Does anyone have any experience with Matt Wennings Minimal Manual?
I don’t, but if you are interested in using the conjugate method for raw lifting then he is probably the best person to listen to.
Yeah that man has a ton of training knowledge; its basically a guide for working/busy men training to get strong 2 days a week. The only thing that is confusing is it is an Upper/Lower split, Monday and Thursday, I wanted to see if anyone had results with that style.
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I have ran that exact style for years. Very occasionally would go up to 3 days a week under another coaches guidance but for the last 4 years the very large majority has been training only 2 times per week with a upper/lower split. Have also experimented with doing squat and press one day and a Deadlift and press the other day for little extra volume. Both worked really well. Managed to squat 800 plus raw, 403 bench and 655 Deadlift at 220-230 bw doing so.
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I talked with Matt at the Arnold a couple years ago and was talking to him about his style of conjugate training. The guy is very smart. I believe he is an engineer as well.
I’ve done 2 days/wk when I’ve needed more recovery but I don’t do an upper/lower split on the same day. I’ll squat/bench one week and pull/bench the following.
Give his 2 day program a try. I’m sure you’ll benefit.
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I was looking for info on conjugate for raw lifting and found this pretty good article.
Matt Wenning has dvd on conjugate for raw and is making a second one coming out soon.
Thought this could be useful to OP
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I’m a late to the party, but I just got the Minimalist Manual this past weekend, and will start running it this week. If anyone is interested, I can give some feedback and let you know how the sessions are going.
I also have Matt’s Conjugate DVD. Very good stuff.
Hi Dre_Cappa,
Im also late to the party but I´m interested in the Matts Minimalist Manual. What are your thoughts so far on the template?
Do I need special equipment like his belt squat etc. to run the manual? Can I do his warmups without special machines?
Thank you very much!
Matt’s stuff is great. I have hs Conjugate DVD, so I was already familiar with how he approaches some of his programming.
To answer your question, some of his suggested variations in the book use special bars, but it is not a deal breaker. Because it is conjugate, it is not like you have to follow everything exactly (in fact, the book is not written in a daily/weekly/monthly format).
He explains all the different variables like tempo, hand/foot placement, etc, and just off of that, you can create plenty of variations.
No, you do not need special machines. If you have access to them, great, but no big deal. My Wenning warmups are usually a row or pull down variation, tricep movement, and a press for upper; a posterior chain movement like kb swings, glute bridges, leg curls, etc, an ab movement, then a leg press, goblet squat or hack squat movement for lower. This is just basically pre-loading your accessory work: don’t go too heavy, and slowly build the weight up over time. This will do wonders for your GPP.
Any other questions let me know.
Yeah if you see these performed the reps are nearly effortless and it’s just to warm everything up. He said that at first it will take from your main work a little but as you adapt it’ll help it. I have the dvd as well.
Now he has that much and more info out for free lol
I’ve followed Matt on Instagram for sometime, I have a meeting with a coach this coming week but if things don’t feel right I was considering just subscribing to his patreon channel for the programs and information.
Thank you very much Dre_Cappa for responding to my questions! I appreciate this!
How many pages does the manual have?
Do you think the template is for true beginners also?
Thank you
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@trucker23 My sincerest apologies for not responding sooner. I forgot to check back on this thread, and I don’t get on here much. The manual is 67 pages. Matt provides numerous upper body and lower body workouts. However, he provides the variables that can be manipulated, so really you have endless options. You pick the exercises based on your weaknesses.
I would say for true, true beginners, they spend some time learning the core lifts before they get too crazy with variation. You could probably get away with 3 week waves, switching to a new exercise on week 4. I’d also keep everything full ROM.
Hope that helps.