Lower Body Work on the Conjugate Program

Nobody ever really has any issues or complaints when it comes to upper body assistance work.

For the most part, people love the pump in their chest, shoulders, and arms and aren't as worried about the soreness in the days that follow.

With Legs it's a bit different.

One - it kinda sucks just to do it, and the potential soreness that follows in the next couple of days isn't something they particularly love either.

However - with Conjugate Training - the two main stimuli for the week (Max Effort training & Dynamic Effort Training) aren't exactly the two best stimuli for hypetrophy.

While the Max Effort work is very heavy - the volume is generally very low.

And while the volume is high on Dynamic Effort day - the intensity is generally low and the bar speed is fast.

So if you've got twigs for legs, no ass, and no spinal erectors - it's a good long term strategy to have some work that is strictly there to build muscle in these areas.

Max Effort / Dynamic Effort is primarily there to pull that neurological lever.

But remember that strength is a combination of two things:

How much muscle you have + How efficiently you can use that muscle.

So if you are only addressing the latter and never the former - your gains are going to be somewhat limited.

Here's how I like to set things up:

Max Effort Day -

1. Max Effort Squat or Deadlift: work up to top single
2. Supplemental Squat or Deadlift: 3 x 3-5
3. Leg Curl 1-3 sets 8-12
4. Leg Extension 1-3 sets 8-12
5. Calves (this is optional for cosmetics: I don't view them as necessary for performance based training)

The supplemental movement is definitely muscle building. I usually use something like RDLs or Goodmornings after squatting, and something like front squats after deadlifting.

The Leg Curls & Leg Extensions are there because they are both excellent hypertrophy movements that also eliminate any axial loading. This is a good idea after two heavy barbell lifts.

You don't have to do a lot. Not more than 3 sets each and if you push hard enough, even just one all out set can be effective. Especially if you add in something like myo-reps / rest-pause.

Another good strategy, for a bit of extra volume, is some back off sets after the max effort movement for the day.

After your top single, back down between 75-85% and do 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps.

As always - if this type of training is new to you - start with a small amount of volume and build up over time until you reach that point where you feel like "okay that's enough."

Also monitor soreness levels.

We're doing Max Effort lower body on Tuesday and training Dynamic Effort lower body on Friday.

If you are still sore rolling into Fridays workout - then back off the volume a bit until you find a dose of stress that is recoverable in that window of time.

Most of the time, DE lower body day begins with a fairly high volume of both Squats and Deadlifts.

These sets are done with loads between 60-85%, typically with a high set count and low reps per set.

An example might be taking a Squat you could ordinarily do for 3 sets of 5 reps and doing it for 8 sets of 2 reps.

This maintains a very high bar speed across all the reps for the day and is an excellent way to recruit more motor units into the lift in a manner that is lower fatigue.

After the squatting and pulling is done for the day, I like to move onto another direct quad movement.

Westside always harped on the importance of the posterior chain (which is important) but for Raw lifting (which is what 99% of you are doing) you have to build up the Quads as well.

Again, I like to go with something that is highly stimulative to the Quads but limits axial loading.

For this session I really like something like Leg Presses, Belt Squats, or Hack Squats. Again, 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps is a happy middle ground.

But you can also experiment with lower reps or higher reps with these exercises.

I like to follow this up with some lighter Hip Extension work for the posterior chain.

At this point in the week we've usually already done at least 1 heavy deadlift or deadlift variant and DE deadlifts.

It works well to do something at this workout that is highly stimulative, but low load.

45 or 90 Degree Back Extensions or Reverse Hypers are my top choices here.

2-3 sets of 10-20 reps.

This type of work can build the hamstrings, glutes, and erectors but also does a really nice job of building some work capacity that helps you better deal with some of the higher volume days.

I often have trainees finish this workout with heavy ab work such as weighted decline sit ups or also things like an Ab Wheel or Hanging Leg Raises.

As with the Max Effort Day - using soreness as a guide can be helpful.

My clients do this workout on Friday and Max Effort day rolls around the next Tuesday.

If you aren't recovered by Tuesday, dial it back a little bit and build up slowly from there.