The Westside Barbell Conjugate System is a training system capable of addressing and improving all sport-relevant strengths and traits for all athletes. Our training methods initially gained popularity in powerlifting, where Louie and the Westside Barbell Powerlifting Team set many world records in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total. 

In the early 90s, Lou began consulting with and assisting collegiate and pro-level athletes, coaches, and teams. This led to the application of the Conjugate Method for athletes. Today, we continue to work with and consult coaches and athletes at all levels of sport, with a specific focus on Brazilian jiu-jitsu. 

Currently, our jiu-jitsu athletes compete at the highest levels of the sport. This includes multiple championships, tournament wins, and superfight victories. Our approach to training has been and continues to be tested on and against the best of the best.  

The Conjugate for Athletes series aims to provide knowledge and insight into our approach to training athletes, with the goal of helping coaches and athletes achieve success when using our methods. The Conjugate Method, when applied correctly, is the most effective and efficient approach to strength and conditioning.

Below, we will discuss the basic training strategy we utilize when designing and executing Conjugate Method training for athletes. 

Why Choose Conjugate?

The Conjugate Method stands alone in its effectiveness and efficiency in the strength and conditioning world. Each week, we seek to improve the athlete's absolute strength, rate of force development, work capacity, and physical composition. 

Unlike phase-based training, which develops only one strength or trait over an extended period, Conjugate will enhance multiple strengths and athletic traits simultaneously. 

This is especially important for conventional sports athletes, who must manage their time each week to ensure their strength and conditioning training is scheduled correctly and does not interfere with sports practice or scheduled rest time. 

Considering the Conjugate Method is a strength training operating system, not a simple program, we can always find a way to train any athlete, regardless of sport or schedule. 

Additionally, our training methods provide feedback and training data each week, allowing a coach to know how strong, fast, and prepared an athlete is at the moment. We can also estimate an athlete's current level of fatigue and make adjustments day to day or week to week to avoid issues caused by excess fatigue.

The only thing that limits the effectiveness of the Conjugate Method is the coach applying it. When executed correctly, our methods will lead to rapid increases in absolute strength, explosive power, conditioning, and durability. 

The Weekly Schedule

The standard Westside Barbell training schedule includes four training days: maximal effort lower on Monday, maximal effort upper on Wednesday, dynamic effort lower on Friday, and dynamic effort upper on Saturday. When training athletes, we cut the training to three days, keeping the maximal effort days and combining the dynamic-effort days. 

Additionally, we include two added training days, which we refer to as posture and plyometric workouts. This is where we execute plyometric and speed work, while also addressing balance and stability. This adds up to five training days, three weight training workouts, and two plyometric and posture workouts. 

Here is our weekly training schedule:

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – Combined Dynamic Effort

Wednesday – Posture and Plyometrics 

Thursday – Max Effort Lower

Friday – Posture and Plyometrics 

Saturday – Max Effort Upper

Sunday – Rest

This may seem like a lot of training, but it is important to have perspective. Our weight training days are executed to Westside standards in terms of intensity and output. However, our posture and plyometric days are short in duration and relatively low impact, especially for the level of athletes we are working with.

When working with beginner or intermediate-level athletes, it may be necessary to start with only the three barbell training days. Then, as athlete preparedness improves, add in the extra training days one at a time. 

Managing Exercise Variations

When a coach first encounters the Conjugate Method, the amount of exercise variation and programming options can seem confusing. For the uninitiated coach, it can seem like madness with no method, and just a bunch of random exercises using specialty bars and accommodating resistance. However, once you understand how we manage exercise variations at Westside Barbell, it starts to make sense. 

The first thing we need to discuss is the escalation of exercise variations. At Westside, we do not seek to come up with the most complicated variations. Our strategy is to start athletes with simple variations first, moving on to more advanced exercise variations as progress dictates. 

This helps ensure athletes build competency in basic exercises and allows them to get the most out of these exercises before accommodation calls for further variation. 

Another critical aspect of exercise variation management is understanding how we rotate exercises. Ideally, we will have an "A" and "B" set of exercises. We will follow an ABAB pattern over four months, allowing for testing and retesting of each exercise. Once this four-month training cycle is complete, we will change the exercise variations used for both the "A" and "B" months. 

Here is what initial max effort lower exercise selection could look like for a beginner or intermediate level athlete new to the Conjugate Method:

Month "A'"

Week 1: Squat

Week 2: Good Morning

Week 3: Box Squat

Week 4: Deadlift

Month "B"

Week 1: SSB Squat

Week 2: Giant Cambered Bar Good Morning

Week 3: Low Box Squat

Week 4: 2" Deficit Deadlift

As you can see, the first month consists of basic lower body exercises. Then, in the second month, we add in specialty bars and exercise variations based on the month "A" movements. For example, we add the SSB in on the squat, and we change the box squat from a standard to a low box. 

This schedule represents an optimal approach to building basic exercise competency while incorporating standard exercise variations to achieve successful training outcomes. 

The Importance of Training Density

The final aspect of basic training strategy for athletes is training density. Training density refers to the amount of rest included during a workout. The concept is simple: extended rest times lead to lower training density, while shorter rest periods lead to higher training density. 

While training density is important for strength athletes, it is a critical aspect of training for conventional sports athletes. 

Why? Increased training density is an easy way for conventional sports athletes to improve conditioning without dedicating specific training days to it. At Westside, we focus on keeping rest times as short as possible, resting only enough to execute the following set safely. 

It is important to note that we do not encourage athletes to reduce their rest periods to the point where technique becomes suboptimal or training weights are limited. As a coach, it is vital to understand your athletes' capabilities and limitations so you can assess rest times and adjust training density expectations accordingly. 

When athletes are new to training, it is only logical to assume extended rest times will be necessary to ensure all sets and reps are completed successfully and safely. However, as time goes on and physical fitness improves, we want to reduce the rest time between sets gradually. 

As Lou once said, "You can't take all freakin' day to train!"