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Five Days of Conjugate for Strongman: Scaling the System for Advanced Athletes
- JHEPCxTJH
- 17 hours ago
- 31 min read
Five Days of Conjugate for Strongman: Scaling the System for Advanced Athletes
Over the years, I’ve written extensively about how the Conjugate Method applies to strongman training. Each major article built a different layer of that foundation. The Conjugate Method for Strongman established why the system fits the sport so naturally-how rotating movements, managing intensity, and training across the entire force–velocity curve allow strongman athletes to build strength that carries beyond the barbell. The Conjugate Method for Strongman Rides Again refined that structure, expanding on how event work, recovery management, and weekly sequencing can all be brought under the Conjugate umbrella. From the Guys Who Literally Wrote the Book on It pushed those ideas further, exploring modern periodisation, event specificity, and the logic that ties strongman preparation to powerlifting precision. The Ultimate 3-Day Conjugate Template demonstrated the opposite end of the spectrum-a reduced, sustainable model that delivers high returns for athletes managing recovery, injury history, or limited training time.
This new piece extends that line of thinking. It outlines how a five-day approach can work within the Conjugate framework for strongman athletes who have earned the right to handle more training. It’s for those whose recovery, nutrition, and work capacity can support higher total volume, and who benefit from greater technical exposure to multiple implements each week. The goal isn’t to add more for the sake of it, but to show how the same principles-rotation, balance, and adaptive stress-scale upward when the athlete is ready.
The Logic of Adding a Fifth Day
Expanding to a five-day Conjugate split is not about cramming in more work or chasing arbitrary volume. It represents a point in an athlete’s development where their recovery, structure, and skill level can finally support greater exposure without the system breaking down. For most lifters, four days per week is plenty. The Max Effort and Dynamic Effort structure covers all strength qualities while leaving enough space for recovery and technical refinement. A fifth day only becomes useful when the body and mind are conditioned to absorb and adapt to it.
That threshold usually appears after years of consistent training, when an athlete can complete four focused sessions without accumulating lingering fatigue. Their nutrition is steady, sleep is dependable, and soft tissue management is built into their weekly rhythm. They have a clear understanding of their weaknesses and know how to approach heavy and speed work with accuracy rather than ego. When those foundations are in place, an extra day no longer becomes a threat to recovery but a means to refine specificity.
In a five-day strongman structure, the additional session is not a bonus workout. It is a redistribution of density across the week. Instead of crowding event practice and barbell work into the same day, the load is spread out so that each quality can be trained with more attention and less interference. This approach allows for more frequent practice with key implements-particularly overhead variations, moving events, and loading patterns-without compromising the heavy lifts that drive progress.
For example, a four-day template might combine Dynamic Effort Lower work and events into one demanding session. In a five-day layout, these can be separated so that speed squats and pulls are performed under controlled fatigue, while carries, loads, and medleys can be trained with focus the next day. The total workload may not increase dramatically, but the quality of each session does. The athlete gains an extra opportunity each week to rehearse movement patterns that decide competition outcomes.
This fifth day often becomes a home for specialised development. It can target a stubborn weakness, a technical limitation, or an event skill that benefits from higher frequency. For some, that means extra log or axle practice; for others, it might be grip, loading speed, or conditioning. The important point is that it serves a purpose. It exists to reinforce the system, not dilute it.
A well-executed five-day Conjugate plan still obeys the same rules as any good program: one or two neural-heavy sessions per week, distributed stress, consistent rotation, and clear recovery markers. When added at the right time, this structure gives advanced athletes the chance to express more of what they have built, converting strength into usable skill while keeping the Conjugate principles intact.
The fifth day is not a miniature add-on or a bonus circuit thrown in for the sake of doing more. It carries the same intent and structure as any other training day, but with a different purpose. Many lifters make the mistake of treating an extra session as a place to squeeze in random accessories or catch up on missed work. That approach only adds noise and fatigue without producing measurable progress. A true fifth day is programmed with the same precision as Max Effort or Dynamic Effort sessions. It might have lower absolute intensity, but it still targets a defined quality-technical skill, positional strength, or event rhythm. Every movement has to justify its place. When designed correctly, this day strengthens the link between strength development and event performance, acting as a bridge rather than an overflow bin.
Weekly Architecture
A five-day Conjugate week is not simply a longer version of the four-day model; it is a rebalanced system that spreads the same total training stress across a wider time frame. This spacing allows stronger, more advanced athletes to train with higher precision and frequency without compressing too many competing demands into a single day. Every session has a clear identity and contributes to the overall structure.
Monday – Max Effort Upper This is the cornerstone of upper-body strength development. The focus is on pressing power and overhead capability-log, axle, barbell, or dumbbell. Athletes rotate between maximal effort lifts such as a heavy single, triple, or five-rep effort, always with a clear technical purpose. For strongman competitors, that might mean cycling between a strict log, an axle clean and press, a close-grip bench, or a floor press with bands. Once the top set is achieved, supplemental work reinforces the same patterns through moderate-rep sets targeting the shoulders, triceps, and upper back. Rear-delt and scapular stability work finish the session, supporting long-term joint health and overhead control.
Tuesday – Max Effort Lower The lower-body equivalent develops absolute strength through squats, pulls, and hybrid variations. Each week brings a distinct movement challenge: a cambered bar box squat, a banded deadlift, a front squat, or a good morning. The goal is to strain against a heavy load, express maximal force, and expose technical weak points. After the primary lift, accessory work focuses on posterior chain density-hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors-alongside secondary leg work to maintain knee and hip balance. These sessions often include small doses of event-style work such as partial deadlift lockouts, frame picks, or yoke-position holds to build familiarity with competition mechanics.
Wednesday – Repetition, GPP, and Weak Point Development The midweek session acts as an internal regulator for the system. It lowers neural demand while maintaining movement quality and physical preparedness. Athletes perform moderate-load, moderate-rep work aimed at building muscle, restoring joint health, and increasing local endurance. This is also the ideal time to address chronic weak links: midline stability, hamstring endurance, grip strength, or shoulder health. Conditioning, mobility, and abdominal work round out the day. It can be adjusted to suit the phase-leaning heavier toward hypertrophy in the off-season or active recovery in competition build-ups. For many lifters, this day overlaps naturally with Saturday’s event emphasis, acting as the bridge between heavy training and competition-style work.
Thursday – Dynamic Effort Upper Here the athlete moves from maximal strength to speed strength. The aim is to generate force quickly and refine technical precision under lighter loads. Typical sessions feature log or axle speed presses performed for multiple sets of low repetitions, often paired with band or chain resistance to reinforce acceleration. Supporting exercises include explosive push-ups, high-rep triceps work, and rowing variations to stabilise the shoulders. Because strongman relies heavily on overhead skill and repetition endurance, this day may also integrate short event medleys or pressing complexes, allowing the athlete to rehearse transitions and breathing patterns under controlled fatigue.
Saturday – Dynamic Effort Lower and Events The final structured session of the week blends speed work and event practice. It often begins with fast squats or pulls to train rate of force development, then transitions into the events that define the sport: yoke runs, farmers carries, sandbag or keg loads, sled pulls, or medley conditioning. The day is physically demanding but should be technically sharp rather than destructive. By combining velocity-based lifting and event exposure, athletes learn to apply barbell power in the chaotic reality of competition movements. When managed correctly, this day delivers enormous carryover without compromising recovery for the following week.
Flexible Days – Friday and Sunday The remaining days are flexible slots that shift according to the athlete’s recovery status and the current training phase. They can serve as rest days, light aerobic work, technical drills, or extra GPP sessions depending on fatigue levels. Some athletes prefer a Tuesday–Wednesday–Friday–Saturday–Sunday rotation, especially if their schedule or recovery rhythm fits better with consecutive weekend sessions. The key is consistency of structure rather than rigid adherence to a calendar.
Across the week, stress alternates between high-intensity neural loading and restorative or skill-based work. Max Effort sessions anchor the system, Dynamic Effort days sharpen speed and technique, and the middle sessions maintain volume and resilience. The architecture creates a balance between strain and recovery, ensuring that strongman athletes can train across multiple implements, refine their craft, and still progress in absolute strength throughout the year.
Here’s how the two main scheduling options for a five-day Conjugate Strongman week can be laid out. Both maintain the same balance of Max Effort, Dynamic Effort, Repetition, and Event work, only shifting how the stress is distributed across the week.
Option 1: Standard Monday–Saturday Structure
Option 2: Tuesday–Sunday Rotation
Both structures preserve the Conjugate balance: two high-intensity sessions, two velocity-focused sessions, and one restorative or developmental session each week. The choice depends on recovery rate, gym access, and competition scheduling.
The Recovery Equation
The sustainability of a five-day Conjugate approach depends on how recovery is built into the structure, not how rest days are inserted around it. A well-designed Conjugate week doesn’t rely on deloads or long gaps between sessions-it manages fatigue through the intelligent distribution of stress, the rotation of movements, and the controlled overlap of muscular demands. The goal is not to avoid fatigue entirely, but to control where it lands, how long it lasts, and what it produces in return.
When looking through Lisa’s training log, this principle is clear. Across weeks of high output, event practice, and strength work, recovery is preserved through design rather than reduction. The pattern never changes: heavy effort at the start of the week, restoration through midweek work, dynamic and technical sessions to close it. What changes is the shape and focus of each component.
Intra-Week Undulation
The sequence of sessions forms an undulating rhythm that balances nervous system stress and muscular fatigue across the week. The Max Effort days sit at the top of that wave, demanding the most from the athlete in terms of focus, load, and coordination. Monday’s Max Effort Upper and Tuesday’s Max Effort Lower deliver the heaviest strain, testing maximal strength, joint stability, and motor control.
By midweek, the tone shifts. The Repetition or GPP session provides a restorative buffer. This day reduces neural fatigue while maintaining total training volume. Instead of barbell strain, it uses controlled tempo, moderate loads, and accessory emphasis to drive blood flow, joint nutrition, and tissue recovery. Movements such as RKC planks, leg curls, light carries, or controlled dumbbell pressing allow the body to move without the cost of another heavy session.
As the week continues, Dynamic Effort sessions pick up the tempo but not the fatigue. Thursday’s DE Upper work reintroduces velocity and coordination, relying on submaximal loads to train the nervous system to produce force quickly. It feels fast and aggressive, yet recovery-friendly, because the intensity is expressed in speed rather than load. Saturday’s DE Lower and event work follow the same pattern-high effort, high intent, but low residual fatigue compared to a true maximal day. This alternating sequence of strain and restoration allows the athlete to train hard five times per week without sliding into chronic fatigue.
Accessory Cycling
Another recovery mechanism lies in how accessory work is rotated. Instead of hammering the same muscles with identical angles and loads every week, accessories are cycled every two or three weeks. This approach is evident throughout Lisa’s training: triceps and upper-back variations rotate fortnightly on Max Effort Upper, while hamstring and core work alternate on lower sessions. The purpose is not novelty for its own sake, but longevity.
Changing movements frequently prevents overuse and reduces joint irritation, especially under high training frequency. It also maintains adaptation potential by altering stimulus slightly before the body stagnates. A cambered bar good morning may run for three weeks, then give way to a safety bar variation or Romanian deadlift. Likewise, face pulls may be replaced by rear-delt flyes or IYT complexes. Each accessory carries similar intent but a different pattern of stress. Over time, this micro-rotation keeps the system fresh while continually targeting the same weaknesses from new angles.
Accessories also carry a secondary role as recovery drivers. Many are intentionally placed after high-intensity lifts to restore balance-hamstring curls following squats, banded pull-aparts after pressing, or core stability after event runs. This sequencing ensures that the work aiding recovery is embedded within the session rather than postponed to separate “recovery days.” The athlete finishes each workout already moving back toward readiness.
Load Balance
A true Conjugate week only includes two genuinely high-intensity sessions: the Max Effort Upper and Max Effort Lower. Everything else exists to support, not compete with, those peaks. This is a crucial distinction that allows high-frequency training to remain sustainable. In Lisa’s log, the heaviest lifts always occur early in the week, when fatigue is lowest and concentration highest. The following sessions still involve challenging work-speed pulls, complexes, and event runs-but the physiological cost is far lower.
This distribution of stress keeps the nervous system responsive rather than suppressed. The Max Effort sessions provide the overload necessary for strength adaptation. The Repetition and Dynamic sessions maintain movement quality, coordination, and muscular development while simultaneously promoting recovery through active circulation and varied loading patterns. When viewed across the week, intensity resembles a sine wave: heavy strain early, gradual decompression midweek, renewed speed and skill expression by the weekend.
Functional Fatigue Management in Practice
What makes this model effective is that recovery is never passive. There are no wasted sessions or arbitrary rest days; every workout serves to either drive adaptation or restore the capacity for it. Across Lisa’s weeks, heavy deadlifts and box squats coexist with sled drags, Z presses, and sandbag complexes precisely because their demands are balanced. The volume of work is high, but the intensity of stress is never cumulative.
By rotating implements, alternating neural and muscular strain, and embedding recovery work within each day, the five-day Conjugate system maintains progress without requiring extended downtime. Fatigue is allowed to exist but never accumulate unchecked. It rises and falls in predictable patterns, which is what lets advanced strongman athletes train with consistency, precision, and longevity.
Integrating Events Without Overlap
The defining challenge in programming strongman is not deciding which events to train, but how to fit them into a structured system without turning every week into a recovery disaster. Event work carries its own demands: awkward implements, chaotic loading patterns, unpredictable terrain, and the unique neural cost of maximal effort under fatigue. In many strongman programs, events become the ungoverned variable-tacked on wherever there’s space, often erasing the value of the work done earlier in the week. The Conjugate framework prevents this by assigning every event a logical place and purpose.
The principle is simple. Max Effort days are reserved for barbell proficiency and pure strength expression. These sessions provide the foundation from which event power is built. Dynamic Effort and Repetition sessions are where implements live and where sport skill is rehearsed. Each training quality has its own home, preventing interference between heavy lifting, speed work, and technical refinement.
Max Effort Sessions: Strength Expression, Not Simulation
On Max Effort days, the goal is strain and precision under maximal load. This is where the athlete learns to produce force through stable, predictable patterns. The barbell provides control and repeatability, which allows load to be the only variable. Implement work here is minimal, and if used, it appears as a supplemental exercise rather than a replacement for the main lift. For example, a heavy cambered bar squat might be followed by stone trainer front squats or a partial yoke pick held for time. These movements complement rather than compete with the primary lift.
This separation matters. Trying to replicate competition-style events within a Max Effort session often results in nervous system confusion-max effort fatigue from chaotic, unstable patterns rather than efficient force production. By keeping these sessions barbell-dominant, athletes preserve neural freshness and improve the technical qualities that underpin every strongman event: bracing, hinging, and total-body tension.
Dynamic Effort Upper: Overhead Implements and Loading Skill
Dynamic Upper days are where overhead events come to life. The submaximal loads and repeated sets make it the perfect environment to rehearse technical movement under controlled fatigue. Log and axle presses dominate this day, trained for speed and bar path consistency rather than grind. The focus is acceleration from the dip to lockout, crisp transitions between phases of the lift, and refinement of the clean or continental.
This is also the time to layer in short, focused medleys that train rhythm and timing. For example, three-week cycles might include complexes such as “clean and press every rep” with a light log, or alternating between barbell, axle, and log within a single set to improve adaptability. Accessories such as Z presses, push presses, and banded triceps work reinforce these mechanics without compromising shoulder recovery.
Loading events-kegs, sandbags, or natural stones-can also appear here in moderate doses, especially when programmed for speed or precision rather than fatigue. Performing a series of light-to-moderate loads to a platform or over a yoke between pressing sets is an efficient way to develop coordination and positional awareness without neural overlap with Max Effort work.
Dynamic Effort Lower: Moving Events and Power Application
Dynamic Lower sessions form the natural home for moving events. The same qualities that make a speed squat effective-rate of force development, controlled acceleration, and crisp rhythm-also govern yoke carries, farmers walks, and sled pulls. By placing these events here, they inherit the same intent as DE lifting: high velocity, low-to-moderate load, and refined execution.
A typical layout might begin with three-week waves of speed squats or banded deadlifts, followed by progressively heavier yoke runs or farmers carries. Early weeks focus on rapid foot turnover and clean picks; later weeks gradually extend distance or add load. The goal is always to move well first and heavy later. Event skill is developed without compromising the recovery required for Max Effort days.
This structure also encourages tactical variety. Some weeks emphasise short-distance acceleration work-10 to 15 metre carries with near-perfect speed-while others expand to full 20–30 metre runs or mixed medleys combining yoke, farmers, and sleds. Because DE Lower sits far enough from the Max Effort Lower day, it provides the ideal slot for these highly fatiguing but sport-specific drills.
Repetition Effort and GPP Days: Technique Under Fatigue
Midweek Repetition and GPP work can also feature technical or submaximal event practice, but the emphasis shifts from power to quality. This is where movement skill, grip endurance, and conditioning are quietly built. A session might include light sandbag shouldering for high reps, stone extensions from the lap, or loaded carries performed for time rather than load. These drills act as low-intensity technical conditioning, improving work capacity and pattern familiarity without adding neural stress.
Because these sessions sit between the Max Effort and Dynamic Effort days, they also serve as a feedback loop. If the athlete struggles to stabilise under a yoke on Saturday, midweek GPP might include banded hip work or trunk rotation to correct it. The goal is refinement and restoration, not exhaustion.
Throwing Events: Floating Throughout the Week
Throwing presents a unique challenge. Whether it’s sandbag toss, keg throw, or weight for height, it combines elements of both explosive strength and technical precision. In a five-day Conjugate structure, throwing can be positioned flexibly based on energy levels and recovery status.
Light or technical throws can appear on Repetition or Dynamic days, serving as warm-up or activation work before speed lifts. Heavier or more demanding sessions can be placed on separate micro-sessions-short standalone practices lasting 20–30 minutes, typically after Dynamic Lower or on an optional sixth day. The key is to treat throws as high-skill, low-volume sessions, never to failure and never so fatiguing that they interfere with barbell training or event recovery.
Bringing It Together
When programmed this way, event work reinforces the rest of the system instead of conflicting with it. Max Effort builds the raw strength required for performance, Dynamic Effort transforms that strength into usable power and coordination, and Repetition work builds the endurance and joint integrity to sustain it. The events live within this rhythm, each placed where it complements rather than competes.
This integration is what separates a Conjugate strongman plan from conventional “event days.” Instead of overwhelming the athlete with a single marathon session, the system spreads technical practice across the week, matching each event with the energy system and motor quality it demands. The result is faster recovery, sharper skill transfer, and continuous adaptation-strength expressed where it matters most.
Monitoring Readiness
The success of a five-day Conjugate structure relies on precision, not punishment. The difference between progress and burnout is how effectively the athlete can read their own signals and adjust before fatigue turns destructive. The more frequently you train, the more important that self-monitoring becomes. Readiness isn’t about how you feel in vague emotional terms; it’s about observing performance markers that tell you what your body can actually express on a given day.
Understanding Readiness in a Conjugate Framework
In The Conjugate Method for Strongman Rides Again and 3 Weeks to a PR, readiness is treated as a feedback loop rather than a rating system. Instead of assigning numbers to perceived exertion, the lifter interprets objective and behavioural cues: bar speed, stability, grip, and event performance. Each one provides information about where the nervous system is within the fatigue–recovery cycle.
Bar speed is one of the most reliable indicators. On Max Effort days, if the bar moves sharply through warm-ups and technical precision is high, the body is primed for heavy singles or triples. If the bar feels sluggish, or technique starts to drift early, the session still continues but shifts to a submaximal variant or secondary emphasis-such as volume work at 80–85 per cent, or an accessory-dominant session instead of maximal strain. This keeps the stress productive without forcing maximal effort when the system isn’t ready to handle it.
Event performance offers another layer of feedback. Poor pick speed on a yoke, dropping implements earlier than usual, or inconsistent stone lap height all suggest a need to pull back neural demand. Rather than forcing through another heavy day, the session can be redirected toward positional reinforcement, shorter runs, or lighter medley pacing. Over time, athletes learn to link these small fluctuations in event output with the broader rhythm of their training week.
Grip as a Readiness Test
Grip strength is a fast, field-based gauge of nervous system freshness. A simple dynamometer reading, a timed static hold, or a single-handed hang test can reveal whether the body is ready for heavy pulling or event work. A sudden drop of ten to fifteen per cent from baseline grip times usually signals central fatigue, even if the athlete feels subjectively fine. When this happens, the solution isn’t to skip training but to reallocate focus: speed pulls instead of max pulls, unilateral work instead of heavy squats, or technical drills in place of full events.
Autoregulation Within Structure
The key principle is autoregulation inside a fixed framework. Readiness affects exercise selection and rest spacing, not the structure of the week itself. In a Conjugate system, the lifter doesn’t rewrite the plan when tired; they rotate to an appropriate variation that matches their current capacity. For instance:
Instead of cancelling a Max Effort lower session, choose a less demanding variation such as a Safety Bar box squat or a block pull.
On Dynamic Effort days, adjust band tension or reduce set count if bar velocity drops below target.
If recovery lags mid-week, the Repetition session can become a 40-minute restoration block of accessories, sleds, and mobility.
Rest substitution is another layer of regulation. Shortening rest intervals increases conditioning stress when energy is high; extending them slightly helps maintain bar speed when fatigue is evident. These small manipulations allow the athlete to remain within the same session blueprint while keeping output consistent.
Applying the Fifth Day
The fifth day is where readiness testing is most valuable. It should never be fixed blindly into the plan. Instead, it becomes a floating slot that adapts based on grip tests, event feedback, and general recovery signs. If bar speed and grip are strong, it can host targeted skill or event practice. If either measure is down, it becomes an active recovery or technical refinement day. Over weeks, this flexible logic transforms the fifth session from a potential recovery risk into a controlled instrument for progress.
Monitoring readiness in this way preserves the core structure of Conjugate while acknowledging that strength is never static. It ebbs and flows with life, stress, and recovery. By building objective checks-bar speed, grip performance, and event rhythm-into each week, athletes maintain high frequency training without sliding into chronic fatigue. The result is a system that adapts automatically, balancing intensity and recovery without ever surrendering structure.
The Athlete Profile
The five-day Conjugate model is not a general template. It exists for a specific subset of lifters: those with the physical, technical, and psychological capacity to sustain frequent, high-quality training across multiple implements. It represents the upper end of the Conjugate spectrum-an advanced model for athletes who have already mastered the principles of recovery, rotation, and load management within four structured sessions per week.
Who It’s For
This approach suits advanced intermediates to elite strongman athletes who meet several key criteria:
Three or more years of uninterrupted, structured training. By this stage, the lifter has developed technical fluency across all major lifts and strongman events, understands how to manage volume, and can regulate intensity intuitively without needing arbitrary RPE systems or constant external correction.
Proven recovery capacity from four full sessions per week. The athlete consistently handles heavy squats, pulls, presses, and events without lingering fatigue, sleep disruption, or joint breakdown. Recovery systems-nutrition, hydration, sleep, soft-tissue work-are already in place and routine.
A clear need for higher event frequency or technical exposure. This includes competitors refining transitions in yoke and farmers runs, improving overhead medleys, or sharpening loading efficiency with sandbags, kegs, and stones. At this level, event precision and rhythm become as decisive as raw strength.
For these athletes, the fifth day isn’t about doing more work-it’s about doing better work. It creates space for extra skill exposure, targeted weakness correction, and event rehearsal that would otherwise crowd existing sessions. The additional frequency sharpens timing, builds work capacity, and increases total technical practice without compromising the intensity of Max Effort training.
Who It’s Not For
The five-day system is inappropriate for beginners and early intermediates who still struggle with recovery or movement consistency. These athletes gain far more from the three-day Conjugate template, which consolidates effort into fewer, higher-quality sessions. That model provides longer recovery windows, allowing lifters to adapt to the stress of Max Effort and Dynamic Effort training while developing foundational strength and conditioning.
For the majority of strongman athletes, the four-day Conjugate Strongman framework remains the gold standard. It balances two heavy days and two speed or event-focused days, creating an optimal compromise between volume, skill, and restoration. This format allows most competitors-especially those juggling demanding jobs, inconsistent sleep, or limited equipment-to train productively for years without burning out.
Where the Five-Day Model Fits
The five-day template represents the next logical step once the four-day split stops producing measurable progress and event-specific skill becomes the limiting factor. It belongs to athletes preparing for national or international competition, where technical polish and performance consistency often decide placings. It demands precision, discipline, and genuine self-awareness. Every movement must be justified, every session must fit within the week’s overall fatigue curve, and recovery must be treated as part of training rather than an afterthought.
In essence, this version of Conjugate is for athletes who have already mastered the system’s fundamentals and can now afford to add more exposure without compromising quality. It rewards organisation, experience, and the ability to recover like a professional. For everyone else, fewer days done well will always outperform more days done poorly.
Sample Week Snapshot
This representative week shows how a five-day Conjugate structure balances heavy strain with velocity, repetition, and event skill. Max Effort sessions anchor absolute strength, while Dynamic and Repetition days refine power output, technical consistency, and endurance. Event practice is woven through the week rather than isolated, and each accessory circuit supports either restoration or structural balance. The result is a training rhythm that allows high output and continued technical development without overwhelming recovery.
Progression Over Time
The five-day Conjugate Strongman framework operates across long-term development, not just individual weeks. It evolves through three clear stages-foundation, transmutation, and peak-mirroring the same logic outlined in 3 Weeks to a PR and expanded within From Training to the Podium: Conjugate Peaking for Strongman Competitions 3.0. Each stage keeps the Conjugate structure intact while shifting emphasis toward different physiological and technical outcomes.
1. Foundation Blocks – Building Capacity and Skill
The foundation stage establishes the base that allows a five-day structure to thrive. It focuses on building work capacity, technical consistency, and structural resilience while reinforcing the principles of Max Effort and Dynamic Effort training. During this period, event work is lighter, slower, and more deliberate-designed to perfect movement patterns before layering in fatigue or competition intensity.
Accessory work dominates the volume. The goal is not to “survive five days,” but to build a body that can. This means the Repetition and GPP sessions carry more total tonnage than the heavy days, and event exposure focuses on repetition, timing, and position rather than maximal loading. Athletes in this stage accumulate tolerance: consistent recovery, predictable bar speed, and clean execution across all sessions.
In practice, this looks like 4–6 weeks of submaximal training waves, often with percentage-based or layered exposure cycles (for example, 3RM → 2RM → 1RM over three weeks). These same patterns appear throughout 3 Weeks to a PR, where small, controlled progressions establish readiness for later intensification.
2. Transmutation Blocks – Translating Force to Velocity
Once the athlete demonstrates stability and consistency, the emphasis shifts to transmutation: converting general strength into competitive power. Max Effort work remains, but the intent changes-from building absolute numbers to expressing strength rapidly. Dynamic Effort and event sessions now drive adaptation.
Bar speed, timing, and comp-style execution dominate this block. Event work moves from controlled drills to task-specific rehearsals: yoke runs for distance, sandbag medleys under time caps, log cleans at comp cadence. Accessory selection narrows-each exercise must feed a lift or event directly.
This phase embodies the midpoint of From Training to the Podium’s Conjugate peaking principles. It’s where intensity rises, but volume tapers strategically. The wave structure-3-week cycles of increasing specificity-maintains balance between force and speed. This transmutation block is where the athlete learns to perform under controlled fatigue, sharpening efficiency and coordination without draining the nervous system.
3. Peak Blocks – Specificity and Recovery Balance
The final stage prepares the athlete for competition readiness. Here, the 5-day structure refines rather than expands. Event work becomes highly specific, the accessory load drops, and the focus turns to quality over quantity. Each Max Effort lift now mirrors competition context: axle clean and press, yoke under timed conditions, or frame carries for distance. Dynamic Effort waves shift from high-band tension to straight weight, reflecting Louie Simmons’ original peaking philosophy-tension down, bar weight up, rest slightly lengthened.
Recovery becomes an active component of training. Repetition or GPP sessions turn restorative: sled drags, light sandbag carries, breathing drills, mobility, and positional reinforcement. The fifth day often becomes fluid, transitioning between skill exposure, active recovery, or light technical event rehearsal based on readiness scores and grip testing.
Within From Training to the Podium, this corresponds to the final 3–4 weeks before competition-the “readiness taper.” The weekly intensity wave still applies, but the driver is no longer tonnage. It’s precision. Each session exists to sharpen movement, reinforce timing, and protect the athlete’s peak.
Integration Across the System
Over time, the 5-day Conjugate Strongman model flows naturally through these phases. Foundation builds the base; transmutation converts strength into speed; peak consolidates those qualities into readiness. The 3-week wave logic functions as a smaller unit inside that long-term cycle-allowing micro-peaks and recovery resets without dismantling the structure.
The athlete moves seamlessly from preparation to performance: not through drastic changes in programming, but through targeted shifts in emphasis and load distribution. Each block feeds the next, and by the time the peak arrives, the work has already been done-the final weeks simply reveal it.
The five-day Conjugate model represents the sharpest end of the continuum-the point where structure, recovery, and precision have all matured enough for frequency to become an advantage rather than a liability. It sits as the natural evolution of the system, not a departure from it. The same principles of rotation, balance, and adaptive stress remain; only the density and specificity increase.
Across the full Conjugate spectrum, each level serves a purpose:
Three days to rebuild. Four to perform. Five to refine.
The three-day Conjugate structure exists for lifters rebuilding capacity, managing injury, or balancing demanding external schedules. It focuses on quality exposure, long recovery windows, and consistency above all else-a framework for staying strong when life limits training frequency.
The four-day structure remains the mainstay for the majority of strongman athletes. It allows balanced development of maximal strength, speed, skill, and conditioning across the week. The classic rhythm of Max Effort Upper, Max Effort Lower, Dynamic Effort Upper, and Dynamic Effort Lower provides everything an athlete needs to grow, peak, and perform.
The five-day model refines this further. It expands the system for advanced lifters who require more technical exposure and higher event frequency, allowing greater attention to the details that separate national-level performers from international competitors. It’s not a replacement for the four-day approach, but an advanced expression of the same method-one that rewards precision, planning, and discipline.
Every part of the continuum feeds into the same goal: to make the athlete stronger, faster, and more complete. Whether training three, four, or five days per week, the logic of Conjugate remains the same-constant variation, managed intensity, and total-system adaptation over time.
For athletes ready to put this structure into action, the next steps are clear. Explore The Full Conjugate Strongman System, a complete framework for year-round programming, peaking, and event integration. Pair it with the free resource The Ultimate 3-Day Conjugate Template for recovery-limited or off-season phases. And for those ready to personalise every layer, coaching through JH Elite Performance & Coaching provides tailored programming, performance analysis, and full competition preparation built on the same principles that underpin this five-day system.
The five-day Conjugate structure isn’t an experiment-it’s the natural extension of a method proven to build strongman athletes who can perform on demand, week after week, without ever losing momentum.
The Sandbag Complex: Event Skill Evolution Within a Conjugate Scaffold
The sandbag complex progression seen throughout the training log is a clear demonstration of how strongman event skill can evolve inside a Conjugate framework without ever compromising recovery or systemic balance. It shows how technical refinement, strength endurance, and positional discipline can all develop simultaneously when the event is treated as part of a structured system rather than an isolated test of grit.
At its core, the sandbag complex serves three purposes: to reinforce clean mechanics under fatigue, to bridge strength with conditioning, and to increase technical fluency across multiple positions. Early sessions began with simple row–lap–shoulder combinations, light in load but deliberate in execution. These movements acted as dynamic patterning drills, teaching control from the floor, the hinge into the lap, and the coordinated extension into the shoulder. In later weeks, the structure of the complex evolved-adding extra laps, carries, and transitions-to challenge rhythm, breathing, and decision-making under fatigue.
This gradual layering mirrors how the Conjugate system builds strength qualities: start with general, low-fatigue exposures, then rotate variations that increase specificity and intensity while maintaining control. By the midpoint of the cycle, the athlete wasn’t just stronger; they were faster between phases of movement, more efficient in setup, and less dependent on conscious cues. The skill had become embedded through repetition without monotony.
Each variation of the complex also occupied a different slot within the weekly undulation. On Dynamic Effort Upper, it appeared as a speed-based finisher-lighter bags, short rest, focus on crisp transitions. On Dynamic Effort Lower, it shifted toward power output, heavier loads, and shorter total sets. Occasionally, it appeared within Repetition Effort sessions as extended conditioning work, using moderate loads to build shoulder endurance and posterior chain resilience. This constant but context-sensitive exposure kept the movement fresh while refining multiple athletic qualities at once.
The result was a living example of what “event practice within Conjugate” truly means. Rather than isolating the sandbag as a Saturday-only novelty, it became a teaching tool across the week. The lifter learned to manage breathing, bracing, and pacing across positions, all while accumulating hundreds of technically sound repetitions. Strength, speed, and skill advanced together because each exposure served a defined purpose.
In broader terms, the sandbag complex illustrates how strongman events can be developed through progressive, rotating patterns instead of repetitive maximal efforts. When built into the Conjugate scaffold, event training stops being chaotic and becomes a measurable system of adaptation-teaching the body to produce force in the positions that decide competition results.
The Sandbag Complex Progression
Every Other Question You Might Have
Readiness Toolkit
Bar-speed cues in warm-ups
Snappy off the floor/out of the dip: stay with the planned top set or variation.
Sticky first inch / wobble through sticking point: switch to a friendlier variation (e.g., from comp deadlift to block pull; from strict log to incline press).
Speed drops across warm-ups at the same load: cut top-set ambition; push high-quality volume or accessories.
DE sets not equally fast: reduce band/chain tension or drop 1–2 sets.
Three simple grip tests (pick one and log baseline)
Dynamometer best of three (standing, arm by side).
Timed hold: double-overhand on a barbell or trap bar at a fixed load.
Single-arm hang from a bar, best time per side.
If grip is down ~10–15% from your baseline
ME day planned: keep session, shift to a less neural variant; shorten cluster rests.
DE day planned: keep speed work; trim total sets by 10–20% if velocity flags.
Events planned: run lighter/faster exposures; prioritise picks, footwork, and turns over max distance or load.
Fifth day: convert to restoration or technique (sleds, carries for pace, breathing, mobility).
If/Then swaps (use inside the fixed weekly structure)
Warm-Up Flows
Format: 5–7 minutes tissue prep → 5 minutes positions → 5 minutes primers.
Upper
Tissue prep: pec/lat tack and floss, T-spine foam roll, band traction
Positions: wall press breathing, scap circles, banded Y/T/W
Primers: push-up plus, squat to press with empty log/axle, explosive med-ball chest pass or throw
Lower
Tissue prep: adductor/hip flexor floss, calves/plantar, glute smash
Positions: hip airplanes, ankle rocks, deep squat prying
Primers: kettlebell swings, pogo hops, light sled drag (forward/backward)
Events
Tissue prep: forearms, biceps tendon, traps, low back
Positions: front-rack support holds, hinge patterning, bracing drills
Primers: empty implement picks, 10–15 m technique carries, light sandbag laps and shoulders
Accessory Rotation Menu
Rotate every 2–3 weeks. Keep the pattern, change the angle/tool.
Triceps
Rope press-downs • Rolling DB extensions • JM press to pins • Close-grip board press • Tate press • D-handle cross-body press-down • Cable skulls • Swiss-bar close-grip
Hamstrings
Seated/lying curls • Nordic lowers • RDLs • 45° back raise with hamstring bias • Banded leg curl 30-20-10 + hold • Single-leg RDL • Sliding leg curls • Reverse hyper light/high-rep
Upper Back
Chest-supported row • Seal row • Meadows row • Wide-grip pulldown to sternum • Face pulls • Rear-delt flyes on cables • Snatch-grip high pull technique work • Bent-over row with pauses
Trunk
RKC plank waves • Pallof press variations • Hanging knee/leg raises • Copenhagen side plank • Ab-wheel rollouts • Zercher carry holds • Dead bug with exhale • Cable woodchop
Grip
Axle holds for time • Thick-handle farmer holds • Hub pinch lifts • Plate pinches • Towel pull-ups or hangs • Rolling Thunder singles/holds • Sandbag bear-hug holds • Captains of Crush sets
Single-Leg
Hatfield split squat • Bulgarian split squat • Lateral lunge to box • Step-ups (high knee) • Reverse lunge from deficit • Cossack squats • Sled marches heavy • Split-stance RDL
Implement Substitutions (commercial-gym friendly)
No log: axle push press; barbell clean and press every rep; landmine press; Swiss-bar push press.
No axle: barbell from floor clean and press every rep; fat-grip attachments on bar.
No yoke: front-rack carry; safety-bar walk; heavy farmer walk + front-rack switch; heavy sled march with torso upright.
No farmers handles: heavy dumbbell/KB carries, trap-bar carries, frame hold on Smith with safeties.
No stones: sandbag to high platform; stone trainer front squat/loads; bear-hug to box.
No sled: belt march on treadmill at incline; backwards walk with band; prowler plates on towel on rubber.
Common Pitfalls & Fixes
Three 3-Week Waves (example mesocycle)
Wave 1 — Foundation
ME Upper: close-grip bench or strict log; top 1–3 then 3–5×5 supplemental
ME Lower: cambered box squat or block pull; posterior chain volume
DE Upper: speed log or axle 8–10×3 EMOM style
DE Lower + Events: speed squats/pulls then yoke technique and short farmers
RE/GPP: hypertrophy circuits, trunk, grip, sleds
Event focus: lap-to-shoulder rhythm, pick speed, footwork
Accessories: higher total volume, joint-friendly angles
Wave 2 — Transmutation
ME Upper: push press or log clean and press; back-off triples
ME Lower: deadlift against bands or SSB to max then 3×3 @ submax
DE Upper: wave bar weight up, reduce sets slightly; explosive push-ups
DE Lower + Events: speed pulls then yoke distance or mixed medley under a time cap
RE/GPP: restore tissues, maintain volume with supersets
Event focus: cadence, turns, transitions
Accessories: narrow to items that feed the main lifts/events
Wave 3 — Peak
ME Upper: comp-style axle/log singles; low accessory volume
ME Lower: deadlift or squat in meet/event style; singles and light technique sets
DE Upper: straight weight, crisp doubles; longer rest
DE Lower + Events: short fast runs, rehearsed medley order; no misses
RE/GPP: sleds, carries for pace, breathing, mobility
Event focus: exact implements/order if known
Accessories: minimalist, only what keeps you moving well
Female / Masters Notes
Females: often tolerate a bit more RE volume and frequency for upper body; include regular scap/serratus work, extra calf/ankle prep for carries, and a touch more anterior-core.
Masters: extend warm-ups, favour joint-friendly pressing angles, use smaller jumps to top sets, and start the peak one week earlier with slightly more restoration work.
Time-Crunched Variant (4.5 days)
Merge RE accessories into DE Upper as a finisher circuit.
Keep Saturday DE Lower + Events intact.
Use the fifth day as a floating 30–45 minute restoration or technique micro-session when recovery allows.
FAQs
Where do stones go? On DE Lower + Events or RE days. Use lighter, faster work mid-week; heavier singles or short series on the weekend slot.
How do I handle two events on Saturday? Make one fast and technical, the other short and submax. Example: yoke accelerations 3×15 m, then sandbag loads EMOM 6–10 minutes.
What if I only have one implement? Rotate constraints: distance, time cap, pick height, turn frequency, surface, or handle thickness. Keep exposure frequent, fatigue controlled.
How do I know if the fifth day should happen? Grip baseline good, bar speed snappy, joints happy → go. Any two off → convert to restoration or skip.
Can I still progress if I miss a day? Yes. Keep the order intact. Do not stack two neural days back-to-back. Slide the missed day or drop it and continue.
Deloads? Use wave design and readiness tools first. If signs of accumulated fatigue persist for 7–10 days, cut volume by ~30% for one week while keeping frequency.
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