For the purposes of this discussion the term Strongman shall be used regardless of the gender of competitors etc.
Two concepts that are often misunderstood, sometimes even at the highest levels, are the basics of the Conjugate Method and how to sensibly program for the Strongman athlete in a way that manages to broach all the demands of modern day Strongman competition. Now, both of these concepts are understandably difficult to summarise briefly and this can explain much of the confusion, I shall attempt to touch briefly on both and show how the marriage of Conjugate (or Concurrent) principles and the requirements of the Strongman (or even general strength trainee) is perhaps the most prosperous available to the prospective coach or athlete looking for a new training protocol.
Briefly put, the Conjugate method is a training methodology, and philosophy, that moves away from traditional linear periodisation and focuses on training for multiple adaptations all at once. This form of training applies the Maximal Effort, Dynamic Effort and Repetition Methods, the cycling of exercises and typically is associated with equipped powerlifting and Westside Barbell. However it is a mistake to think that this is the extent to which the Conjugate Method can be useful for the strength coach. Strongman by its very nature has far more component parts, and therefore athletic requirements that Powerlifting. All of these need to be trained concurrently; relative to what the Strongman may be faced with in their upcoming competitions of course.
So Maximal Strength, Repetition Strength, Speed, Agility, Endurance, Specific Skill with Implements and Explosiveness are all required and the Athlete that best embodies all of these skills will always beat the individual that is purely the strongest statically (although the necessity of Static strength cannot be understated). Strongman as a sport continues to grow and as some events become more standardised, others continue to change and diversify; as such the athlete must be prepared for anything and the ability to keep training all of these events throughout the year and in the off-season is essential.
WHERE DOES EVENT TRAINING FIT INTO A CONJUGATE TEMPLATE?
Now when closer to competition the events that you will train will depend on what is scheduled in upcoming competitions.
However in the off season it's important to be more generalised in your approach. Within a Conjugate approach to Strongman training, THERE SHOULD NEVER BE AN ADDITIONAL EVENTS DAY! Recovery will be impossible if you attempt this.
So where do events fit within the program? Loading events training, such as sandbags and stones etc. is best done after your main exercise(s) on Dynamic Upper days. I will touch on in a future article about how the intensity of these should be approached. Conversely, moving events such as Farmers, Ducks Walks and variations of Conan’s Wheels and Husafell carries etc. are best done after main movement(s) on Dynamic Lower days. Before usual posterior chain work and abs. This can prove tricky to recover from if you are not in the appropriate condition, Lucky the conjugate approach places a precedent on General Physical Preparedness. So if you’re not in shape to recover, you can be in no time.
Regular static lifts such as Overhead Press, Squats and Deadlifts, and their event specific variations are used as Max Effort exercises. However, unlike in traditional Powerlifting approaches back off sets will be used because of the importance of Repetition strength in the sport of Strongman. Log and Axel pressing can be included as Max Effort exercises and Axel of Frame deadlifts are suitable ME LB choices.
Very light variations of events, and I mean very light, can be done as conditioning work. However this should only improve fitness and recovery and not detract from it. No heavy tire flips purely for conditioning purposes.
WHAT ARE APPROPRIATE MAX EFFORT AND DYNAMIC EFFORT EXERCISES?
Traditional Powerlifting Conjugate templates, especially those designed around Equipped lifting, prioritise the Squat and Bench over everything. This is because a big MultiPly Total is built on a big Squat and Bench. In Strongman however, the Overhead Press and Deadlift are far more important. With only a small number of competitions including Squat events and basically none having a Bench event (except if you include those Incline Log lifts Ultimate Strongman had a few years ago). Obviously exercise selection must reflect this, so how will this look:
1) FAR MORE MAX EFFORT DEADLIFT VARIATIONS THAN IN A TRADITIONAL CONJUGATE PROGRAM
2) MORE OVERHEAD THAN BENCH VARIATIONS ON ME UB DAYS
- There will still be lots of use of Bench as an assistance lift
A good option is to choose 9-12 Max Effort variations and cycle these weekly. A handy guide is to have a 2;1 Overhead to Bench ratio on Max Effort Upper days. Although it is important to appraise the needs of each lifter individually. Then again most Strongman competitors will benefit from a 2;1 Deadlift to Squat ratio on ME LB days. However, this again depends on the lifter and how well they recover etc.
When it comes to Dynamic Work however, in the Off Season, myself and a number of my lifters and trainees will perform the Bench Press as our main exercise. On Lower days both the Squat and Deadlift are performed following the Dynamic Effort method protocol. My personal approach to Rep and Set schemes for Dynamic work can be found elsewhere on this site.
For Strongman I prefer to use the SSB or at least a bar with a camber for squats, we have had success both with and without a box. Straight bar deadlifts from the floor are performed as our deadlift variation typically, however the trap bar has also been used in the past.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE ASSISTANCE & ACCESSORY EXERCISES ...AND SHOULD THEY DIFFER FROM A TRADITIONAL POWERLIFTING STYLE CONJUGATE PROGRAM?
Assistance exercises should always correspond to that days’ Max Effort (or Dynamic) exercises. Typically this means that your assistance exercises will be a more challenging variation of the exercise you just performed. By extension then, as a Strongman your Max Effort repertoire of exercises will be greater and as such so will your assistance exercise one.
For example if your ME UB exercise was a Log Press from the rack. Your assistance exercise might be an Incline log press, or log pin press in the 5-8 rep range.
In terms of accessory exercises all the usual rules apply:
- They should develop the muscles that are used in the assistance movement you performed
- Nothing should be included that doesn’t have a specific purpose
- Joint and Ligament health should be prioritised.
- GPP is essential.
- Biceps are 10000% more important in Strongman than Powerlifting, NEGLECT THEM AT YOUR PERIL.
- Do a lot of short extra workouts (will touch on in a future article)
OTHER THOUGHTS
- It is also important to remember to do things that you aren’t necessarily good at and don’t necessarily like.
- Try to not get too carried away with the use of the ‘future method’ and use too many reverse band or heavy slingshot variations.
- It is important over time to work out which exercises build your lifts, which are good indicators of where your lifts are currently at and which are good strength testers.
- Just because you’re allowed a deadlift or squat suit in your next contest doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be strong raw.
- Conversely, don’t be obsessed with purely raw strength where there are tools out there that can facilitate your ability to move maximal weight.
- When performing Speed Work, make sure the bar is actually moving quickly.
- Squatting with a straight bar too much with ruin your wrists, elbows and shoulders and will damage your Bench and Overhead press numbers.
Front Squats are gross but infinitely useful, sorry.
- Rack Pulls above the knee, unless performed specifically for grip work or if you’re real short and doing 18” deadlifts or training for a silver dollar deadlift, don’t make you cool.
Hopefully this has been a helpful tool in highlighting some of the benefits of the Conjugate for Strongman and helped to address some of the potential pitfalls. In future I will touch on adding conditioning and extra sessions to the template to really round out the program for the Strongman athlete.
This is a very general, somewhat off-season focused approach. In future I will explain in detail how we approach getting ready for competitions and increased specificity.
In the meantime catch us over on @jh__eliteperformance and stay tuned for updates.
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