How to Organize and Program a Training Day

How to Organize and Program a Training Day

Understanding how to plan a training day properly is one of the most critical aspects of successful training. This is especially true with the Conjugate Method, which incorporates multiple strength training methodologies. Proper exercise organization and programming allow athletes to maximally benefit from the training stimulus and result in improved training adaptations. 

At Westside, we understand that energy levels must be appropriately managed for a training day to be effective. This means that we select and organize exercises in a way that ensures the athlete performing the movements will have adequate energy to execute each exercise properly without missing any sets or reps. 

You often hear about load management, which refers to how the volume and intensity an athlete experiences over a specific block of time are managed. While this is important, energy management within each workout is just as important. Repeated failure to appropriately manage energy during training sessions will reduce training adaptations as quickly as lackluster load management. 

Below, we will go over the basics behind organizing our training days at Westside Barbell to ensure our energy is properly managed and training is efficient and effective. 

Exercise 1: The Main Exercise

The first exercise executed during a training session is what we refer to as the main exercise. The main exercise is a multi-joint exercise performed between 70-100%+ intensity, depending on the training day. This is where we focus on variations of the squat, bench press, and deadlift

When training max effort, we will select specific exercise variations depending on the sport or needs of the athlete and execute these movements at high levels of intensity. This often means working up to a top set of 1-3 repetitions. 

Dynamic effort training will be a bit different. Instead of working up to a top set, we will perform a specific set and rep scheme. During DE lower, we will perform two main exercises: box squats and deadlifts. 

Considering these movements will provide the most significant training adaptations, we want to ensure energy levels are as high as possible when executing them. This is what defines a "main exercise." It is the movement that accomplishes the goal of the training day (improve absolute or explosive strength) and requires the most energy to attain the highest level of training adaptation. 

Exercise 2: The Primary Accessory Exercise

Once the main exercise is finished, we will move on to accessory exercise training. The intent of accessory exercises is to further improve an athlete's strength and physical composition through the use of both multi-joint and single-joint exercises. The first accessory exercise performed is what we would refer to as the primary accessory exercise. 

You probably are wondering, "What is a primary accessory exercise?" A primary accessory exercise is often multi-joint in nature and requires significant amounts of energy to execute at the prescribed level of volume and intensity. Considering the energy demands, this is the first accessory exercise we perform after completing the main exercise. 

The exercise selected as a primary accessory exercise often has the greatest carryover to the main movements and can be effectively used to target known weaknesses. For instance, four sets of five to eight reps of a close-grip bench can be a great way to improve bench press capabilities. It can also be implemented for an athlete with a bench press weakness specific to the triceps. 

I mention that because I want to illustrate that an exercise does not have to be relevant to a weakness to be useful. Too often, those new to the Conjugate Method hear us discuss weak point training and think that is what accessory work is all about. While we can certainly use primary and secondary accessory exercises to attack known weaknesses, we can also use them to improve strength and muscle mass in a general sense. 

Of course, it is essential to address specific weaknesses. Still, we do not want to become so obsessed with one weakness that other weaknesses begin to develop due to lopsided training. Just because the triceps may be slightly weak does not mean we should forgo training our shoulders or biceps to get extra triceps work accomplished. 

Simply put, we want a balanced approach to accessory exercise selection that allows us to address weaknesses without neglecting other important muscle groups. It should also be noted that since the dynamic effort lower includes two main exercises, we often do not include a primary accessory exercise on that specific training day.

Exercises 3-6: Secondary Accessory Exercises

 After completing the main and primary accessory exercises, we will move on to our secondary accessory exercises. These exercises will include both multi- and single-joint movements and will typically be programmed at a higher training volume than a main or primary accessory exercise. 

This means these exercises will be slightly less taxing than the previous two movements but still beneficial. Take barbell rows, for example. This movement is often performed for four to five sets of five reps when used as a primary accessory exercise. As a secondary accessory exercise, barbell rows would be programmed for three to four sets of eight to ten or ten to twelve reps. 

As you can see, it is not so much the movement that dictates whether an accessory exercise is considered primary or secondary - it's the intensity and volume of the exercise. 

Most of our hypertrophy-focused training will occur in secondary accessory exercise training. These exercises intend to improve the strength and size of the muscles that contribute to improved main exercise capability. We train like strength athletes in our main movements and even our primary accessory movements, while our secondary accessory exercises resemble bodybuilding-style programming. 

Common secondary accessory exercises include multi-joint movements such as Romanian deadlifts, hack squats, and barbell rows, and single-joint movements such as hamstring curls, triceps extensions, and bicep curls. The exercise selection depends on the athlete and the weaknesses or lagging muscle groups the athlete is dealing with. 

Depending on the specific training day, we will always include reverse hypers, abdominal work, push-ups, pull-ups, and other similar high-volume accessory exercises within our secondary accessory exercise training. 

Conditioning Work

We can also include conditioning-focused training to improve work capacity and cardiovascular fitness each week. This training can be as simple as sled pulls at the end of our lower body days or an added training day of its own. However, at Westside, we often program our conditioning work at the end of our scheduled training days. 

Regarding heart rate zones, this work typically hovers within zones 1-3. We want to achieve a meaningful training stimulus without significant additional recovery demands. 

We can also improve our conditioning by increasing our training density. This means reducing the amount of rest in between sets, focusing on keeping the heart rate elevated, and keeping the total training time within an hour or an hour and a half, depending on the volume of a specific training day. Focusing on training density and additional conditioning-specific work each week is a great way to kick up overall conditioning.

Workout Examples

Max Effort Lower

Main Exercise

SSB Squat - work up to a top set single

Primary Accessory Exercise

Romanian Deadlift - 4 x 5

Secondary Accessory Exercises

Hack Squat - 3 x 10-12

Reverse Hyper - 4 x 12-15

Standing Abs - 4 x 15-20

Backward Sled Pull - 10 trips, 30-40 yds per trip, moderate sled weight. 

Max Effort Upper

Main Exercise

Bench Press - work up to a top set single

Primary Accessory Exercise

JM Press - 4 x 5-8

Secondary Accessory Exercises

Lat Pulldown - 4 x 10-12

Rolling DB Triceps Extension - 4 x 10-12

Hammer Curl - 4 x 10-12

Triceps Cable Pressdown - 3 x 12-15

Dynamic Effort Lower (Week 1)

Main Exercise

Box Squat - 12 x 2 @75% (50% bar weight + 25% AR)

Speed Deadlift - 6 x 2 @75% (50% bar weight + 25% AR)

Secondary Accessory Exercises

Inverse Curl - 4 x 10-12

Reverse Hyper - 4 x 12-15

Sit-Ups - 5 x AMRAP

Forward Sled Pull - 10 trips, 40-50 yds per trip, moderate sled weight. 

Dynamic Effort Upper (Week 1)

Main Exercise

Speed Bench - 9 x 3 @75% (50% bar weight + 25% AR)

Primary Accessory Exercise

Push Press - 4 x 5

Secondary Accessory Exercises

Barbell Row - 4 x 8-10

Williams Extension - 4 x 10-12

Low Cable Row - 3 x 12-15

DB Bicep Curl - 3 x 12-15

For more information regarding programming structure and strategies, check out our Starting Conjugate series. 

Sources:

Simmons, L. (2007). Westside Barbell Book of Methods. Westside Barbell.

Burley Hawk

Burley Hawk

Burley Hawk is the Digital Content Manager at Westside Barbell and a Conjugate Method strength coach. Training and studying under Louie Simmons over the past decade, Burley has attained the experience, knowledge and understanding necessary to master the Conjugate Method.

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