Ha! Not joking: we had a national call this afternoon and I wasn’t feeling like the camera would love me, so I stuck some curls into today’s push day beforehand.
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sounds like the push ups I used to do before going out on a Friday night. LOL
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Wow, I haven’t been in my own log in a week!
Work has been nuts. I couldn’t sleep last night and I was pissy and didn’t want to do my scheduled session, so I did a full-body session with a bunch of cardio.
I had to put the dog down this morning, which upset me a lot more than I thought it would.
Two of my gymmers really wanted to give conjugate a shot, and I’m ok enough with their technique, so this is what they’re doing over the next 6 weeks (built for our gym, of course). Dropping it here in case anyone finds it amusing or useful.
Conjugate Template
Conjugate consists of two Max Effort (ME) days and two Dynamic Effort (DE) days.
We want at least 48 hours between our ME days, so you can really push and then recover. When I say “max effort,” I don’t want you failing reps and it’s not necessarily a one-rep max, but it should be a grind. This is where we teach our body to really struggle against heavy weights. The idea is to rotate through variations of the main lift that we think will transfer well; rotating lifts also spares your joints a little bit. I’m taking a bit of a guess here but, as you experiment, you’ll find lifts that work. Rather than change lifts every week, I’m going to give us a chance to come back and beat our prior effort; that also allows us to stay in a slightly higher rep range, which is a little safer.
Our dynamic effort days can be closer together because they aren’t as stressful on our body. We’ll get some of our hypertrophy work on these days, too. The idea of dynamic effort is to practice a lot of clean reps with your tested lifts. Strength is a skill, and we practice skills. Keeping the rep ranges low lets us practice “first reps,” which is what you’ll have to do in a meet. You want every rep to be explosive and perfect. We also call this speed work, and you do want it to be fast, but only as fast as you can keep each rep perfect. You’ll need to estimate your one-rep max, because I’ll give you percentages to train. The percentages are a guide – if you’re losing speed or grinding your reps, go lower! These should all be crisp.
ME Lower (Sunday)
Warm-up: I want you to be able to rotate this template as you see fit, so I’ll list the idea and then a suggestion in the parentheses.
3 rounds:
- Joint Mobilization (Perfect Stretch)
- Locomotion (Sled Push)
- Explosive (Box Jump)
Max Effort: Do some light abs in between your attempts, but don’t tire yourself; don’t blow it off, though – you need ab strength and I’m not making it part of your accessory work. Everything is about working up to the heaviest weight you can on these variations. Take ample rest and push yourself. I won’t list sets, because you’re working up to one maximum effort.
- Week 1: Front Squat – work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 2: Front Squat – work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
- Week 3: Zercher Squat - work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 4: Zercher Squat - work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
- Week 5: Trap Bar DL - work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 6: Trap Bar DL - work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
Assistance: We’re going to do your dynamic/ speed deadlifts with your max effort squats here. Deads tend to take more than they give, so I stay away a little on ME work; this is a good way to make sure we’re still practicing them. Remember not to jerk the bar off the floor: break the floor, then drive your hips though. We want crisp reps, but you don’t have to go silly light on these. You’re welcome to use chains, but they’re sometimes annoying on deads. If you do use chains, only count about half their weight toward your percentage. Use your competition deadlift (so if you aren’t going to test this lift, stick with the trap bar).
- Week 1: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 65%
- Week 2: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 3: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 75%
- Week 4: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 65%
- Week 5: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 6: DE Deadlifts: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 75%
Accessory: Now we’re back to a template. These days take it out of you, so we try to keep the “less important” work a lot lighter. I’ll throw this in template format like I did the warm-up work. You can change these out if you feel like it or keep it all the same. The important thing is to keep beating what you did the last week.
Week 1: 3 sets of 8
Week 2: 3 sets of 10
Week 3: 4 sets of 8
- Quads (Bulgarian Split Squat)
- Hamstrings (Seated Leg Curl)
- Core (Back Extension)
Week 4: 3 sets of 8
Week 5: 3 sets of 10
Week 6: 4 sets of 8
- Quads (Dumbbell Walking Lunge)
- Hamstrings (Glute-Ham Raise)
- Core (Plank x 45-60 seconds)
Conditioning: I’d highly recommend you don’t think of this as optional. It will follow the main lift of the day, will only moderately suck, and will help keep us from turning into fat piles of lard. It’s not going to be as bad as some of the sessions you’re used to.
Just do 40m sled pushes EMOM x 10 minutes on this day. Keep it heavy.
ME Upper (Tuesday)
Warm-up: I want you to be able to rotate this template as you see fit, so I’ll list the idea and then a suggestion in the parentheses.
3 rounds:
- Joint Mobilization (TRX Y Raise)
- Locomotion (Dumbbell Overhead Walk)
- Explosive (Plyo Pushup)
Max Effort: On this one, we want pullups in between your attempts. Just like before, don’t blow these off – you need that lat work. If you’re really getting smoked, just use the lat pulldown machine. Keep your reps around 6-8 but go relatively hard; it’s easier to recover from a bench press than a squat. We’re working up to our max effort again.
- Week 1: Incline Press – work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 2: Incline Press – work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
- Week 3: Bench Press from Pins - work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 4: Bench Press from Pins - work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
- Week 5: Floor Press - work up to max 3-rep set
- Week 6: Floor Press - work up to something between 1 and 3 reps, beating week one’s weight
Assistance: We’re going to do a normal assistance move here. It will be a little more shoulder focused to help bring some balance and keep us healthy. Stay heavy on these. We’ll superset with a heavier back move. Keep everything to 3 sets of 8-10 reps.
Weeks 1 and 2:
- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press
- Dumbbell Row
Weeks 3 and 4:
- Machine Shoulder Press
- Machine Row
Weeks 5 and 6:
- Military Press
- Seated Cable Row
Accessory: Now we’re back to a template. These days take it out of you, so we try to keep the “less important” work a lot lighter. I’ll throw this in template format like I did the warm-up work. You can change these out if you feel like it or keep it all the same. The important thing is to keep beating what you did the last week.
Week 1: 3 sets of 8
Week 2: 3 sets of 10
Week 3: 4 sets of 8
- Push (Dips)
- Curl (Hammer Curl)
- Triceps (Dumbbell Lying Extensions)
Week 4: 3 sets of 8
Week 5: 3 sets of 10
Week 6: 4 sets of 8
- Push (Pushups with Chains)
- Curl (EZ Curl)
- Triceps (Rope Pressdown)
Conditioning: Let’s stick with the heavy conditioning on these days, since we have tomorrow to recover.
40m trap bar carries EMOM x 10 minutes today.
DE Lower (Thursday)
Warm-up: I want you to be able to rotate this template as you see fit, so I’ll list the idea and then a suggestion in the parentheses.
3 rounds:
- Joint Mobilization (Hip Flexor Stretch)
- Locomotion (Walking Lunge)
- Explosive (Kettlebell Swing)
Dynamic Effort: Today is our first dynamic effort day. Remember – reps have to be fast and they have to be perfect. You’re going to do Box Squats for everything. That forces you to hit depth, requires less recovery than a full squat, and teaches mechanics. I don’t want you sinking into the box, though – we’re squatting to the box, rather than using it as a block (it would be different if we were equipped lifters, but we aren’t). Feel free to use chains on these (I like them), but they aren’t magic.
- Week 1: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 65%
- Week 2: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 3: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 75%
- Week 4: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 65%
- Week 5: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 6: DE Box Squats: 8 x 3 EMOM @ 75%
Assistance: We’re going to do a heavier assistance move here, but stay safe and solid on your form. Let’s keep the hamstring move to 3 sets of 6-8; abs can be whatever.
Weeks 1 and 2:
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
- Crunches
Weeks 3 and 4:
- Romanian Deadlift
- Hanging Leg Raises
Weeks 5 and 6:
- Reverse Hyper
- Cable Crunch
Accessory: You should be good and smoked by now, but we still need to build a little muscle. We’ll stick with the circuits. We can push just a little harder, because today was a lighter day.
Week 1: 3 sets of 8
Week 2: 3 sets of 10
Week 3: 4 sets of 8
- Quads (Leg Press)
- Hamstrings (Glue-Ham Raise)
- Core (One-hand Dumbbell Carry x 40m)
Week 4: 3 sets of 8
Week 5: 3 sets of 10
Week 6: 4 sets of 8
- Quads (Belt Squat)
- Hamstrings (Lying Leg Curl)
- Core (Dead Bugs)
Conditioning: Let’s go a little lighter on the conditioning, because we are back in here tomorrow. I’d imagine your legs are too tired to do anything, so we’ll punish your grip.
Rower x 2000m.
DE Upper (Friday)
Warm-up: I want you to be able to rotate this template as you see fit, so I’ll list the idea and then a suggestion in the parentheses.
3 rounds:
- Joint Mobilization (TRX Rows)
- Locomotion (Tire Flips)
- Explosive (Med Ball Overhead Throw)
Dynamic Effort: More dynamic work! It’s kind of fun with the bench. I want you to make sure you’re tight and driving every rep as if it was a max effort set. We are going to slightly change the rep scheme here and I want you to change your grip every 3 sets: so do your first 3 sets with your grip a little narrower than normal, your next 3 with a normal grip, and your final 3 with slightly wider. We’re doing 9 sets of 2 instead of our normal 8 sets of 3. Again, chains are totally optional.
- Week 1: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 2: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 75%
- Week 3: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 80%
- Week 4: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 70%
- Week 5: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 75%
- Week 6: DE Bench Press: 9 x 2 EMOM @ 80%
Assistance: Let’s get a little heavier on our horizontal assistance here, but our back should be smoked. We’ll get some reps in there but not crush ourselves. Keep to 3 sets of 6-8 for the press and sets of 10-12 for the pull.
Weeks 1 and 2:
- Dumbbell Bench Press
- TRX Row
Weeks 3 and 4:
- Dumbbell Incline Press
- Pullups
Weeks 5 and 6:
- Machine Press
- Straight-arm Pulldown
Accessory: Nothing like an upper body pump to cap off a Friday. Let’s go.
Week 1: 3 sets of 8
Week 2: 3 sets of 10
Week 3: 4 sets of 8
- Chest (Machine Flye)
- Shoulders (DB Lateral Raise)
- Triceps (Machine Extension)
Week 4: 3 sets of 8
Week 5: 3 sets of 10
Week 6: 4 sets of 8
- Chest (Cable Crossover)
- Shoulders (Machine Side Raise)
- Triceps (Close-grip Pushups)
Conditioning: Let’s flush our legs out. It will be awful while we’re doing it, but should speed recovery!
Assault Bike: 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow x 10 minutes.
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Sorry to hear that, man—it’s absolutely hard, even when you think you’re ready for it.
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Thanks man. I really appreciate it.
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Sorry to hear about the dog mate. The conjugate template looks interesting, it will be good to hear how the crew went.
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Thanks man. He was a really good dog.
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Sorry to hear that, dogs are family. Hope your kids are ok
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Thanks man. We knew it was coming, so they had time to get ready. They took it better than I did.
Hey team - I’m thinking I’ll just buy a squat bar for my gym, which means they’re getting Titan instead of EliteFTS.
I’m familiar with the SSB and really like it. I haven’t spent a ton of time on a camber bar, but the one time I used a spider bar (basically a combo of the two) I liked the deeper camber.
Anyone have any experience squatting with a camber bar? Will I get annoyed not having the yoke/ pad? My goals with the bar are to ease up on my shoulders and get more quad out of a lighter weight.
we have a few different cambered bars in our gym.
I have used the one on the top of this pic, it is thicker than a normal barbel but still comfortable, it is quite a deep camber which has the weights low and can throw you forward a little if you dont brace hard.
Just my 2 cents but if I was trying to save my shoulders I would use an SSB or transformer bar. I am not sure about quad engagement, I am a heavy ar$e squatter.
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Thank you, sir! I’ll probably go with the Titan SSB. The Transformer is really cool, but 2.5x the price!
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yer they are super expensive, and some little turd took the end pieces out of the one at our gym and fked off with them. So now with have a useless expensive bar.
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That doesn’t even make sense. What would he do with them? Can you not order replacements?
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I am sure you can. I wonder i the bar is someones personal bar and to stop others using it they just taker the ends home and bring them back when they use them. Although one of the trainers there told me they were taken so maybe someone is just a Dck head.
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Hell yeah
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I just watched this last night! Amazing video
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Good video from Alan. I always found it funny how people (including myself) use the term bodybuilding as a type of training, or say ‘I am doing bodybuilding’ or ‘I am a bodybuilder’. I always thought you are only a bodybuilder if you compete, like you are only a power lifter or strongman if you compete in those sports.
I like the term weight training or just going to the gym. Then there is the question of working out vs training ? Don’t even get me started on that. 
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I personally feel like we’ve made everything too cute. I had no idea doing curls would make me incapable of playing football! I didn’t learn that until I was like 30. Maybe that explains my career, come to think of it…
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That’s just cause your biceps got so big you couldn’t throw the ball. LOL
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