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The original was posted on /r/weightroom by /u/norin1212 on 2023-12-31 20:54:17.

Intro

I have worked out over a couple of years off and on, mostly whole body workouts or very basic workouts. When I started to do triathlons and open water swimming distance races back in 2012 I worked out to support those sports. Within a few years I got into distance running of ultramarathon distances and quit working out or lifting frequently, pretty much just focusing on adding miles to my weekly running totals.

In 2020 I had to have a quad bypass, as I recovered my right hip began to worsen and hurt more frequently By 2022, as I fought to get back to running, I was diagnosed with bone on bone hip arthritis with zero cartilage. As I could not run, at the end of 2022 I began to lift, mostly focusing on hypertrophy, mostly through Jeff Nippard Push/Pull/Leg programs and boxing. At the end of the year, I built a home gym with tarps for walls. Besides weighing down my heavy bag, I needed to weigh down the sides of the tarps. I quickly found out how week I was, as I struggled to move and or carry 50lb bags of sand.

I began to look at strongman and functional training outside of hypertrophy training. Early in 2023 began to run Brian Alsruhe's everyday carry program. It kicked my but, I often struggled with panic attacks resulting from the bypass surgery. I worked with my doctor and began to get stronger and push myself to new limits. In those early days, I could barely deadlift or squat 135 lbs, a 50 lb sandbag was almost too heavy, even though as I worked through the program I worked up to a 100lb sandbag.

In August a buddy of mine did a strongman competition, which I went with him and cheered him on. After that competition I was hooked and decided if I did not have my hip surgery before next years competition, I would compete. I was really worried about the entrance weights: deadlift 200 lbs/viking press 175 lbs and so forth. I had been lifting and working, but at that time I was not close to the starting weights. I devised a plan, the first of which was to do a heavy strength building phase, enter Brian Alsruhe's Conjugate program.

Program Structure

The basis for Conjugate comes from Westside Barbell, which was taken and adapted from Russian based weight training. The basic structure employs doing alternative versions of the main lifts and the use of bands and chains during speed work. The conjugate program is a 12 week program broken into 2 6 week sub structures. The weekly breakdown of the program simply works like this:

Day 1 Maximum Effort Lower - Rotate between Deadlift and Squat exercise variations.

Day 2 Maximum Effort Upper - Rotate between Bench and Shoulder exercise variations.

For the first 6 weeks, the main mover is 30 minutes to find your new 3 rep max and during the second your 1 rep max. Maxes here are not the same as a true 1 rep max test, instead your supposed to hold a bit in reserve to ensure completion of the other work. In the program, Brian mixes in two more exercises per each max test to create a giant set. I omitted the extra work to focus on pulling as heavy as possible, with one set left in the tank.

The second part of this work relies on volume, usually 80% of your max found during the first part of the workout. The first set is usually As Many Reps as possible with the other two sets taken to 8 reps in the first six week block and 5 in the second block. Paired with each of the 3 volume sets often included a variation of core work, to be completed in superset fashion. I had a difficult time with getting the reps at 80% so I often dropped this down to 70%.

The conclusion of each maximum effort include accessory work, in Alsruhe fashion to match the workout for the day.

Day 3 and 4 Dynamic Effort Lower and Upper days - Often defined as speed work, in Brian's program this is done as the major mover for the week followed by the one not completed. Both were done as a percentage of 1 rep max starting at 55% and working upwards. These sets were done as a 12 minute every minute on the minute EMOM sets. Goal is to move the bar at a steady yet rapid pace. As instructed I used a mix of bands and chains when completing these sets.

These workout days were completed with more Alsruhe style accessory work, usually multiple sets of giant sets compounding 3-4 exercises.

As mentioned above, I tried to run the program as outlined, except I removed the giant sets when going for rep maxes during the Maximum Effort days. I made a few switches to exercises to match my strongman proclivities. When the program called for a push press, I switched that out with a viking press, when the program called for a clean and jerk variation I switched that out for a clean and press log press. Also, when doing overhead presses, I used a static axle.

I ran this program for 12 weeks then took a deload week before testing 1 rep maxes, doing deadlift and over head press separate from squats and bench press.

Diet

I started this with my only diet goal being to eat enough to grow my strength as much as possible. I am already a pretty big guy at 302 lbs when I started. Most of the program I gained weight, increasing up to 312 at the max. The last couple of weeks I started to drop weight. I never felt like my lifts were suffering so I just continued to fuel as much as possible and I did not worry about the weight and water weight loss.

By The Numbers

I ended up tracking a bunch of associated exercises, as the maximum effort days utilized not competition lifts. Note I am a 50 year old male who has had a quad bypass in 2020 and cancer treatments as well as some other ailments, this is not an excuse, but just laying out additional factors.

All of my lifts increased as I progressed through the program.

My major lifts that I tested using a strict 1 Rep Max:

Starting /Ending

Deadlift: 263/300 14% or 37 lb gain

Overhead Press (axle) 100/107.5 a 7.5% gain

Squat: 245/305 24% or 60 lb gain

Bench: 135/165 22% or 30 lb gain

Conclusions

At the beginning week of this program I learned really quickly that adding extra sandbag and strongman implement work would be too much. The first day or so, my CNS was so shot I could not keep my eyes open at work and I could not get enough sleep. I did not add any extra work to the remaining program. I still found myself often exhausted and tired from the heavy lifts, but not as bad as that passing out constantly in the first week. I think for 12 weeks of work I gained a serious amount of strength. I would definitely run this program again. I will be running Alsruhe's Rep Per Minute plan while cutting over the next 9 weeks to allow my body to still work but not push as hard as I had to on this program to act as a bridge to his Strongman Mass Builder which will be started in the late spring early summer.

Conjugate Program Focuses On Associated Lifts - Gold are PRS