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The Conjugate SuperTotal: Building Max Strength and Max Power in the Same System
- JHEPCxTJH
- Oct 15
- 47 min read
The Conjugate SuperTotal: Building Max Strength and Max Power in the Same System
Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Snatch, Clean & Jerk: 9 Weeks to a Complete Strength Athlete
The Problem With Training for Both
Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting ask different things from the body and the nervous system. Powerlifting rewards the ability to create very high force through heavy squats, benches and deadlifts. Olympic lifting rewards the ability to create force very quickly and to organise the body in precise positions while the bar is moving fast. When athletes try to chase both at once, the training usually pulls them in opposite directions. Heavy grinding lifts create residual fatigue that lingers for days. High-speed lifts punish poor timing and punish tired positions. If the week is not organised carefully, the qualities interfere with one another and progress stalls.
Most traditional plans solve this by sequencing blocks. One block develops maximal strength while the speed work is parked. The next block sharpens speed and skill while the heavy strength work is reduced. This approach can work for a single sport with a narrow target. It struggles when the athlete must keep five lifts in working order at the same time. While one quality grows, another slips. Over a long season the athlete spends too much time rebuilding what was just lost.
The typical outcome is predictable. The powerlifter who adds more technical work often moves better but loses the ability to handle very heavy weights. The weightlifter who adds more heavy squatting and pulling often gets stronger but moves slowly and loses sharpness in the pull and the catch. Training time is limited. Recovery capacity is limited. A plan that treats the two sports as separate projects quickly runs out of room.
Conjugate offers a single framework that keeps all the plates spinning. It develops strength qualities together every week and uses rotation to keep stress targeted and recoverable. Max Effort sessions raise the ceiling of absolute force in the squat, bench and deadlift. Dynamic work builds rate of force development and teaches the bar to move fast in clean positions. Repetition work grows muscle, evens out imbalances and keeps joints happier. Special exercises plug the leaks that appear in both systems, such as soft upper backs in the pull, slow turnover, weak triceps at lockout or poor posture in the receiving positions.
The key is the weekly organisation. Conjugate manages stress through variation, not through long periods of avoidance. Movements, grips, stances and bars are rotated before fatigue becomes stale. Heavy strain is followed by faster work that restores bar speed and coordination. Technical Olympic derivatives appear where the athlete can be freshest for skill, while the heavy squats and pulls sit where the athlete can push force production without wrecking the rest of the week. Load is controlled with simple tools: capped top sets, limited back-off volume, clear targets for bar speed, and accessories that carry the main lifts without stealing recovery.
This approach lets force and speed grow together. The athlete does not wait months to touch a quality again. Squat strength rises while the clean improves. Bench strength rises while the jerk drive becomes more decisive. Deadlift strength rises while the snatch pull becomes snappier. Day to day numbers may ebb and flow because the athlete is training hard year round, yet the floor of performance rises. When it is time to reduce fatigue for a test or a meet, the ceiling sits higher because the system has been built as a whole, not in fragments.
Who It’s For (and Who It’s Not For)
This program is written for athletes who already have a working foundation in both strength and skill. You should be able to perform the classical powerlifts with confidence and have at least a functional grasp of the Olympic lifts. The goal here is not to teach a beginner how to snatch or clean; it is to build the strength, speed, and coordination to express them all at a higher level.
It suits intermediate to advanced lifters who want to unify two disciplines that are rarely trained together with structure. Hybrid athletes, strongmen, CrossFit competitors, and strength specialists looking to add weightlifting performance without losing absolute force will all find value here. If you can already move well and want to move with more power, this is your framework.
It is not a fundamentals course. Athletes who are still learning basic barbell mechanics should first develop consistent positions and timing under the eye of a coach before entering a concurrent system. The program demands familiarity with both heavy strain and technical acceleration, and that combination only pays off once the movement patterns are already stable.
The structure is built around a four-day training week, which provides the best balance between frequency, recovery, and skill retention. Adaptations for three or five sessions are included for those who need more recovery or who wish to add a dedicated technical or conditioning day. Each variation preserves the same Conjugate logic - rotation, balance, and constant progress - while allowing the athlete to train within their realistic capacity.
Where the Idea Comes From
The roots of the Conjugate Method stretch back long before Westside Barbell or modern powerlifting culture. The word “conjugate” itself came from Soviet sports scientists who were trying to describe a way of training several physical qualities at once without losing the progress made in any of them. Their challenge was simple but universal: an athlete cannot afford to build strength, then let it fade while building speed, then lose both while building endurance. The Russians and Eastern Europeans sought to keep multiple adaptations alive through concurrent programming and intelligent sequencing.
During the 1950s through the 1970s, the Soviet Union and its satellite systems began experimenting with different forms of periodisation. Coaches like Verkhoshansky, Medvedev, and later Zatsiorsky described approaches where maximal strength, speed strength, and technical mastery were trained in carefully balanced proportions. They called this “conjugate sequence” or “complex-parallel” development. The goal was to avoid the peaks and troughs caused by linear cycles that built one trait at a time. Instead, they layered heavy lifts, explosive lifts, and technical drills inside the same training week, manipulating intensity and exercise choice to prevent overtraining. This concept was the forerunner of what would later become known as the Conjugate Method.
Olympic weightlifting was the perfect testing ground for these theories. Lifters had to be strong enough to front squat enormous loads, yet fast enough to snatch and clean them in one fluid movement. The best systems built both qualities together. Soviet and Bulgarian lifters performed daily variations of maximal and near-maximal squats, pulls, and lifts from multiple positions. They used heavy efforts for raw strength and lighter, faster lifts for speed strength. Although they never used the exact terms “Max Effort” or “Dynamic Effort,” the principles were already there: strain heavy to raise the limit of force production, and move fast to teach that force to appear in real time.
When Louie Simmons studied these ideas, he saw a way to apply them to powerlifting and, eventually, every strength sport. Louie’s genius was not inventing the concept but systematising it for the gym environment and making it repeatable. At Westside Barbell, he adapted the Soviet concurrent model for powerlifters who needed year-round strength readiness. He replaced the Soviet microcycle structure with a rotating template that used weekly Max Effort and Dynamic Effort exposures. He added a Repetition Effort method to drive muscle growth and durability. This allowed lifters to improve multiple strength qualities at once without burning out or stagnating.
Louie also recognised what few Western strength coaches were willing to acknowledge at the time: Olympic weightlifting had already solved many of these problems decades earlier. The Bulgarians under Ivan Abadjiev, for example, were not running block periodisation. They trained heavy and fast almost every day, rotating the exercise slightly to control stress. Louie often cited the Bulgarians’ high-frequency exposure to heavy singles and their use of the competition lifts to build both technical precision and raw force. He borrowed their belief in continual high-intensity exposure but adapted it to a broader selection of exercises, a greater emphasis on posterior-chain development, and the use of accommodating resistance to manage velocity and fatigue.
In that sense, Conjugate became the meeting point of East and West. The Soviet contribution was the theoretical foundation: concurrent development of multiple strength qualities. The Bulgarian influence was the proof of concept: heavy, frequent, specific work could coexist with fast, explosive practice. Louie’s adaptation was the practical systemisation - transforming those abstract ideas into a weekly plan that lifters could actually follow and coaches could adjust.
The SuperTotal sits directly in that lineage. It represents the most literal form of concurrent training: the pursuit of both maximal strength and maximal speed through the same nervous system and the same organism. Squat, bench, and deadlift train the limit of absolute force. Snatch and clean & jerk train the conversion of that force into rapid, coordinated power. The Conjugate framework provides the only stable structure capable of holding both without collapse.
By fusing Westside’s wave rotation, exercise variability, and fatigue management with the technical precision and positional demands of Olympic lifting, this program forms a modern evolution of those older systems. It is not a blend of two incompatible sports. It is the logical continuation of what the early Eastern coaches were already chasing: a method where strength and speed rise together, where heavy squats feed faster cleans, and where maximal strain and explosive rhythm coexist under one roof.
Why Conjugate Works for the Supertotal
The Supertotal demands the full spectrum of human strength expression. It asks an athlete to display absolute force in the powerlifts and maximal speed and coordination in the Olympic lifts - and to do so under one roof without losing either edge. Most systems divide these qualities into phases: strength first, then speed, then skill. That sequencing works for single-focus athletes, but the Supertotal lifter has no such luxury. The Conjugate Method solves this problem by training force and velocity concurrently. It builds the ability to produce high outputs across all ends of the spectrum every week, all year.
Conjugate programming functions through the rotation of primary methods. Each method targets a different adaptation but overlaps with the others in outcome. This creates continuous, non-conflicting progress across the whole strength curve.
Max Effort Method (ME) – The Foundation of Absolute Strength
Max Effort work is the anchor of the system. It develops the neural and muscular capacity to produce maximal force, the quality on which all others depend.
Purpose: Build limit-strength in the squat, bench, and deadlift.
Outcome: Greater contractile potential for the clean recovery, jerk dip, and every drive from the floor.
Application: One lower-body and one upper-body Max Effort day each week. Lifts rotate weekly to avoid stagnation - low box squats, safety bar squats, deficit deadlifts, close-grip or incline presses, and overhead variations.
Carryover: The strain built under heavy singles and triples teaches the lifter to stay tight, maintain position, and grind through missed lines - qualities directly transferable to heavy cleans, jerks, and snatches when fatigue sets in.
Dynamic Effort Method (DE) – The Engine of Bar Speed
Dynamic Effort work teaches the lifter to apply force rapidly. For Olympic lifting, this becomes the bridge between strength and skill.
Purpose: Develop rate of force production and technical control at speed.
Outcome: Improved bar path, sharper turnover, faster second pull, and more efficient dip-drive mechanics.
Application: Classic DE Lower sessions use speed squats or pulls with bands or chains to condition explosive drive. On the upper body, speed benches or jerks performed in multiple short sets reinforce rhythm and precision. Olympic derivatives - hang snatches, power cleans, or jerk doubles - are trained here to align with the week’s wave.
Carryover: The neural quality gained here allows the lifter to translate heavy Max Effort strength into real-world acceleration. The same quality that sends a barbell from the chest in a dynamic bench also launches it overhead in a fast jerk.
Repetition Effort Method (RE) – The Builder of Structure and Balance
Repetition work fills the gaps that limit performance and longevity. It builds the muscle, tendon strength, and joint stability that keep the lifter healthy and powerful through the year.
Purpose: Strengthen supportive tissues, improve work capacity, and maintain muscular symmetry.
Outcome: Bigger, more durable musculature that resists breakdown from frequent strain and impact.
Application: High-volume accessories - rows, presses, lunges, posterior-chain work, and direct trunk training - follow the main lifts. Repetition Effort also manages hypertrophy without compromising recovery.
Carryover: Balanced musculature allows for more stable catch positions in the snatch and clean, stronger drive phases in the squat and pull, and consistent lockouts in both pressing systems.
Special Exercises – Solving Weak Links
Special exercises are where the Conjugate system turns precision into progress. They target the specific points of failure in each lifter’s movement chain.
Purpose: Correct positional errors, strengthen limiting ranges, and improve transfer between the power and Olympic lifts.
Examples:
Pause front squats to fix clean recovery strength.
Snatch-grip deadlifts to reinforce start position and upper-back control.
Push presses or jerks from blocks to sharpen bar drive and lockout.
Pin or board presses to build triceps strength that also supports the jerk.
Carryover: These drills connect the dots - heavy squats improve the clean; speed pulls improve the deadlift; pressing variations bridge the gap between bench and jerk.
How Conjugate Avoids Interference
Traditional concurrent programs risk interference when heavy lifting drains the same systems required for speed and skill. Conjugate manages this through rotation and wave loading.
Heavy strain appears once per movement pattern each week, allowing the nervous system to recover before the next maximal exposure.
Speed and technical sessions occur under moderate loads, enhancing rather than opposing recovery.
Variations prevent repetitive stress while still reinforcing shared positions - the back angle of a box squat mirrors the pull from the floor, and the acceleration in a banded deadlift mimics the second pull of a clean.
Because every method supports the next, adaptations overlap rather than compete. Force work sharpens the base, speed work refines it, and repetition work holds it together. When run in balance, the result is an athlete who can lift heavy, move fast, and remain ready for both the platform and the platform lift that follows.
Exercise Classification and Transfer
The Conjugate Method depends on movement rotation and intelligent exercise selection. It is not enough to squat, press, and pull heavy. The movements chosen to represent those categories must direct the adaptation toward a specific weakness or performance target. When the goal is to build both a Powerlifting and an Olympic total, exercise classification becomes the backbone of the program. Every lift has to pull double duty: it must develop force where the lifter needs it most and carry over to both slow and fast barbell skills.
To manage this complexity, the Conjugate System divides exercises by method - Max Effort, Dynamic Effort, and Repetition Effort - and then by their level of specificity to the competition lifts. In practice, this means the coach chooses each exercise based on two questions:
What weakness does it correct or expose?
Which qualities will it feed - absolute strength, rate of force development, technical precision, or structural balance?
When applied to the SuperTotal, those questions have to be answered for two sports at once. The movement list must serve the powerlifter who needs limit strength in static positions and the Olympic lifter who needs explosive coordination through a full range of motion.
Max Effort Exercises
Max Effort movements are the heaviest lifts of the week. They raise the ceiling of force production by teaching the body to strain under maximal load. For a SuperTotal athlete, these movements form the base of all future speed and precision. They should target the joints and muscles that create leverage under heavy weight: hips, spinal erectors, quads, glutes, and upper back.
Powerlifting Carryover
Box Squat: Builds starting strength, posterior-chain recruitment, and positional control out of the hole.
Rack Pull: Reinforces mid-range power in the deadlift and strengthens traps and spinal erectors for lockout.
Floor Press: Eliminates leg drive and overemphasises triceps and shoulders, directly improving bench lockout and overhead control.
Olympic Carryover
Front Squat: Mimics the recovery position of the clean, reinforcing upright posture and thoracic extension.
Clean Pull: Strengthens the second pull and teaches full hip extension under maximal load without technical breakdown.
Push Press: Bridges strict pressing strength with the drive and turnover of the jerk, building both deltoid and triceps power.
Shared or Transitional Movements
Safety Bar Squat: Loads the posterior chain and upper back heavily while preserving upright posture; excellent for both back squat drive and clean recovery.
Deficit Deadlift: Extends the pulling range and forces power from a weak start; benefits both conventional deadlifts and the initial phase of the clean.
Max Effort work in this context is not random variety. Each exercise is a diagnostic tool. A plateau in the front squat may indicate weak quads or poor upper back stability that limits both squat and clean recovery. Improvement in the push press predicts a stronger jerk drive and greater overhead stability in the bench. The goal is to select variations that expose deficiencies in one domain while advancing the other.
Dynamic Effort Exercises
Dynamic Effort work develops the ability to apply force quickly. It teaches the nervous system to recruit high-threshold motor units with speed and to coordinate full-body movement under submaximal load. For the SuperTotal athlete, Dynamic Effort sessions are the bridge between raw strength and usable athletic power.
Powerlifting Carryover
Speed Squat: Usually performed at 50–60% of max for multiple fast doubles or triples, teaching the lifter to stay tight and move explosively out of the hole.
Speed Pull: Multiple singles at 60–70% of max, sometimes with bands or chains, reinforcing bar speed and leg drive while maintaining position.
Olympic Carryover
Hang Snatch: Trains speed through the pull and teaches aggressive turnover with reduced fatigue.
Power Clean: Develops the timing of extension and the catch while reinforcing rate of force development.
Jerk: Builds drive and rhythm in the dip and catch, emphasising vertical power and bar path precision.
Shared or Transitional Movements
Jump Squat: Builds elastic strength and teaches the lifter to apply maximal force into a moving load.
Speed Deadlift + Snatch Pull: A compound pairing that links maximal bar speed with positional awareness, merging the powerlifting pull and the Olympic second pull.
Dynamic work must be fast enough to qualify as true speed training, not submaximal strength work. The bar should move with intent and precision every rep. This category directly connects the heavy strain of Max Effort work to the precision of the Olympic lifts. When done correctly, improvements in bar velocity and rhythm translate both to heavier snatches and faster deadlifts.
Repetition Effort Exercises
Repetition Effort movements build muscle, joint stability, and work capacity. They increase the size and endurance of the tissues that support heavy and fast lifting. These are not secondary in importance; they are what allow the Max and Dynamic Effort methods to continue without injury or imbalance.
Powerlifting Carryover
Dumbbell Press: Strengthens the chest, shoulders, and stabilisers, improving control and lockout strength for both bench and overhead work.
Hamstring Curl: Isolates and strengthens the hamstrings to stabilise the knee and improve deadlift acceleration off the floor.
Olympic Carryover
Overhead Squat: Reinforces shoulder stability and mobility in the snatch receiving position.
Snatch Balance: Builds confidence and timing in dropping under the bar, teaching aggression and control.
Shared or Transitional Movements
Rows: Strengthen the upper back and scapular retractors, vital for posture in both sports.
Reverse Hypers: Build spinal erector and glute endurance, supporting both pulling and squatting volume.
Romanian Deadlifts: Strengthen the hamstrings through a long range of motion, improving hip extension for the clean and the deadlift.
GHD Sit-ups: Build midline endurance and dynamic trunk stability for maintaining posture under maximal or ballistic load.
Repetition Effort work is where the structure of the athlete is built. Stronger lats hold the bar tighter on cleans and squats. A thicker posterior chain reduces energy loss in both pulls and jerks. Greater shoulder and triceps volume keeps pressing patterns balanced across bench and overhead movements. The accessory rotation follows the same logic as the main lifts - address weak points, rotate frequently, and avoid local fatigue that would limit main lift recovery.
Using the Classification
This classification gives the coach a map. Each method represents a lane of adaptation, and each exercise within it provides a route to travel between the demands of the two sports. When the athlete struggles with bar speed in the snatch but shows strength in the squat, Dynamic Effort lower work can shift toward faster, lighter pulls. When the bench stalls but the jerk improves, the coach can trace the problem to triceps fatigue or upper back imbalance and rotate the Repetition Effort work accordingly.
By cross-referencing categories and outcomes, the coach can see how one lift feeds another. Improvements in the front squat feed both the back squat and clean recovery. Growth in the push press feeds both bench lockout and jerk drive. A stronger posterior chain from reverse hypers and RDLs makes both the deadlift and clean pull more stable. Each movement acts as a spoke in the same wheel rather than a separate project.
The result is a training system that develops all elements of the SuperTotal concurrently. Exercise selection becomes both diagnostic and prescriptive, ensuring that every week contributes to both maximal strength and maximal speed.
Weekly Split Example
The weekly split is the living structure of the Supertotal system - the framework that allows heavy strength work and technical speed work to coexist without overlap or burnout. Every training day serves a defined physiological purpose: to build, express, or reinforce a single aspect of total strength. Across the week, this rotation keeps the athlete fresh, neurologically stimulated, and constantly improving across all five competition lifts.
The 4-Day Conjugate Supertotal Split (Default Template)
Day | Focus | Primary Objective |
Day 1 – Max Effort Lower | Squat and Deadlift emphasis (Some Oly tech) | Develop absolute force production and positional strength. Olympic Movements in Warm Ups (Front Squats as Assistance) |
Day 2 – Dynamic Effort Upper | Speed Bench + Snatch technique | Build rate of force development, upper-body coordination, and technical control |
Day 3 – Max Effort Upper | Bench and Overhead emphasis | Increase maximal pressing strength and stability through varied angles and implements |
Day 4 – Dynamic Effort Lower | Speed Pulls + Clean & Jerk variations | Convert strength into velocity and reinforce technical precision in the Olympic lifts |
Day 1 – Max Effort Lower: Squat and Deadlift Emphasis
Purpose: To develop the highest possible level of intramuscular tension and motor unit recruitment. This is the cornerstone of total-body strength - the energy system that supports every pull, squat, and clean.
Structure:
Primary Lift: Rotate weekly between low box squats, safety bar squats, paused squats, deficit deadlifts, rack pulls, or front squats.
Loading: Work up to a strain in the 1–3 rep range (90–100%).
Secondary Movement: A close variation or supplemental pattern (for example, Romanian deadlifts, paused front squats, or belt squats).
Accessories: Posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors), core stability, and single-leg balance work.
Rationale: Max Effort Lower builds the mechanical foundation for both the clean recovery and the pull from the floor. A stronger squat directly enhances leg drive in the clean and jerk, while deadlift variations condition the posterior chain to accelerate through heavy positions. By rotating lifts each week, the athlete continues to build limit strength without accumulating overuse fatigue in one movement.
Day 2 – Dynamic Effort Upper: Speed Bench + Snatch Technique
Purpose: To teach the athlete to apply force rapidly through the upper body while refining precision in fast, overhead movement patterns.
Structure:
Speed Bench: 8–9 sets of 3 reps at 50–60% bar weight plus 20–25% band or chain tension. Focus on bar acceleration and tightness in setup.
Snatch Technique Work: 5–7 sets of 1–3 reps using 70–80% of the best lift, alternating between full and derivative variations (hang snatch, power snatch, blocks, or pulls).
Accessories: Upper back and shoulder reinforcement, triceps volume, and rotator cuff balance.
Rationale: Dynamic benching trains rate of force development through the triceps, delts, and lats - the same muscle chains that stabilise and lock out the jerk. The snatch work reinforces timing, turnover, and bar speed under lighter loads while the nervous system is primed from the earlier explosive effort. This pairing unites pressing speed with overhead precision, producing a transferable effect that keeps both the bench press and Olympic overhead lifts progressing simultaneously.
Day 3 – Max Effort Upper: Bench and Overhead Emphasis
Purpose: To build maximal pressing strength through a combination of raw and overhead variations, reinforcing the top-end strength required for jerks, strict presses, and heavy log or axle work.
Structure:
Primary Lift: Rotate between close-grip bench, incline press, floor press, log press, axle press, or jerk from rack.
Loading: Work up to a heavy single or triple (90–100%).
Secondary Lift: Overhead or triceps-focused variant (for example, push press, seated press, or board press).
Accessories: Lats, triceps, pecs, and midline stability to maintain pressing integrity.
Rationale: Max Effort Upper raises the ceiling on pressing force, which directly supports the jerk drive and lockout. Heavy benching trains absolute force through the chest and triceps; heavy overheads build shoulder integrity and top-end finishing strength. Because the lower body is resting from Monday’s strain, this day allows neural resources to be channelled into pressing power and overhead control.
Day 4 – Dynamic Effort Lower: Speed Pulls + Clean & Jerk Variations
Purpose: To convert maximal strength into bar velocity and skillful coordination - the point where powerlifting strength expresses itself in Olympic movement.
Structure:
Clean & Jerk Work: 5–6 doubles or triples between 70–85% with emphasis on clean speed and jerk rhythm.
Speed Pulls: 6–10 singles at 60–70% using bands or chains, focusing on maximal acceleration.
Accessories: Hamstring (swings, reverse hypers), unilateral leg strength, and abdominals.
Rationale: Dynamic pulls condition the posterior chain to fire explosively from the floor, mirroring the first pull of the clean. The Clean & Jerk variations teach technical precision under speed. This combination closes the loop of the weekly cycle: the Max Effort work built force; the Dynamic Effort work converts that force into movement. By ending the week on speed, the athlete leaves the body neurologically sharp rather than drained, setting up recovery and skill consolidation before the next wave.
Alternate Options
3-Day Hybrid
For athletes with limited recovery capacity or additional sport training.
Day 1: ME Lower (Squat/Deadlift)
Day 2: ME Upper (Bench/Overhead)
Day 3: DE Hybrid – Combine Speed Bench and Snatch one week, then Speed Pulls and Clean & Jerk the next.
This approach condenses volume while retaining rotation. Each week alternates Olympic emphasis (Snatch vs. Clean & Jerk), maintaining exposure without overwhelming recovery.
5-Day Version
For advanced athletes or technical specialists.
Day 1: ME Lower
Day 2: DE Upper + Snatch
Day 3: Technical Session – Light Snatch/C&J + Positional Drills (60–75%, focus on tempo and accuracy)
Day 4: ME Upper
Day 5: DE Lower + Clean & Jerk
The fifth day acts as a bridge session - lighter in load, higher in precision - reinforcing neural pathways between strength and skill. It’s ideal during intensification or peaking phases when athletes need extra technical time without compromising recovery.
Heavy Builds, Fast Refines
The heavy lifts develop the raw strength base - the neural and muscular foundation that determines how much force you can produce. The fast lifts refine how effectively you can use that force under speed and precision. Every Max Effort session builds potential; every Dynamic Effort session converts it into kinetic performance. The Repetition Effort accessories knit the two together, ensuring that strength, speed, and structure advance side by side.
Across the week, the athlete moves from force production to force expression, building the complete profile required for Supertotal performance - a lifter who can grind a max squat one day and snatch sharply two days later without conflict.
Programming Logic
The foundation of any Conjugate-based system is rotation - of stimulus, intensity, and movement. This rotation is what allows an athlete to build multiple strength qualities at once without exceeding their recovery limits. For the SuperTotal, programming logic must account for five competition lifts, each with unique technical and physical demands, and still preserve the classical Conjugate balance between maximal strain, explosive speed, and structural development. The guiding principle is continuity through variation - the system changes just enough each week to create new stimuli while preserving the skill and coordination needed for transfer.
Dynamic Effort Waves
The Dynamic Effort method is organised around a nine-week wave made up of three linked three-week cycles. Each phase slightly alters the resistance profile to develop different components of bar speed and control.
Weeks 1–3 – Straight Weight: The first wave focuses purely on velocity and coordination. Bar load is 50–60% of a recent one-rep max, moved with maximal acceleration for multiple sets of low reps (typically 9x3 for the bench, 10x2 for the squat, and 10x1 for the deadlift). The goal is to establish baseline bar speed and rhythm while allowing the athlete to practise efficient movement patterns under moderate tension. Olympic derivatives during this period should prioritise positional accuracy - hang snatch, power clean, or jerk from blocks - performed in the 70–80% range with crisp execution.
Weeks 4–6 – Banded Resistance: The second wave introduces bands to create overspeed eccentrics and accelerated concentrics. The lifter must decelerate and reverse the bar rapidly under tension, which forces a faster stretch reflex and greater rate of force development. Band tension should account for roughly 20–25% of total load at lockout. This wave develops reactive strength, particularly in the hips and quads, and teaches the lifter to stay tight under changing force curves. For Olympic lifts, include banded pulls or snatches with light tension to simulate faster turnover and sharper extension.
Weeks 7–9 – Chain Resistance: The third wave replaces bands with chains, creating a gradually increasing load as the bar ascends. This teaches acceleration through the full range of motion and reinforces top-end strength while maintaining speed. The chain wave is especially effective for connecting Dynamic Effort work with Max Effort performance, as it encourages the lifter to drive hard all the way through lockout. For Olympic derivatives, this phase can include heavier block cleans or jerks at 75–85%, performed for doubles and singles to sharpen timing and coordination.
Across all three waves, total Dynamic Effort volume remains stable while resistance characteristics evolve. The athlete finishes the nine weeks faster, more explosive, and more comfortable transferring that speed into both heavy and technical lifts.
Max Effort Rotation
Max Effort lifts rotate every week to sustain neural freshness and prevent accommodation. Each new movement challenges a different motor pattern or range of motion while preserving the overall skill of heavy strain. A three-week wave may therefore include:
Week 1: Low Box Squat to Max Single
Week 2: Rack Pull to Max Triple
Week 3: Front Squat to Max Double
This structure allows for continuous exposure to maximal loading without overstressing any single pattern. Rotations typically alternate between squat, pull, and press variations, ensuring that lower- and upper-body lifts are equally represented across the training cycle.
For the SuperTotal athlete, a front squat variation should appear as an assistance movement on every Max Effort lower day. This reinforces posture and position for the clean recovery while maintaining quad and core development. Additionally, technical Olympic work - snatch or clean & jerk drills - should be performed in the warm-up of every ME lower session. These lifts are not performed maximally but serve to prime coordination, groove bar path, and maintain neural familiarity with the competition movements.
Max Effort work operates under two simple rules:
Only one all-out top set per movement.
Stop progression before form breaks down or velocity decays dramatically.
The goal is to raise the limit of strength while managing fatigue so that speed and technique training can continue effectively later in the week.
Olympic Lift Rotation
Olympic movements rotate every two weeks to allow technical consolidation without stagnation. Snatch and clean & jerk derivatives alternate in two-week blocks:
Weeks 1–2: Snatch emphasis (hang snatch, power snatch, snatch pull)
Weeks 3–4: Clean & Jerk emphasis (power clean, clean pull, jerk from blocks)
Weeks 5–6: Snatch variations return (complexes, hang + full snatch)
Weeks 7–8: Clean & Jerk variations (clean + front squat + jerk complexes)
Week 9: Competition-style full lifts at 80–90% intensity
This two-week exposure pattern allows enough repetition for motor learning while maintaining variety to prevent overuse and technical fatigue. Warm-ups and primers should always include movement pattern rehearsal with light weights - even on weeks where that lift is not the main Olympic focus. This keeps both disciplines alive concurrently without cognitive overload.
Accessory Periodisation
Accessory work follows its own logical rhythm, rotating emphasis to balance muscle development and address weak points identified through Max Effort testing.
Posterior Chain Focus: Every other week emphasises hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors. Movements include reverse hypers, RDLs, and back extensions. This supports both the deadlift and the pull in the Olympic lifts.
Pressing Volume vs. Triceps Hypertrophy: Pressing volume weeks focus on incline presses, close-grip bench, or push presses for higher-load development. Triceps hypertrophy weeks shift to high-rep dumbbell or cable work to build tissue tolerance and elbow stability.
Back and Grip Rotation: Weeks alternate between heavy back strength (barbell rows, chest-supported rows) and grip or stability work (farmer’s carries, static holds, pull-up variations). This maintains posture and bar control across all lifts.
Accessory programming also follows the 3-week logic of variation. Movements are rotated before the athlete adapts completely, but categories stay consistent to preserve targeted development.
Energy System Work and GPP
General Physical Preparedness remains a cornerstone of the Conjugate Method. Even in a highly technical hybrid program like this, the athlete’s conditioning base must be maintained. Short-duration, high-output GPP work supports recovery, joint health, and mental resilience without competing with barbell skill work.
Recommended staples include:
Sled Drags: Forward, backward, and lateral drags for 4–6 trips of 25–30 metres.
Jumps: Broad jumps, vertical jumps, or box jumps to maintain elasticity and explosiveness.
Loaded Carries: Farmer’s walks, yoke carries, or sandbag carries for grip and trunk endurance.
These drills are best placed at the end of sessions or on separate recovery days. Their purpose is not aerobic conditioning but restoration - enhancing blood flow, reducing stiffness, and reinforcing movement capacity.
By balancing Dynamic Effort waves, Max Effort rotations, Olympic lift sequencing, accessory periodisation, and controlled GPP, the program sustains progress across strength, speed, and skill simultaneously. It is this rotational structure that allows the Conjugate SuperTotal system to produce year-round development without interference or regression.
Load Management, Recovery, and Fatigue Control
Conjugate training does not aim to eliminate fatigue. It teaches you to manage it. The system runs in a constant state of controlled stress, where performance on any given day may fluctuate, but the overall training capacity and output continue to rise over time. This balance between strain and recovery is what allows year-round progress without the classic boom-and-bust cycle that plagues most strength systems.
When powerlifting and Olympic lifting coexist in the same framework, fatigue management becomes the deciding factor between growth and stagnation. Both styles tax the central nervous system, but in different ways: heavy squats and pulls impose deep mechanical and neural strain, while Olympic lifts demand precision, timing, and coordination under speed. If either is allowed to dominate unchecked, the other will begin to regress. Intelligent sequencing, variation, and autoregulation are the safeguards that keep that from happening.
The Principle of Managed Fatigue
Conjugate thrives in the zone between recovery and exhaustion - enough load to drive adaptation, but not so much that recovery systems collapse. Rather than chasing daily personal records, the lifter learns to accumulate quality strain across rotating exercises. Each week blends:
Max Effort work for strain and neural drive.
Dynamic Effort work for bar speed and technical reinforcement.
Repetition Effort work for volume, hypertrophy, and structural balance. Together, these create a cycle where fatigue is never absent, but always purposeful.
Because exercises rotate weekly or biweekly, the same tissues and motor patterns are not hammered continuously. This spreads fatigue across the entire movement system rather than concentrating it in one area. Over time, this produces higher total training volume with less breakdown.
Managing Heavy Pulls and Olympic Lifts
The overlap between heavy deadlifts and cleans is the most common cause of interference in Supertotal training. Both demand hip and spinal extension, both are neurologically dense, and both require freshness for quality output. To avoid collision:
Place Max Effort deadlifts early in the week, with at least 72 hours before any full cleans or snatches.
Keep Olympic lifts in the 70–85% range most of the time, only touching near-max singles during the final realisation phase.
Use rotating derivatives - deficit pulls, block cleans, or power snatches - to build the same positions without exhausting the same patterns.
If technique quality begins to dip, replace full lifts temporarily with pulls or hangs while maintaining DE and accessory work.
Rotation allows heavy and fast lifts to feed each other without crossing recovery lines. The heavy pulls build the force base; the Olympic lifts refine it into speed and timing.
Controlling Total Tonnage
In Conjugate, volume control happens in the accessories, not in the main lifts. The Max and Dynamic Effort sessions must remain true to their purpose - high strain or high velocity. Instead of lowering intensity to chase recovery, adjust the number of accessory movements, the total sets, or the weekly repetition targets.
During intensification blocks, reduce accessory sets by 20–30% while keeping main lift intensity intact.
During base-building phases, increase accessory work to drive hypertrophy and conditioning.
Rotate high-stress accessory lifts (good mornings, heavy rows, etc.) every 2–3 weeks to manage joint load.
This approach preserves neural quality while maintaining volume for muscular development and joint health.
Neural Priming and Restoration
On Dynamic Effort days, use low-cost neural primers - jumps, throws, or ballistic drills - before or between barbell work. Examples include:
Box jumps or broad jumps before speed squats.
Med-ball chest passes before speed bench.
Kettlebell swings or jump shrugs before Olympic variations.
These movements excite the nervous system, improving bar speed without adding significant fatigue. They also reinforce explosiveness and coordination under low load, acting as both warm-up and potentiation tools.
Between sessions, use recovery methods that complement rather than compete with training: light sled dragging, mobility flows, contrast showers, and dedicated sleep and nutrition control. These maintain readiness without reducing the adaptive signal from training.
Structural Integrity and Joint Health
Conjugate’s rotation reduces repetitive stress, but long-term resilience still depends on how the joints are trained. Incorporate tempo squats, isometric pauses, and banded variations to keep tendons and connective tissues healthy.
Tempo Squats (3–4 second eccentric): Reinforce joint stability and position under control.
Isometric Holds: Pause at weak points to increase tendon strength and motor unit recruitment.
Banded Work: Provides variable resistance that encourages acceleration and smooth deceleration, protecting elbows, knees, and shoulders from impact shock.
These tools develop the durability needed to sustain heavy lifting over long training cycles without regression or chronic pain.
Practical Regulation Tools
Even within Conjugate’s flexible structure, quantitative limits keep fatigue in check:
RPE Capping on Dynamic Effort: Stop sets when bar speed slows noticeably, even if the prescribed sets are incomplete. Quality matters more than grind.
Limited Top Sets on Max Effort: One true strain is enough. Avoid excessive back-off sets at high intensity; instead, transition to supplemental work at 75–85%.
Movement Rotation: Change the main lift every 1–2 weeks to prevent CNS burnout and to stimulate adaptation through novelty.
Deload Microcycles: Every 9–12 weeks, replace Max Effort with moderate heavy triples or front squats and replace Dynamic Effort with technique or positional work.
The Long View
Conjugate’s brilliance lies in its ability to build fatigue tolerance while keeping the athlete productive. The system does not chase constant readiness; it builds resilience to fatigue so that strength can be expressed under less-than-perfect conditions - the reality of competition and long-term training. By rotating movements, managing accessory load, and priming rather than punishing the nervous system, the Supertotal athlete learns to live strong in the middle ground: not overtrained, not under-stimulated, but always moving forward.
The Theory Behind the 9-Week Conjugate SuperTotal Program
Before looking at individual sessions, the program must be understood as a living system - one that balances the competing demands of two sports while preserving the Conjugate Method’s logic of concurrent development. The 9-week cycle is not arbitrary. It represents a structured progression through three distinct but connected phases, each with its own physiological target and technical purpose. The athlete moves from stability and positional control, through intensity and power, to specificity and expression.
This system is not a “strength block followed by a speed block.” It is a continuum in which the ratio between strength, speed, and skill shifts gradually over time. The key idea is that every quality remains in play throughout, but the level of exposure and the character of stress changes.
Phase 1 – Weeks 1–3: Base Strength and Technique Rebuild
The opening phase lays the foundation for the rest of the cycle. After any period of fatigue, competition, or off-season work, the athlete must re-establish movement quality, positional strength, and technical rhythm. This is where the hybrid structure between powerlifting and Olympic lifting begins to take shape.
Purpose and Physiological Goal
Reinforce joint integrity, tendon stiffness, and technical positions through moderate intensity and higher control.
Build tolerance for volume before intensity rises.
Re-establish baseline bar speed without accommodating resistance or excessive complexity.
Teach the nervous system to organise movement efficiently under manageable strain.
Max Effort Work
The heavy lifts in this phase are deliberately stable and predictable: low box squats, floor presses, and simple deadlift variants.
Each is chosen for structural reliability rather than novelty. The goal is to restore confidence under load and rebuild tightness and bracing habits.
Top sets rarely exceed RPE 9 or 90% of estimated max. Progress comes from consistent technique and small weekly jumps.
Dynamic and Olympic Work
Dynamic Effort training uses straight weight only. No bands or chains are introduced yet.
This teaches the lifter to produce speed through internal control rather than external resistance.
Olympic derivatives are partial in range - hang snatches, power cleans, or jerk drills - to simplify timing and focus on bar path.
Speed days double as technical rehearsals, integrating the explosive skill work that will later be performed under greater intensity.
Accessories and GPP
Accessory focus is on posterior chain development and shoulder stability.
Work capacity and recovery ability are rebuilt with moderate-duration sled drags, carries, and low-impact conditioning.
Phase 1 is about rebuilding the machine: reinforcing the positions that allow maximal power to be expressed later. It ensures that when heavier and faster work arrives, the athlete has a stable base to support it.
Phase 2 – Weeks 4–6: Intensification and Power Development
This is the heart of the cycle - the phase in which the athlete begins to transfer strength into usable power. The aim is not just to lift heavier but to lift faster, to teach the nervous system to produce high force under time pressure. It is also where the Olympic lifts take on greater prominence as full expressions of the combined qualities developed so far.
Purpose and Physiological Goal
Increase neural drive and motor-unit recruitment.
Train the ability to express strength rapidly.
Merge maximal effort capacity with velocity skill.
Build coordination between strength and speed through deliberate contrast work.
Max Effort Work
Movements rotate weekly, now reaching true 90–95% intensity ranges.
Examples include front squats, deficit deadlifts, and overhead press variations.
Strain is once again the target, but fatigue is managed by limiting the number of top attempts (usually one heavy single or triple).
Dynamic Effort Work
This phase introduces bands to manipulate the resistance curve.
Bands create overspeed eccentrics and explosive reversals, enhancing rate of force development.
Bar weights remain moderate, but the combined tension produces the same demand as heavier loads while maintaining bar velocity.
For the Olympic lifts, training alternates weekly between full snatches and clean & jerks.
One week focuses on snatch variations from the floor and blocks; the next targets clean & jerk derivatives. This rotation ensures continual technical exposure while respecting recovery needs.
Accessories and GPP
Posterior chain and triceps hypertrophy take centre stage.
Secondary exercises follow a two-week mini-wave: high-load / low-rep structural lifts followed by lighter, higher-rep restoration work.
GPP work remains but shifts toward more explosive drills such as jumps and short sprint sled drags, reinforcing neural readiness without adding fatigue.
Phase 2 is characterised by contrast: maximal effort followed by rapid expression, heavy strain followed by high velocity. The athlete begins to feel how the two disciplines inform one another - the squat supports the clean, the bench supports the jerk, and the dynamic pulls teach the body to apply that new strength efficiently.
Phase 3 – Weeks 7–9: Realisation and Specificity
The final phase is the synthesis of everything built so far. Strength, speed, and coordination must now be expressed together under the same system. This is where the athlete transitions from building capacity to showing capability.
Purpose and Physiological Goal
Peak neural output and readiness.
Rehearse competition-specific movement patterns under realistic load.
Allow fatigue to taper just enough to permit expression without losing adaptation.
Max Effort Work
Intensities are near maximal but carefully regulated - most top sets are true 1RMs or 2RMs taken within technical limits.
The lift selections emphasise specificity: comp-style squat, comp-style bench, and full deadlift.
Front squat variations remain as accessories to keep clean posture sharp, but the main lifts move closer to the athlete’s testing style.
Dynamic Effort Work
Chains replace bands in this phase. The gradually increasing load teaches the athlete to accelerate through the full range of motion and finish explosively.
The intent is continuity of speed under rising tension.
Olympic movements are now performed in their full form: snatch and clean & jerk from the floor with 80–90% intensity, primarily for singles and doubles.
Volume is lower, but each lift demands precision, control, and maximal effort under realistic conditions.
Accessory and Recovery Strategy
Accessory volume is reduced significantly to conserve neural freshness. Only the most essential movements remain: hamstring and glute maintenance, triceps stability, and light upper-back work.
GPP becomes active recovery - sleds, mobility drills, and light carries - to promote circulation and maintain coordination.
The Realisation phase is where the athlete begins to see the integration that Conjugate promises. Heavy squats now feel faster, snatches feel more stable, jerks drive harder. The body’s capacity for force and speed has been built layer by layer; now the system consolidates it.
Inter-Phase Continuity
Each phase sets the stage for the next rather than standing alone. The structure forms a progressive wave that mirrors the logic of the Dynamic Effort cycles themselves: straight weight for base development, bands for acceleration, and chains for full-range power. Across nine weeks, the entire organism is exposed to increasingly specific and demanding conditions while technical skill is preserved through constant exposure to Olympic derivatives.
The athlete experiences cycles of loading and deloading built naturally into the rotation of exercises. Neural fatigue from a heavy Max Effort exposure is offset by Dynamic Effort speed work two days later. Muscular fatigue from accessories is balanced by GPP and skill work that encourage blood flow and mobility. Every quality is trained continuously, but emphasis shifts smoothly between them.
By the end of Week 9, the athlete has achieved three outcomes:
A higher ceiling of absolute strength from the Max Effort structure.
A faster and more efficient rate of force development from the evolving Dynamic Effort waves.
Improved technical execution from the constant but varied Olympic practice.
This theoretical underpinning ensures that when the full weekly sessions are laid out, they form more than just a list of exercises. They represent a system of organised stress designed to bring every aspect of the lifter’s capability to its highest point simultaneously.
Week 1 - Base Strength & Technique Rebuild
Split:
Day 1 Max Effort Lower
Day 2 Dynamic Effort Upper + Snatch technique
Day 3 Max Effort Upper
Day 4 Dynamic Effort Lower + Clean & Jerk derivatives GPP: 2 short finishes, 1 optional recovery session
Day 1 - Max Effort Lower
Goal: Reinforce positions and bracing under heavy strain without frying coordination for later snatch work.
A. Olympic warm-up and primers
Barbell complex x 2–3 rounds: high-pull from hip x3, muscle snatch x3, overhead squat x3, behind-neck push press x3
Snatch skill primer: tall snatch x3, snatch high-pull from hip x3, snatch grip RDL x5
Keep total primer work to 10–12 minutes at light loads
B. Primary ME lift
Low Box Squat (parallel or just below, competition bar, straight weight)
Work up in 5–7 jumps to a top single @ RPE 9 (technically crisp, no grindy collapse)
Back-off: 2 x 3 @ ~85% of the day’s top single
Rest 2–4 min sets under 85%, 4–6 min near top sets
Cues: sit back to box with control, vertical shins, brace before descent, positive drive off the box
C. Secondary strength lift
Romanian Deadlift
4 x 6 @ 60–70% 1RM DL or RPE 7–8
2–3 min rest
Tempo 2–0–2, straps optional
D. Front squat assistance (required every ME Lower)
Front Squat, clean rack
5 x 3 @ 70–77% 1RM FS or RPE 7
Heels down, elbows high, breathe-brace between reps
E. Repetition Effort accessories
Reverse hyper 3 x 12–15
Single-leg split squat or reverse lunge 3 x 10 each
Weighted planks 3 x 30–45 s
F. GPP finisher
Sled drag: forward and backward, 4 x 25–30 m each, moderate load, nasal breathing
Total session time target: 75–95 minutes
Coach’s note: If bar speed dips on the top single, cap it, take the back-offs, and move on. Front squats are sacrosanct here; do not skip.
Day 2 - Dynamic Effort Upper + Snatch Technique
Goal: Establish upper-body bar speed and groove snatch timing while fresh. Straight weight on DE.
A. Jumps and upper activation (primer)
Box jump 5 x 2 or countermovement jump 5 x 2
Scap pull-ups 3 x 6–8 strict
B. DE Bench Press, straight weight
9 x 3 @ 55–60% 1RM bench, 3 grips (wide/med/close) cycling each set
Rest 45–60 s between sets
Every rep identical speed; pause 1 s on chest on the first rep of each set if you want extra control
C. Snatch technique block (Week 1 is snatch emphasis)
Pick one main derivative and one supportive derivative:
Main: Hang Snatch (mid-thigh)
6 x 2 @ 70–75% best snatch
Bar close, finish tall, fast turnover, sit to stable catch
Support: Snatch Pull from floor
4 x 3 @ 85–95% best snatch
Vertical bar path, extend through ankles-knees-hips, shrug to ears, elbows high and out
D. Repetition Effort accessories
Chest-supported row 4 x 10–12
DB incline press 3 x 10–12
Triceps rolling DB extensions 3 x 12–15
External rotation cable or band 3 x 15 each side
E. Optional short GPP
Light med-ball chest pass 6 x 3 with full recovery
Coach’s note: If bar speed on bench fades, cut a set or two. Snatch loads should move crisply. No grinding here.
Day 3 - Max Effort Upper
Goal: Raise pressing ceiling and overhead support while keeping elbows and shoulders happy.
A. Shoulder and rack prep
PVC shoulder dislocates, front rack holds in rack 3 x 15–20 s, empty bar strict press 2 x 10
B. Primary ME lift
Floor Press
Build to a top triple @ RPE 9
Back-off 2 x 4 @ ~85% of top triple
Pause 1 s dead-stop on each rep
C. Secondary lift - overhead strength
Push Press
4 x 4 @ RPE 7–8
Dip vertical, heels planted, finish with full lockout and head through
D. Repetition Effort accessories
Lat pulldown or weighted pull-up 4 x 8–10
Cable fly or pec-deck 3 x 12–15
Triceps pushdown rope 3 x 15–20
Ab-wheel rollout 3 x 8–12
Coach’s note: Choose loads that keep elbow tracking clean. The push press today is RE, not a test; smooth dip-drive with solid rack.
Day 4 - Dynamic Effort Lower + Clean & Jerk Derivatives
Goal: Convert strength into speed from the floor and rehearse C&J timing at manageable load. Straight weight on DE.
A. Neural primer
Broad jump 5 x 2
KB swing 3 x 10 (light, snappy)
B. DE Deadlift, straight weight
8–10 x 1 @ 60–65% 1RM DL, singles every 45–60 s
Pull from perfect start: brace, push the floor away, lockout crisp
C. Clean & Jerk derivatives
Because Week 1 prioritises snatch, keep C&J volume modest but present.
Power Clean from blocks (knee)
5 x 2 @ 70–75% best clean
Finish extension, quiet feet, stable catch
Jerk from blocks
5 x 2 @ 70–75% best jerk
Even dip, vertical drive, soft knees to absorb, strong lockout
D. Front squat reinforcement
Front Squat pause 2 s in the hole
3 x 3 @ ~70% FS
Elbows high, balance mid-foot
E. Repetition Effort accessories
GHR 3 x 8–12 (controlled)
Reverse hyper 3 x 12–15
Farmer’s carry 4 x 20–30 m heavy-ish
F. Optional conditioning finisher
6–8 minutes easy sled drag continuous, light load
Coach’s note: If the DE pulls start to slow, end the wave there. C&J derivatives are there to keep the pattern alive; stop a set early if footwork degrades.
Optional Recovery Session (Weekend or Day 5)
20–30 min brisk walk or easy cycle
Mobility: ankles, hips, T-spine, front-rack opener 8–10 min
Light empty-bar skill: muscle clean x5, muscle snatch x5, overhead squat x5 x 2–3 rounds
Week 1 Targets and Guardrails
DE loading: straight weight only; fast or not at all
Snatch emphasis: main volume on Day 2; Day 4 keeps minimal C&J practice
Front squats: twice this week, once as assistance on Day 1, once as paused work Day 4
Accessories: posterior chain and upper back take priority
Stop rules: if bar speed drops clearly or positions slip, cut the set and move on
Total session length: aim 75–100 minutes; do not exceed 120 minutes
The Whole Program is here:
Coaching Notes and Practical Considerations
Running a Supertotal program under the Conjugate framework requires a coach or athlete to think like a systems manager, not a technician. Each training day, exercise, and wave exists in a relationship with everything else. The aim is to preserve technical sharpness, neural freshness, and mechanical progression across five demanding lifts without falling into the trap of chasing daily perfection. This section covers the practical realities of balancing heavy strain with high-skill lifting, and how to adjust for different disciplines, recovery capacities, and competition demands.
Managing Fatigue Across Heavy Squats, Pulls, and Technical Lifts
The greatest challenge in Supertotal programming is managing fatigue when both heavy powerlifts and Olympic lifts occupy the same week. These movements stress overlapping systems - the posterior chain, spinal stabilisers, and central nervous system - but with different demands for precision and recovery.
Sequence Heavy to Light Across the Week: Start the week with the highest neural and mechanical demand: Max Effort Lower. Follow this with speed and technical work once the heaviest fatigue has passed. The nervous system can still produce velocity under fatigue, but not fine technical timing. Hence, Olympic lifts should never follow heavy deadlifts within 24 hours.
Regulate the Clean and Snatch by Feel, Not Ego: On weeks with heavy squats or pulls, reduce the number of full lifts and focus on partials - hang or block variations, power versions, or pulls. These maintain bar speed and positional awareness without overloading the spine or hips.
Alternate Pull Dominance: Never max out both the deadlift and the clean in the same week. Treat the clean as the speed version of the pull. If the deadlift hits a heavy top single or triple, the clean work should be moderate and technically focused. Conversely, when cleans move fast and crisp, reduce the strain on the ME pull.
Recovery Between Strain Sessions: Use sled drags, belt squats, or light carries the day after Max Effort work. These restore blood flow and reduce stiffness without impairing the next DE or technical session. Active restoration is mandatory; passive rest alone is insufficient in a system built on rotation and throughput.
Why Day-to-Day Performance Fluctuations Are Normal
Conjugate training is designed to build capacity, not to produce constant daily performance. The athlete will experience oscillations in readiness - that is not a flaw but a feature.
Strength expression varies due to residual fatigue from prior strain sessions, cumulative volume, or simple daily readiness.
Progress is measured not in isolated personal records but in the slow upward movement of the baseline over many rotations.
The lifter’s mindset must shift from chasing perfect sessions to learning how to train effectively while slightly fatigued.
The body adapts to strain through exposure, not comfort. Performance waves mirror recovery cycles; as one quality dips, another rises. When managed correctly, this creates the steady “stair-step” pattern that characterises long-term Conjugate success - never perfectly fresh, but always trending stronger.
Cue Prioritisation: Speed, Tension, and Position Before Load
Coaching cues determine the quality of the entire session. In a mixed-strength system, these three principles always take precedence over load selection:
Speed Bar velocity is the single best indicator of neural freshness and technical precision. Whether it’s a speed bench, clean pull, or snatch from blocks, the bar must move fast. Slow bar speed signals fatigue or excessive loading. Reduce weight, fix mechanics, and restore rhythm before progressing.
Tension Lifters must learn to generate and maintain full-body tension throughout every lift. Tension is the transfer medium between force and control - without it, heavy squats crumble, cleans lose timing, and jerks collapse overhead. Emphasise tension through isometrics, pause work, and controlled eccentrics.
Position Correct position trumps all else. The Conjugate system depends on variation, but each variation reinforces the same positional truth: neutral spine, balanced pressure through the feet, and vertical bar travel. Good position allows the athlete to recover faster because the lift stresses the right tissues rather than compensatory structures.
When these three cues are in order, load becomes self-limiting; the body naturally chooses the heaviest weight it can handle without breaking mechanics.
Short Exposure Blocks for Olympic Lifts
Olympic lifts thrive on rotation, not monotony. Technical precision deteriorates when bar speed begins to slow, even if absolute strength continues to rise.
Keep Snatch and Clean & Jerk variations in two-week blocks, occasionally three for advanced lifters.
Change derivatives before velocity or timing drops - for example, from power clean → hang clean → block clean, or from full snatch → snatch pull → power snatch.
Technical freshness is more important than maximal load. When in doubt, rotate early rather than grind a stale pattern.
This rotation principle mirrors what Conjugate already does with Max Effort lifts - change the movement to keep progress alive.
Mobility, Stability, and Positional Control
Supertotal training demands both range and control. Lifters often possess either mobility without strength, or strength without usable range. Both extremes limit progress. To maintain joint integrity and technical consistency:
Mobility: Prioritise hips, ankles, and thoracic extension. Use controlled mobility work post-training rather than pre-training to avoid disrupting tension.
Stability: Strengthen the small stabilisers through unilateral work, offset carries, and anti-rotation core drills.
Positional Control: Incorporate tempo squats, front rack holds, and overhead isometrics to teach the body to maintain posture under load.
Joint health is preserved not by reducing load but by improving the body’s ability to absorb and redirect it efficiently. Every technical position in the Snatch or Clean has a stability counterpart in powerlifting - front squat posture mirrors clean recovery; bench arch stability mirrors jerk receiving tension.
Adapting for Strongman
Strongman athletes can apply the same Supertotal structure by modifying the explosive lifts to reflect their competitive events.
Replace the Snatch with rotational or overhead throw variations - keg tosses, sandbag throws, or band-assisted medicine ball launches.
Replace the Clean & Jerk with log or axle press complexes to train triple extension and overhead stability under odd-object loading.
Keep the Max Effort and Dynamic Effort structure identical; only the implements change. This maintains the same neural and mechanical pattern - strain early in the week, speed and power later - while building direct event carryover.
Strongman adaptations also benefit Supertotal athletes by improving work capacity, grip strength, and trunk control, which all transfer back to Olympic and powerlifting movements.
Adjustments for Tested vs. Untested Athletes
Different recovery capacities require distinct approaches to volume and density.
Tested Athletes: Must rely heavily on restoration, sleep, and nutrition. Use narrower ME ranges (1–2 heavy top sets), longer DE waves, and more frequent rotation to avoid CNS overload. Emphasise soft-tissue work, sled drags, and light GPP on off days.
Untested Athletes: Can handle greater load tolerance and frequency due to enhanced recovery profiles. Use slightly longer exposure blocks (3–4 weeks) before rotation and include more back-off work on ME days. However, the same structural rules apply - no lift stays constant long enough to stagnate or overstress a single pattern.
Adjusting for Bar Types and Equipment
Conjugate thrives on variety because each implement teaches a different motor lesson.
Safety Squat Bar (SSB): Increases upper-back engagement and reduces shoulder stress; ideal for ME lower days during high benching phases.
Cambered Bar: Shifts the load path forward, forcing greater stabilisation through the posterior chain; excellent for building squat control and bottom-end strength.
Axle Bar: Builds grip strength and forearm endurance; ideal for overhead pressing variants and DE pull rotations.
Buffalo or Duffalo Bar: Allows heavy pressing or squatting with reduced shoulder strain. Each bar provides a novel stimulus while preserving the same movement intent, keeping the nervous system stimulated and the joints healthy.
The Coaching Mindset
Coaching a Supertotal athlete under Conjugate principles requires balance:
Maintain structure but remain flexible.
Protect technical quality without sheltering the athlete from necessary strain.
Recognise that fatigue, variation, and imperfection are not threats to progress but catalysts for adaptation.
The aim is to build an athlete who can perform under variable conditions - slightly tired, slightly sore, slightly off - yet still produce meaningful work. That is the hallmark of a robust system and the defining advantage of Conjugate for the Supertotal: controlled chaos that forges consistency where linear plans create fragility.
Technical Notes Appendix
The Conjugate SuperTotal system uses a wide array of exercises, but the key to extracting value from them lies in how and when they are used. Technical precision, rate of force development, and fatigue control all depend on proper exercise placement within the weekly structure. The following notes outline how specific lifts should be used across Max Effort (ME), Dynamic Effort (DE), and Repetition Effort (RE) contexts to maximise transfer between powerlifting and Olympic lifting.
Snatch Pulls and Clean Pulls
Snatch and clean pulls are the cornerstone Olympic derivatives in a Conjugate structure. They train the explosive hip and leg extension that defines both Olympic lifting and the acceleration phase of heavy pulls and deadlifts.
On Dynamic Effort days, these lifts are performed fast and submaximal - typically between 70–85% of the best snatch or clean. The objective is perfect mechanics at high bar speed, not maximal loading. Each rep should finish with full extension, shoulders to the ears, and the bar floating vertically rather than looping forward.
Their value lies in their transferability. The clean pull teaches extension and timing for both the clean and the deadlift. The snatch pull reinforces posture, speed, and balance that carry over to conventional pulling mechanics. They are also lower in fatigue than full lifts, allowing technical exposure even when the athlete is recovering from Max Effort work.
Occasionally, these can be performed with light bands or chains in the later phases of training to reinforce bar path control and accelerate turnover, but this should be used sparingly. The intent remains speed and precision under load, never maximal strain.
Hang Variations
Hang snatches and hang cleans sit between technical drills and power development lifts. By shortening the pulling distance, they allow the athlete to focus on bar path, timing, and turnover speed without the cumulative fatigue of repeated floor pulls.
Their placement within Conjugate programming is strategic. Hang variations work best:
On Dynamic Effort lower days as a precursor to the main speed work.
During base or intensification phases, when technical refinement and power output must develop together.
As part of the Olympic rotation in two-week cycles to preserve skill exposure without overwhelming recovery.
The hang position exaggerates the need for aggressive hip extension and tight upper back engagement. Because the bar starts closer to the hip, the athlete must accelerate rapidly and finish the pull decisively. This improves turnover speed and teaches the lifter to complete the pull before dropping under the bar.
Hang lifts also carry less risk of technical breakdown compared to full lifts, which makes them ideal for use after heavy squatting or pulling sessions. They provide explosive exposure without derailing motor patterns through fatigue.
Push Press and Power Jerk
Both the push press and power jerk occupy a unique position between maximal strength and dynamic power. They build the bridge between bench or strict press strength and the explosive drive required for the jerk. The distinction between how they are used depends on the phase and the training emphasis.
As a Max Effort (ME) movement, the push press or power jerk is loaded heavy - often to a top triple or single - to build absolute overhead strength and confidence under load. These sessions target the triceps, deltoids, and thoracic stability that govern both overhead and horizontal pressing.
As a Repetition Effort (RE) movement, the same lifts are performed with moderate weight for volume - typically 4–6 sets of 4–6 reps - to develop local muscular endurance and technical consistency in the dip and drive.
For powerlifters or strongman athletes learning to integrate Olympic-style work, the push press often serves as a safe gateway into the movement pattern. For Olympic lifters, it functions as an accessory that reinforces timing and aggression in the drive phase of the jerk.
Because these lifts are neurally demanding, they should not be paired with other heavy upper-body strain within the same session. When programmed correctly, they directly improve bar path control and turnover speed while reinforcing the lockout strength necessary for both bench press stability and overhead success.
Front Squats
The front squat is non-negotiable within the SuperTotal system. It serves as the keystone exercise connecting powerlifting strength to Olympic posture and recovery mechanics. The lift’s upright torso position, core demand, and quadriceps loading make it the most transferable squat variation across both disciplines.
Frequency: Front squats should appear regularly across all training waves. Even when not used as the primary Max Effort lift, they should feature as an accessory movement on every lower-body day. This ensures that the athlete maintains positional strength, midline stiffness, and the mobility required to catch cleans and stabilise snatches.
Purpose by Phase:
Base Phase: Light to moderate front squats (5x3–5x5) focus on position, breathing, and posture under tension.
Intensification Phase: Heavier work (3x3–3x2) strengthens the clean recovery and reinforces maximal quad drive.
Realisation Phase: Front squats may be paired with cleans or used in complexes (clean + front squat + jerk) to directly simulate competitive conditions.
The front squat’s importance extends beyond muscular strength. It develops the postural endurance required to maintain balance and control during both maximal and explosive lifts. It also serves as a diagnostic tool: collapsing elbows or forward lean in the front squat often signal weak points that limit performance elsewhere.
Integration Summary
Each of these technical components performs a specific role within the system:
Snatch and Clean Pulls sustain speed and technical accuracy under moderate load.
Hang Variations reinforce turnover, timing, and rhythm while keeping fatigue low.
Push Press and Power Jerk link pressing strength with explosive drive and lockout mechanics.
Front Squats tie all lower-body work together, ensuring positional integrity and transfer between disciplines.
Used together, they prevent the disconnect that often occurs when powerlifting and Olympic lifting are trained in isolation. They maintain constant exposure to technical skill without disrupting recovery from heavy strength work. More importantly, they embody the central idea of the Conjugate SuperTotal System: strength and skill are not separate qualities but interdependent expressions of the same athletic foundation.
Integration and Future Development
The 9-week Supertotal block is not a standalone experiment. It is the foundation of a wider year-round strength season that can evolve in several directions depending on the athlete’s goals. Conjugate is cyclical by design; every block lays the groundwork for the next. Once the athlete completes this initial nine-week wave, the accumulated strength, speed, and technical capacity can be directed toward more specific outcomes.
From Supertotal Base to Specialisation
At the end of the 9-week cycle, most lifters will notice clear progress in both absolute force and bar speed. The next step is to decide where to express that strength. Each pathway uses the same Conjugate foundation but shifts the emphasis of rotation, accessory work, and competition specificity.
1. Powerlifting or Olympic Competition Prep
Powerlifting Focus: Transition directly into a 6–8-week peaking phase using the principles from The Art of Peaking or The Full Conjugate System. Max Effort work remains, but rotation narrows to the actual competition lifts. Dynamic Effort becomes rehearsal - 75–90% range, focusing on timing, command, and setup discipline. Accessories drop in total volume, with recovery work replacing hypertrophy sessions. The goal is to refine specificity without losing the adaptive rhythm that keeps the athlete fresh for the platform.
Olympic Focus: Shift the weekly emphasis toward the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and front-squat strength. Retain one Max Effort pull or squat each week, but rotate derivatives less frequently to allow for technical consolidation. Dynamic Effort becomes bar speed and turnover rehearsal with moderate intensity and higher frequency. This route works best when the athlete has built sufficient base strength during the Supertotal block and now seeks technical mastery before competition.
2. Strongman Power Phase
Strongman athletes can pivot the Supertotal structure into a pure event-driven power phase.
Replace Dynamic Effort Olympic work with speed pulls, carries, and throws specific to the upcoming contest (for example, sandbag or keg loads, yoke speed runs, or axle clean & press).
Keep the Max Effort rotation but bias it toward event-specific strain patterns: partial deadlifts, front-squats, logs, axles, and stones.
The logic remains identical - heavy early in the week, fast and event-focused later - but each day now mirrors competition demands. This transition builds directly on the Supertotal base, using its balanced development of maximal and dynamic strength to fuel explosive event performance.
3. Powerbuilding Cycle
For athletes who prefer a physique or strength-aesthetic hybrid goal, the same framework transitions seamlessly into a Powerbuilding block.
Retain the ME/DE template, but shift accessory emphasis toward hypertrophy and symmetry.
Add structured repetition waves (6–10 reps) for compound movements and include more unilateral work.
DE days remain speed-based but with slightly higher volume (8–10 sets of 3–5) to enhance muscle recruitment under moderate load. The result is a phase that maintains power output while driving significant muscular growth - ideal between competition seasons or as an off-season strength-rebuild phase.
Building Toward a Full-Season Plan
The Supertotal system can be scaled into a 16–20-week season using alternating waves of build, refine, and realise phases.
Phase | Duration | Primary Focus |
Base Strength & Skill Rebuild | 4–6 weeks | Rebuild positions, restore volume tolerance, establish technical rhythm |
Intensification & Power Development | 6–8 weeks | Heavier ME work, stronger DE waves, reduced accessories |
Realisation & Specificity | 4–6 weeks | Narrow rotation, competition-style execution, recovery deloads |
Testing & Transition | 1–2 weeks | Assess maxes, evaluate progress, plan next wave |
Within each long block, recovery deloads appear every fourth or fifth week - replacing Max Effort lifts with moderate triples and reducing accessory density by 30–40%. These controlled reductions allow restoration without losing momentum. Testing phases follow naturally at the end of each wave, serving both as data collection and psychological reset before the next rotation begins.
Expanding Knowledge and System Mastery
The 9-week Supertotal block is one expression of the larger Conjugate philosophy. Coaches and athletes who wish to extend its reach should study the connected resources:
From Training to the Podium: Explains how to move from general preparation to peak specificity with precise timing and fatigue control.
The Complete JHEPC Conjugate System for Powerlifting: A comprehensive guide to wave sequencing, yearly structure, and the logic of concurrent periodisation across multiple disciplines.
Becoming the Conjugate Colossus: A full integration of powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman methodology - detailing how to evolve from hybrid lifter to multi-discipline athlete through long-term Conjugate planning.
Each text deepens understanding of rotation theory, intensity regulation, and long-term development. When combined, they form a complete coaching system capable of guiding an athlete from base building to platform dominance, across any strength sport.
The Supertotal program represents more than a nine-week challenge; it is a model of sustainable hybrid strength. Its integration potential lies in its adaptability - a single operating system that can pivot toward powerlifting, Olympic lifting, strongman, or physique development without losing identity. Once mastered, it becomes a framework for lifelong progression: train heavy, move fast, stay healthy, and remain strong in every expression of strength the barbell demands.
Program Pre-Requisites & Housekeeping: Prerequisites & “Am I Ready?” Self-Test
Before you start, confirm you have the minimum skill, mobility, and strength to run a concurrent Supertotal.
1) Technical skill (minimum)
Snatch: Can perform power snatch from hang with consistent bar path and stable overhead for triples at ~60–70% of best power snatch (or technique max).
Clean & Jerk: Can perform power clean + push press from hang for doubles at ~60–70% with clean front-rack and controlled dip/drive.
Powerlifts: Confident back squat, bench press, and deadlift with consistent depth/pause/lockout.
If you cannot complete these cleanly: run the 2-week On-Ramp below.
2) Mobility screen (pass/fail)
Front-rack: With empty bar in rack, elbows at or above bar, neutral wrist (or straps front-squat setup), torso upright for a 20-second hold.
Overhead: PVC/empty bar overhead squat to parallel without heels lifting or rib flare; 20-second bottom hold acceptable.
Squat pattern: Feet flat, knees track toes, hips below parallel without lumbar collapse.
If any fail: do the On-Ramp and use the substitutions listed in the Equipment Matrix.
3) Base strength thresholds (guidelines, not gates)
Back Squat: ≥1.25× bodyweight single (or smooth triple @ ~1.15×).
Deadlift: ≥1.5× bodyweight single (or smooth triple @ ~1.35×).
Bench Press: ≥0.9× bodyweight single (or smooth triple @ ~0.8×).
Front Squat: ≥0.9× back squat.
Push Press: ≥0.6× bodyweight for a clean double.
If you’re close but not quite there, you can still run the plan—prioritise the Plan B options and conservative loading in Week 1.
2-Week On-Ramp (if you fail any checks)
Frequency: 3 days/week, 45–60 min.
Day A: Front-squat 5×3 (light, paused 2s) → Hang power clean 6×2 (technique) → Reverse lunge 3×8/leg → Front-rack holds 3×20s → Sled 6×20 m.
Day B: Bench 5×3 (paused) → Power snatch from hip 6×2 → DB row 4×10 → Overhead squat 3×5 (PVC/empty bar) → Carries 4×30 m.
Day C: Back squat 4×5 (easy) → Push press 5×3 (technique) → RDL 3×8 → T-spine/ankle mobility 8–10 min → Sled 6×20 m.After 2 weeks, re-test the mobility screen and start Week 1.
Equipment & Substitutions Matrix
Use these simple swaps to keep the stimulus when kit is limited or joints are cranky.
Target/Tool | Preferred | If You Don’t Have It | When to Choose the Swap |
Squat bar | SSB | High-bar back squat | Shoulders/elbows irritated; want more upper-back load with upright torso. |
Accommodating resistance | Bands | +5–7.5% bar weight (same sets/reps) | No safe band setup; keep bar speed snappy. |
Pulling blocks | Blocks | Hang variations (knee/mid-thigh) | Limited equipment; technique focus; reduce lower-back fatigue. |
Reverse hyper | Reverse hyper | 45° back raise + light band (hip hinge emphasis) | No RH available; spine friendly posterior-chain volume. |
DE deadlift with bands/chains | Bands/Chains | Speed pulls straight weight at +5% | Gym rules or setup issues; keep rest short and intent high. |
Overhead implements | Log/Axle | Barbell press (push press/jerk from rack) | Strongman kit not available; keep triple-extension pattern. |
GHR | GHR | Nordic eccentrics or banded leg curl | Hamstring bias without machine. |
Yoke/farmer’s | Yoke/Farmers | Front rack carry or DB suitcase carries | Grip/core emphasis when implements aren’t available. |
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