.
After band work is completed we move into some type of pull or row variation. This is usually just with body weight or a light sled. Before we move into our main movement of the day we want to make sure the lats are completely warm. We use a wide variety of movements for this part of the training session including pull ups, chinups, inverted rows, sled face pulls, sled rows, reverse hyper face pulls, birddog rows and reverse hyper rows. Again switching the movement every three weeks to avoid accommodating.
After the athletes are warmed up we move into the main movement for the day. Usually it will be a bench press variation, but sometimes we also do a shoulder press or pull up. We will switch up the max effort lift every week. There are many different variations that you can do on the bench for max effort work.
Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press
Floor Press
Floor Press with Chains
Pin Press
Pin Press with Chains or bands
Bench Press with a pause on chest
Board Press
Reverse Band Bench Press
Bench Press with bands
Bench Press 3 RM
Bench Press 5 RM
Incline Bench
Decline Bench
The variations you use on max effort work is only limited to your imagination. If this is your first time using the conjugate system use 4-6 different max effort exercises and retest them after the 4-6 weeks. As you become more advanced you can add new variations into your program.
After you hit your max or heavy main movement for the day we move into accessory work. Accessory work will depend on where your weaknesses are. For most beginner to intermediate athletes their triceps, and lats need to be trained the most. We focus on adding mass into the athletes posterior chain. These are the “sport specific” muscles that they use to be a more powerful athlete. We will also do a lot of rotational core work and explosive work with a medicine ball as well.
Dynamic Effort Lower
The dynamic effort lower day could also be called a speed lower day. This training session should happen 72 hours or later after a max effort or heavy lower training day because our bodies needs time to recover in between max effort and dynamic effort training days. The focus of this training session is to move submaximal weights as fast as possible. This is how you improve your speed strength. Some athletes are faster than they are strong and some athletes are stronger than they are fast. Implementing a max effort and dynamic effort lift will help ensure that the athlete has a sufficient amount of speed strength and absolute strength. This is the beauty of the conjugate method, the athletes are improving upon all types of strength at the same time. An athlete will improve their weaknesses without neglecting the aspects that are currently their strengths.
The goal of a dynamic effort lift is to increase the rate that an athlete develops force (RFD) and improve speed strength. To do this the athlete will have to focus on completing each rep as fast as possible while maintaining proper mechanics. The amount of weight that the athlete is training with can’t be too heavy or too light. If the bar is too light then the athlete will not be applying enough force to train speed strength even though the bar is moving fast. If the bar is too heavy then the bar will not be moving at a fast enough rate to increase the athlete's RFD. Also, the athlete will not be able to recover in the short amount of rest time given to him and will burn out before the training session is over. It will also inhibit his ability to recover between training sessions which could lead to an overuse injury.
This training day will be a lot higher in volume than your max effort day. The main lifts on this day will be high sets and low reps with a submaximal weight, which. The reason we train with high sets and low reps is because we want to move every single rep at the highest velocity the athlete is capable of. Ideally the athlete will move the bar around 0.8-1 meter per second. If you were to do a squat training session of four sets of ten reps the bar speed would dramatically slow down after the first few reps. Keeping the sets high and the reps low will translate over sports that require a short burst of explosive movements with short rest time in between.
A baseball pitcher is a great example of dynamic effort training transferring over to a sport. Traditionally pitchers (especially starting pitchers) have been told to run long distances to improve their endurance on the mound. The problem with running long distances is that you are training slow twitch muscle fibers and not fast twitch muscle fibers. Training slow creates slow athletes. Pitchers don’t need endurance, they need EXPLOSIVE endurance. Every throw a pitcher makes on the mound is an explosive movement with a short rest time in between pitches. Properly applying the dynamic effort method in a pitchers training program will help him go longer in games without a dramatic drop in velocity because the pitcher has been working on staying explosive for a high amount of sets with a short rest time in between. Dynamic effort training will apply over to any sport that requires speed strength or short bursts of explosive movements.
A dynamic effort lower training session will follow a similar format to a max effort lower training session. We start with a warm up to increase blood flow and improve range of motion in the areas that we will be targeting, usually the hips, hamstrings, quadriceps and lower back. The first part of the warmup is usually done with body weight and bands and after that is completed we will move into light sled work. There are many different sled variations that we use on our athletes. I will go deeper into all the benefits of training with a sled in a later blog post.
After the warm up is complete we will move into the main lifts for the day. The lifts that my athletes primarily use on dynamic lower training sessions is a sumo squat, sumo deadlift or a lunge variation. We will typically do two of the three variations during one training session for a three week wave. After that wave is over we will switch up the main lifts for slightly different exercises to avoid the law of accommodation. Generally the first week of a wave we will start with 50% of the athlete’s max on that lift with approximately 25% band tension. The bar weight is increased by 5% each week for a three week wave and on the third week we will drop the reps so that the volume is equal to the first week of the three week wave. If you do not have access to bands then you can increase the bar weight from 50% to 70% and increase that weight by 5% each week.
Example of a 3 week wave dynamic effort squat session of an athlete with a 400lb 16” box squat max.
Wave 1- 16” box squat 400 lb max
Week % of max Bar weight Sets Reps Volume
Week 1 50% 200 12 2 4800
Week 2 55% 220 12 2 5280
Week 3 60% 240 10 2 4800
After a three week wave is completed we will switch up the exercise variation. It may be a different bar, different size box, or a different amount of sets and reps.
Wave 2 - 14” box squat 350 lb max
Week % of max Bar weight Sets Reps Volume
Week 1 50% 175 12 2 4200
Week 2 55% 195 12 2 4680
Week 3 60% 210 10 2 4200
The change made in the second wave was a 2” shorter box and we kept the bar, the reps and sets the same. Doing twelve sets of two or nine sets of three is a great way to build speed strength and develop explosive power. If the athlete is lacking mass or is new to strength and performance training we will also do waves of five sets of five on a dynamic training day. The bar speed may begin to slow down on the fourth or fifth rep but this typically works better for a hypertrophy block or for more novice level athletes. Rest time varies depending on what your rep and set range is. For twelve sets of two I have my athletes rest 20-30 seconds, for nine sets of three I have them rest for 40 seconds and for five sets of five, I’ll have them rest for a minute between each set.
After the main movements are completed we move the athletes into plyometric training. This is similar to max lower training days. There are plenty of variations that you can do with your plyometric training. We usually try to keep this sport and position specific. For my baseball players we do different variations of a transverse jump if they are trying to build velocity in their throw or swing, and different broad jump and vertical jump variations if they need to improve their speed. Many other sports will require vertical and lateral plyometric work.
After plyometric work is completed we move into the athletes accessory work for the day. The accessory work needs to be specific to that athlete's needs and weaknesses. Just like the max effort day we usually attack the posterior chain. We always make sure to do a lot of reverse hypers on a max effort and a dynamic effort day. Reverse hypers are one of the best exercises you can do to build up your lower back and decompress your spine. With all the squating, deadlifting and lunging that my athletes do in my conjugate based program it is important to make sure their lower back is strong and healthy. A good general rule to follow is to make sure your reverse hyper volume is 4x your squat volume for that week. After the accessory work we will usually work on some hip mobility before the training day is over.
Dynamic Effort Upper
The last training session of the week is a dynamic upper day. This is the upper body version on the dynamic lower day to work on speed strength and rate of force development in the upper body. We do dynamic upper training at least 72 hours after a max effort upper training session to make sure the athlete is fully recovered in between sessions. The main lift on a dynamic upper day has traditionally been a bench press variation, but recently I have been experimenting with landmine presses, bent over rows, shoulder presses and chinups. Most of the time I will have my athletes bench, but because I primarily train baseball players we tend to not bench as much during the season to alleviate some of the stress on their shoulders.
Just like a dynamic lower day the goal is to move sub maximal weights as fast as possible. We begin this training session the same way as the other training sessions, warming up the areas that are about to be targeted. High rep band work for the shoulder, triceps and back is always my go to for training baseball players. This helps thicken up the ligaments and tendons so they are able to handle a higher workload throughout the year. We switch up the band work variations every three week wave to avoid accommodation and to keep the athletes mentally engaged in the warmup.
After the band warm up we move into light sled work and med ball throws. We want to get their central nervous system primed to be explosive. Then we start the main movement for the day. Since a dynamic upper training session is usually a bench press variation we will use that as an example. For bench press we typically do nine sets of three reps or five sets of five if the athlete is doing a hypertrophy block. I usually have the load lighter than a dynamic lower training session, starting with 40% of their max the first week with about 25% accommodating resistance (bands or chains) and increasing the weight on the bar by 5% weekly for three weeks.
Example:
Wave 1- Bench Press max 200lbs
Week % of max Bar weight Sets Reps Volume
Week 1 40% 80 9 3 2160
Week 2 45% 90 9 3 2430
Week 3 50% 100 7 3 2100
After a three week wave is completed we will switch up the exercise variation. It may be a different bar, or different bench press variation.
Wave 2 - Floor Press Max 225lbs
Week % of max Bar weight Sets Reps Volume
Week 1 40% 90 9 3 2430
Week 2 45% 100 9 3 2700
Week 3 50% 115 7 3 2415
There are many different types of variations that athletes can do for a dynamic upper training session. Just like everything else in a conjugate program the main lifts are rotated in and out to avoid accommodation.
Remember accommodating resistance is very important for dynamic training. Bands and chains help teach the athletes how to accelerate through a lift and will help them develop speed strength.
After the main lift is completed we move the athlete into accessory work. Like all other accessory work that we do it is going to be programmed according to that specific athlete's weaknesses, but we typically focus on the lats, rear delts, and triceps.
Concluding Remarks
Hopefully after reading this you have a basic understanding of the conjugate system. I plan on going into each training day in more detail in future blog posts. You may have to modify the program based on the equipment that you have access to, the time of the year, or the amount of time you have to train weekly. Most of the athletes I train aren't able to make it into the gym four days a week, due to practice, games, school and other activities. If they are able to come three times per week we modify it by doing a max lower, max upper and a full body dynamic day. If they are only able to come twice per week we modify it by alternating a max lower and max upper week and a dynamic lower and dynamic upper week. To achieve the fastest results, training four or three days per week is the most beneficial, but athletes do still see many benefits when they train twice per week.
From what I have researched and noticed from my athletes is that the conjugate system is the best and fastest way to help an athlete reach their full potential in their sport when it is implemented properly. If you are new to training or training novice athletes be sure and follow the “rule of three” which is three years of preliminary training that an athlete needs to go through before using the conjugate system. If you begin implementing the conjugate system make sure you are utilizing proper recovery modalities. Conjugate training can be hard on your body and if you aren't focused on recovering from your training properly then you can wear down physically, mentally and emotionally.
If you have any questions feel free to email me at justin@aretetexas.net.
