Absolute Resource Guide: Conjugate Method
The gold standard for programming treatment and training.
At Absolute, we program strength training utilizing the conjugate method philosophy. This method has a substantial historical background tracing back to the old Soviet Union. Through its history, this method has proven, in theory, and practice, to be the superior method of programming training and treatment (for those therapists). We wanted to introduce some of the resources about the conjugate method, to help understand, at its core, the conjugate system as a highly advanced form of parallel training.
In Supertraining1, Dr. Mel Siff describes the conjugate sequencing system as a method:
“Involving successively introducing into the training program separate, specific means, each of which has a progressively stronger training effect, and coupling them sequentially to create favorable condition for eliciting the cumulative effect of all the training loads.”
We will delve into the details of Absolute conjugate method programming in other posts. For now, here are two good links to informative information to educate you on the conjugate method.
The first is by former NFL player and long-time NFL strength coach Tom Myslinksi. This is an excerpt from his doctoral thesis paper and provides extensive background on the origins and goals of the system. The Development of the Russian Conjugate Sequence System.
Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell first popularized the conjugate system in the West and then went on to create his own conjugate sequencing system for absolute strength and powerlifting - called the Westside Method. Conjugate Method.
Other Absolute Resource Guides
Verkhoshansky, Yuri Vitalievitch., and Mel Cunningham. Siff. Supertraining. Verkhoshansky, 2009.