Conjugate/Concurrent Powerbuilding Program 3 Days per Week

Training
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Hey guys, always been a big fan of writing out programs and thinking of different ways to work things together figured I would post this to bounce ideas off people. This is not what I am currently running but i have run something similar a few years ago 6 days a week instead of 3. With life changes (wife, kids, stressful job) I believe this version will be less stressful on the mind and body.

Why Conjugate/Concurrent? My experiences working in the military and now framing/carpentry have shown me that after standing on a ladder all day or doing a 13k ruck for your day job, 80% of your max squat can seem like climbing mount everest. Big fan of daily max’s for this. Worry about the strain not the weight ( but you should be going for PR’s if up to it).

How to complete ME work:
If experienced or in a quality training environment with quality partners to keep you in check, I like to follow Louie Simmons of a true Max set. Louie states Max effort is a single, doubles, triples and fives are submaximal and do not recruit 100% of the motor functions and coordination.

If un experienced and lifting in a sub par environment i would suggest doubles. People generally have more confidence and will likely perform atleast one of the reps with perfect form.

For speed strength days Louie suggests 25 reps of Bench, 25 reps of Squats and 20 Reps of Dl per week. Now instead of doing the 8 sets of 3, 12 sets of 2 approach, I like to take a page out of Brandon Lillys book and perform the reps as quickly as possible without compromising form or slowing at a noticeable rate. If you slow, rack or put down the bar, wait 30 seconds and bang out more reps until you reached the prescribed number.

Now these are what i use for percentages on speed day. You will eventually figure out what works for you to stay fast but have enough weight that you are working.

3 week waves

Dl 55, 60, 65
Squat, 60, 65, 70
Bench/ohp 70 for all 3 weeks

Now as far as the “conjugate method” is concerned the only exercise i use variation with is the DL, pulling from a deficit one week, from the ground the next, from a rack/ box another. The other exercises, i keep the main movement for specificity and because i have a garage gym with minimum equipment.

Now for the set up

Monday week 1 Max Effort Bench, Speed Dl,
week 2 Max effor DL, Speed Bench

Thursday week 1 Max effort Squat, Speed OHP
week 2 Max effort OHP, Speed Squat

Friday Pump Work ( I personally like to do a bunch of bodyweight work like dips, pushups,slingshot pushups then blow up my biceps because im still a bro at heart.

My asstistance work on days one and two varies based off how much time i have but its basically a chest and back bodybuilding day and a shoulders and legs day. Thats right shoulders and legs just like arnold used to do.

I superset everything except my max effort and speed work and take minimum rest (around 45 seconds) between sets and keep the intensity to the limit. I walk down the street a bit turn around come back and hit the next set counting in my head so the only thing km thinking about is the next set.

example day 1

max effort and speed work

incline single arm db press
ss w chinups 4 sets 8 to 10 reps

weighted pushups ( my kids on my back)
Db Row 4x as many reps as possible (heaviest i can make dumbbell is 120lbs)

example day 2

max effort and speed work

lunges
ss with Db snatches. I use the db snatches instead of lateral raises and shrugs as i feel this hits both desired areas and keeps the intensity high. 4x 8 to 10 reps

Glute ham raises
ss with band pull aparts
4x as many reps as possible

I usually do a bring sally up finisher of pushups on monday and squats on thursday.

Along with this I run and do ab work whenever possible.

If your interested and are unclear of certain elements feel free to ask. I just enjoy writing workouts so figured id post this for anyone looking to train this way.

2 Likes
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You have a zillion squat variations with just a bar and squat stands.

It’s not that hard to make a box so there’s one. You can stack plates on your box to change the height. So add a couple or a few variations to the count.

You can do high bar or low bar. There’s another.

You can do back squat, front squat, or zercher squats. There’s 3 variations. And as just mentioned, back squat is two variations.

You can do narrow, medium, or wide stance. There’s 3.

Bands don’t cost all that much so you could choose between minis, lights, and average bands for 3 more variations.

There’s probably more I didn’t think of, but not only do you have the sum of the variations I mentioned, but also all the combinations of them too. As far as variations goes, you have all you need for life.

You don’t have to be married to working to a max every ME day. In many of Louie’s books and articles and those that worked closely with him mention doing sub max where they go heavy but not max heavy and also mention doing RE at times in it’s stead. That doesn’t mean an easier day, just a different stimulus and a break from the heavy work.

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Didnt realize when i posted this i was holding a gun to peoples heads to do exactly what it says or even do it at all. Im sorry this doesnt fit what you like to do. Ill be mindful of this in the future.

5

Do you need a hug?

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I dont think that it is the issue some might have with the set up

  • the program really diverges to a degree from most Conjugate programming one normally sees
    *You haven’t actually ran it yourself as it is. So you can not report on any actual results.
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I get that man, its just tossing out ideas to people. I do a similar set up right now with more of a bodybuilding style and i like the general setup for efficiency and recovery. I used to do a 6 day version of this when i was younger giving max effort speed and bodybuilding their own day and had the best results ive had lifting. It evolved from my initial split which i followed from arnolds encyclopedia program (tweaked over time to my own preferences) and took from ideas of a few powerlifters i used to train with. Keep in mind this was 10 years ago so my training evolved organically based off my level, training partners, injuries, and life circumstances since then. I also had the ability to devote the rest of my time to recovery at that time and wouldnt reccomend that 6 day set up anymore because regardless of results it did lead to 2 hernias and a dislocated knee cap which i like many cant afford to recover from with a family depending on food being put infront of them and a roof over there head. I know alot of guys here say things with relatively no training background but ive been training for 15 years and am not just throwing poop through a fan lol.

1 Like
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Its all good brother…

Yeah that gets me works me up like nothing else… your cool in my book : :wink:

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Thanks man appreciate the positivity

1 Like