What is the Conjugate System?
This training system trains multiple physical qualities simultaneously without overtraining. Instead of doing the same exercises every week, you rotate movements while maintaining consistent training principles. This keeps your body adapting, prevents plateaus, and builds well-rounded strength and power for combat sports.
Strength Training: 2 Days Per Week
Maximum Effort (ME) Day
What: Work up to a heavy set (1-3 reps) at 90-100% intensity
Why: Builds absolute strength and teaches your nervous system to produce maximum force
How: Exercises rotate every 1-3 weeks to prevent accommodation and keep progressing
Dynamic Effort (DE) Day
What: Multiple sets (8-12) of low reps (2-3) at 50-60% intensity with maximum speed
Why: Develops explosive power and rate of force development - critical for striking and takedowns
How: We add bands/chains as you progress to keep the bar speed high throughout the camp
Explosive/Plyometric Block
What: Jumps, throws, and explosive movements
Why: Trains your body to produce power quickly - the bridge between gym strength and fight performance
Accessory Block
What: Higher rep work (8-12 reps) targeting weak points and muscle building
Why: Builds muscle, prevents injuries, and addresses individual weaknesses
Conditioning: 3 Days Per Week
Your conditioning is customized based on your current fitness level and training goals. The program progresses through different energy systems to match the demands of your sport.
Early Camp: Building the Base
If your conditioning is poor/moderate, we start with aerobic base building (cardiac output, tempo work) before progressing to sport-specific work. Athletes with good conditioning jump straight into power intervals.
Mid Camp: Sport-Specific Work
We introduce work that matches your goal: alactic power for one-punch KO, lactic capacity for late-round endurance, or explosive repeats for wrestling. Volume increases as you adapt.
Late Camp: Peak Performance
Volume decreases, intensity stays high. We focus on maintaining your conditioning while allowing full recovery.
Exercise Selection
Exercises are selected based on:
- •Your sport: MMA athletes get different exercises than boxers or wrestlers
- •Your goals: Training for one-punch power looks different than training for cardio
- •Your equipment: The program adapts to what you have available
- •Variation: Exercises rotate every 1-3 weeks to prevent staleness and keep you progressing
How You Progress & Peak
3-Week Waves
Both ME and DE work follows 3-week waves. For example, ME progresses: Week 1 (90%/3RM) → Week 2 (95%/2RM) → Week 3 (100%/1RM), then resets. This prevents overtraining and allows sustainable progress.
Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP)
In the final 4 weeks, we switch from traditional DE work to PAP complexes - heavy lift immediately followed by explosive movement. This "wakes up" your nervous system and maximizes power output for fight night.
The Taper
The final 7-14 days systematically reduce volume while maintaining intensity. You arrive at fight night fresh, recovered, and at peak performance - not overtrained and burned out.
The Key Principle
Concurrent Training: We develop maximum strength, explosive power, speed-strength, and conditioning at the same time - but we do it intelligently. Each quality gets trained on separate days with proper recovery, ensuring you improve everything without overtraining anything. This is how combat athletes get scary strong AND maintain their gas tank.