A conjugate program...

**Dale Mabry** · 03-17-2006, 05:18 AM

So, I figured I would pass this program I am working on to you and maybe you will give it a try, maybe not. I am not claiming this as my own, I look at it more as an arrangement of other's ideas to a directed goal. I have also submitted it for publication in some journals. I will not source any of the information here in the hopes of keeping it short. If you want the sources I will PM them to you.

The routine is an advance routine based on conjugate periodization. Rather than having max effort days and dynamic effort days, I split the major groupings into strength and power. Strength is done with 3 minute rest intervals and 4 sets of 4 reps, power the same, but the emphasis is on a power movement rather than a strength movement. As such, explosive bar speed is emphasized. I used a lower/upper split so my weekly split looked like:

Monday-Upper Power
Tuesday-Lower Strength
Wednesday-Off
Thursday-Upper Strength
Friday-Lower Power

Now, for each day I would pick 2 core exercises that accomplished the specified goal. So for Monday I would do Bench Throws and Power Cleans, each for 4 sets of 3-4 emphasizing bar speed over weight lifted. Tuesday would be Squats and Step ups for max total weight, Thursday Bench Press and Barbell Row for max total weight, and Friday was Jump squats and 1-leg hop over barrier. Again, since speed was key, I threw in a plyo movement for the second core lower power exercise.

So that was the bulk of my program. The second part of each day was assistance work. With the assistance work, I chose another biomotor ability (Power, strength, muscular endurance, and hypertrophy are all termed biomotor abilities) to train. The reason for this is probably too long to discuss here, but mainly it is for an athlete looking for balance in all of the biomotor abilities, something that Louie Simmons addresses in his Westside stuff. Also, I theorize that it is a way to optimize hormonal output post-exercise. It seems that alot of researchers are putting a ton of weight behind what happens hormonally post-exercise. The attributes of a program that lead to a better hormonal environment post-exercise are that they are done with a high intensity (Load), compound movements, and high lactate concetrations. Lactate concentrations are very closely linked to GH output, the problem is, to get high lactate concentrations, you can't use the required heavy loads, you need to use a much lighter load for higher reps and less rest between sets. So, here is what I did with the assistance work. Take Muscular Endurance and train it with strength, and take hypertrophy and train it with Power. For hypertrophy, I trained with 3 sets of 10 reps with 60 seconds of rest between sets amd for muscular endurance I trained with 3 sets of 15 reps with 30 second rest intervals. I would do mostly single joint assistance work, making sure to hit pushing and pulling movements equally in as many planes as possible. I threw in some cpompound movements that i thought were necessary, and this goal could be accomplished with all compound movements. So, this is what it looked like:

Monday-Upper Power/Hypertrophy
Tuesday-Lower Strength/Muscular Endurance
Wednesday-Off
Thursday-Upper Strength/Muscular Endurance
Friday-Lower Power/Hypertrophy

So, a typical Monday would look like this:

Power-Full Rest
Bench Throws-4 sets of 3 reps
Power Cleans-4 sets of 3 reps

Hyprertrophy-60 second rest
Chest Flyes-3x10
Rear Delt raises-3x10
Lat Pulldown-3x10
Dips-3x10
Bicep curls-3x10
Tricep pushdown-3x10

So, I tried this and had a couple of clients try this. Strength gains were very good, I started my 4x4 on flat bench with 265 and got to 295 within a 6 week period before unloading, although I have been able to get 315 for 4x4 with the help of M1T when it was legal, but I was also 25 lbs heavier. The 2 guys I had try it also saw really good strength gains, but like me, didn't gain much weight on it. I did lean out a bit on it with weight staying the same, but I wouldn't say it was siginficant, maybe a couple of pounds. I imagine that if I stuck with it longer I may have seen some hypertrophy, but for right now it seems more appropriate as a strength gaining program. So, there it is, do with it what you will.

**P-funk** · 03-17-2006, 06:31 AM

dude.....I wouldn't post that here. Mr. biceps will steal this.

good post.

Yanick · 03-17-2006, 09:15 AM

good post, i'm gonna do this as soon as my work capacity is back to an acceptable level.

DOMS · 03-17-2006, 09:52 AM

I'm sure that your post was informative and helpful, but I couldn't make it past 'journbals'. I really tried...

**Dale Mabry** · 03-17-2006, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOMS

I'm sure that your post was informative and helpful, but I couldn't make it past 'journbals'. I really tried...

There, I fixed it, you may continue if you wish.

Yan, the endurance shit is all mental, but yeah, it sucks.

**CowPimp** · 03-17-2006, 10:04 AM

Interesting stuff. I may give something like this a shot in the future. I already have something else planned after my comp in April as a means of getting conditioned like none other.

mike456 · 05-14-2006, 01:09 PM

im gonna try this cause i want to be more athletic and gain size at the same time- are bench throws benching and throwing the bar in the air- isn't that very dangerous?

**CowPimp** · 05-14-2006, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike456

im gonna try this cause i want to be more athletic and gain size at the same time- are bench throws benching and throwing the bar in the air- isn't that very dangerous?

I think he did those on a smith machine, though I have done them with just the bar before for fun.

mike456 · 05-14-2006, 01:38 PM

oh damn i dont got a smith machine- lift at home.

Bakerboy · 05-14-2006, 03:31 PM

Great post Dale

mike456 explosive pushups, done quickly, where your hands leave the ground (with or without a clap) can be used instead of traditional bench throws if you train at home and are concerned with safety. I don't know how long you have been training but I would consider bench throws to be a very advanced exercise, to do it without two skilled spotters, is just asking for trouble...

If explosive clapping pushups are too easy for you you can always modify the movement to make the load (your BW) heavier, thus more challenging.
Here are some ideas:
1. Change your hand position to a (mixed position) so that one hand is closer in and the other one is wider, explode off the ground, then switch your hand position when you land; go back and forth like this until you can't do it any more (do three sets like that)
2. Wear a backpack loaded with added weight (a sandbag, or weight plate wrapped with a large towel or towels). Explode from the down position getting as much "air" as you can.
3. You can also do explosive pushups from the ground to two implements (like stacked phone books) that are placed outside your hand position.

**P-funk** · 05-14-2006, 03:36 PM

you could use a med. ball to substitute for bench throws.

fUnc17 · 05-15-2006, 10:00 AM

Looks good, thanks for sharing dale

Seanp156 · 12-15-2006, 02:44 PM

Interesting... I might have to give something like this a try... However, it doesn't really seem any/much different than Westside to me, except the 4x4 rep scheme. Power work seems like the same thing that a dynamic effort day is for Westside, and strength work seems like the max effort day.

fufu · 12-15-2006, 04:31 PM

I saw Bakerboy posted and I thought he was back...then I saw the dates. Thanks Sean!!!

Seanp156 · 12-15-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

I saw Bakerboy posted and I thought he was back...then I saw the dates. Thanks Sean!!!

No problem!

03-17-2006, 05:18 AM	#1
Dale Mabry Moderator Moderator Join Date: May 2003 Location: Elsewhere Posts: 13,748 Photos: 10	A conjugate program... BODYBUILDING SUPPLEMENTS High Quality Supplements For Bodybuilders and Athletes. www.ironmaglabs.com So, I figured I would pass this program I am working on to you and maybe you will give it a try, maybe not. I am not claiming this as my own, I look at it more as an arrangement of other's ideas to a directed goal. I have also submitted it for publication in some journals. I will not source any of the information here in the hopes of keeping it short. If you want the sources I will PM them to you. The routine is an advance routine based on conjugate periodization. Rather than having max effort days and dynamic effort days, I split the major groupings into strength and power. Strength is done with 3 minute rest intervals and 4 sets of 4 reps, power the same, but the emphasis is on a power movement rather than a strength movement. As such, explosive bar speed is emphasized. I used a lower/upper split so my weekly split looked like: Monday-Upper Power Tuesday-Lower Strength Wednesday-Off Thursday-Upper Strength Friday-Lower Power Now, for each day I would pick 2 core exercises that accomplished the specified goal. So for Monday I would do Bench Throws and Power Cleans, each for 4 sets of 3-4 emphasizing bar speed over weight lifted. Tuesday would be Squats and Step ups for max total weight, Thursday Bench Press and Barbell Row for max total weight, and Friday was Jump squats and 1-leg hop over barrier. Again, since speed was key, I threw in a plyo movement for the second core lower power exercise. So that was the bulk of my program. The second part of each day was assistance work. With the assistance work, I chose another biomotor ability (Power, strength, muscular endurance, and hypertrophy are all termed biomotor abilities) to train. The reason for this is probably too long to discuss here, but mainly it is for an athlete looking for balance in all of the biomotor abilities, something that Louie Simmons addresses in his Westside stuff. Also, I theorize that it is a way to optimize hormonal output post-exercise. It seems that alot of researchers are putting a ton of weight behind what happens hormonally post-exercise. The attributes of a program that lead to a better hormonal environment post-exercise are that they are done with a high intensity (Load), compound movements, and high lactate concetrations. Lactate concentrations are very closely linked to GH output, the problem is, to get high lactate concentrations, you can't use the required heavy loads, you need to use a much lighter load for higher reps and less rest between sets. So, here is what I did with the assistance work. Take Muscular Endurance and train it with strength, and take hypertrophy and train it with Power. For hypertrophy, I trained with 3 sets of 10 reps with 60 seconds of rest between sets amd for muscular endurance I trained with 3 sets of 15 reps with 30 second rest intervals. I would do mostly single joint assistance work, making sure to hit pushing and pulling movements equally in as many planes as possible. I threw in some cpompound movements that i thought were necessary, and this goal *could* be accomplished with all compound movements. So, this is what it looked like: Monday-Upper Power/Hypertrophy Tuesday-Lower Strength/Muscular Endurance Wednesday-Off Thursday-Upper Strength/Muscular Endurance Friday-Lower Power/Hypertrophy So, a typical Monday would look like this: Power-Full Rest Bench Throws-4 sets of 3 reps Power Cleans-4 sets of 3 reps Hyprertrophy-60 second rest Chest Flyes-3x10 Rear Delt raises-3x10 Lat Pulldown-3x10 Dips-3x10 Bicep curls-3x10 Tricep pushdown-3x10 So, I tried this and had a couple of clients try this. Strength gains were very good, I started my 4x4 on flat bench with 265 and got to 295 within a 6 week period before unloading, although I have been able to get 315 for 4x4 with the help of M1T when it was legal, but I was also 25 lbs heavier. The 2 guys I had try it also saw really good strength gains, but like me, didn't gain much weight on it. I did lean out a bit on it with weight staying the same, but I wouldn't say it was siginficant, maybe a couple of pounds. I imagine that if I stuck with it longer I may have seen some hypertrophy, but for right now it seems more appropriate as a strength gaining program. So, there it is, do with it what you will. Last edited by Dale Mabry : 03-17-2006 at 09:55 AM.
	If sense were common, everyone would have it. 4/2007-Current 75th Ranked most popular image 1 spot behind Prince's bulge...

03-17-2006, 06:31 AM	#2
P-funk Patrick Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 30,280	dude.....I wouldn't post that here. Mr. biceps will steal this. good post.
	http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind! http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog! Optimum Sports Performance "In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few." -Buddha's Little Instruction Book

03-17-2006, 09:15 AM	#3
Yanick Amor Fati Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 3,798	good post, i'm gonna do this as soon as my work capacity is back to an acceptable level.
Yanick Amor Fati Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 3,798	"...we have to remember that training is a complicated dance of stimuli and response. Our goal is to understand how to manipulate the stimuli in order to evoke the responses we desire." -Nathan J. Polenchek

03-17-2006, 10:04 AM	#6
CowPimp Fueled by Testosterone Moderator Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Silver Spring, MD Posts: 15,400	Interesting stuff. I may give something like this a shot in the future. I already have something else planned after my comp in April as a means of getting conditioned like none other.
	The only time it's bad to feel the burn is when you're peeing... CowPimp Picks Up Heavy Shit MySpace YouTube Videos

05-14-2006, 01:09 PM	#7
mike456 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,282	im gonna try this cause i want to be more athletic and gain size at the same time- are bench throws benching and throwing the bar in the air- isn't that very dangerous?
mike456 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,282

05-14-2006, 01:38 PM	#9
mike456 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,282	oh damn i dont got a smith machine- lift at home.
mike456 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,282

05-14-2006, 03:31 PM	#10
Bakerboy cat burglar Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: the city of champions Posts: 4,146 Photos: 3	Great post Dale mike456 explosive pushups, done quickly, where your hands leave the ground (with or without a clap) can be used instead of traditional bench throws if you train at home and are concerned with safety. I don't know how long you have been training but I would consider bench throws to be a very advanced exercise, to do it without two skilled spotters, is just asking for trouble... If explosive clapping pushups are too easy for you you can always modify the movement to make the load (your BW) heavier, thus more challenging. Here are some ideas: 1. Change your hand position to a (mixed position) so that one hand is closer in and the other one is wider, explode off the ground, then switch your hand position when you land; go back and forth like this until you can't do it any more (do three sets like that) 2. Wear a backpack loaded with added weight (a sandbag, or weight plate wrapped with a large towel or towels). Explode from the down position getting as much "air" as you can. 3. You can also do explosive pushups from the ground to two implements (like stacked phone books) that are placed outside your hand position.

05-14-2006, 03:36 PM	#11
P-funk Patrick Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 30,280	you could use a med. ball to substitute for bench throws.
	http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind! http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog! Optimum Sports Performance "In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few." -Buddha's Little Instruction Book

05-15-2006, 10:00 AM	#12
fUnc17 Drop and give me 100 Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Jersey Shore BJJ Posts: 1,862 Photos: 12	Looks good, thanks for sharing dale
	Strength Edge

12-15-2006, 02:44 PM	#13
Seanp156 Myostatin Whore Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 6,184 Photos: 11	Interesting... I might have to give something like this a try... However, it doesn't really seem any/much different than Westside to me, except the 4x4 rep scheme. Power work seems like the same thing that a dynamic effort day is for Westside, and strength work seems like the max effort day.
	My Journal

12-15-2006, 04:31 PM	#14
fufu fiendish thingy Elite Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 15,730 Photos: 4	I saw Bakerboy posted and I thought he was back...then I saw the dates. Thanks Sean!!!
	fufu's 1337 Journal Your diet will set you free.

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