The ability to consistently track progress and collect relevant training data is two aspects of the Conjugate Method that are most beneficial to the coach or athlete. Each week, we can obtain a real-time estimate of an athlete's absolute strength, explosive power, work capacity, and conditioning level. 

This training data provides us with a weekly feedback loop, allowing for the highest level of training optimization realistically possible. 

This feedback loop provides a roadmap for exercise selection and programming. We can evaluate training on a day-to-day basis and make adjustments based on real-time data. This far surpasses the efficiency of phase-based approaches, which often use training data as old as 6-8 weeks to make adjustments for the next training phase.   

When coaches and athletes first begin using our methods, many misunderstand proper exercise selection. This often leads to excessive variation in exercise and difficulty tracking progress in competition lifts. Additionally, athletes can experience skill decay with the competition lifts when exercise selection is mismanaged.  

Fortunately, managing exercise selection and obtaining valuable data from a Conjugate-based training plan is relatively easy. Below, we will discuss a few ways to track training progress when utilizing the Conjugate Method. 

Max Effort Main Exercise Programming

The first and most crucial piece of the puzzle to ensure training data is relevant is the max effort main exercise programming. The way we approach programming maximal effort main exercises is by using "A" and "B" sets of exercises. One month will feature "A" exercises, while the next month will feature "B" exercises. 

Here is what an initial "A" and "B" month of training could look like for max effort lower:

Month A

Week 1 – Competition Squat

Week 2 – Cambered Bar Good Morning

Week 3 – Pin 3 Rack Pull

Week 4 – Box Squat

Month B

Week 1 – Competition Deadlift

Week 2 – SSB Good Morning

Week 3 – Bow Bar Squat

Week 4 – 2" Deficit Deadlift

As you can see, each month will feature a max effort competition lift. This allows us to collect relevant training data related to lower-body competition lifts, while also performing special exercises intended to develop specific aspects of the posterior and anterior chains. 

Moving forward, we can maintain the current exercise selections or introduce new variations. If we opt to go with new variations, we will keep our competition lifts in place and only adjust the special exercises. 

This ensures we have access to sport-relevant data each month, allowing us to evaluate the effectiveness of various special exercise combinations. If we change up the special exercise selections and make considerable progress in a short time, we then know our current exercise matrix is dialed in. If we begin to regress, we know we need to reevaluate our exercise selection and program design. 

It is also essential to prioritize the selection of squat barbells that are relevant to your dynamic effort squat barbell choices. This will ensure appropriate training data exists for each barbell when executing a dynamic effort squat wave. 

Finding Correlation

Aside from regularly testing competition-relevant lifts, we can also find a correlation between progress in special exercises and progress in competition lifts. For instance, if we are dealing with an athlete who consistently struggles with bench press lockout, a PR in the floor press can indicate that progress has been made, potentially allowing for a new competition bench press PR to be achieved.

This strategy is not limited to main exercises; we can also evaluate progress in accessory exercises to predict potential improvement in competition-relevant lifts. In my training, I have been able to predict personal deadlift PRs based on a PR while performing Romanian deadlifts or good mornings. 

The correlation between lifts will always depend on the individual. Still, once an athlete has completed a few months of Conjugate-based training, the key performance indicators begin to reveal themselves, provided the coach or athlete has the insight to notice.  

Our goal is to create a personalized training plan for each athlete, which we refer to as an exercise matrix. This is a collection of main and accessory exercises that best serve the athlete based on their individual needs to achieve rapid progress. As progress is made, the matrix will need to change, and that is where having the ability to identify correlations and track key performance indicators becomes most important. 

Keeping track of training and having the ability to judge the direct impact of the current exercise selection strategy being employed helps ensure training remains properly adjusted and optimal year-round. 

Evaluation of Dynamic Effort Training

Another aspect of training we can look at to judge progress is an athlete's performance during dynamic effort training. As we know, the dynamic effort method calls for athletes to train with submaximal weights at maximal velocity. Knowing this, we can visually estimate or electronically track barbell velocity to judge athlete progress. 

Suppose an athlete is meeting or exceeding dynamic effort velocity requirements set to set and week to week. In that case, the athlete has likely improved in the competition squat, bench press, or deadlift. 

We can also evaluate technical proficiency in dynamic effort lifts to measure improvements in competitive lifts. For example, if an athlete can maintain strict form and perform at a high level throughout all their dynamic effort training sets, it suggests enhanced technical proficiency. This improvement will likely carry over to their max effort training.

Dynamic effort training also helps us evaluate work capacity. Say an athlete is exhibiting optimal form up until the final 3-4 sets of a training day. This could indicate that the athlete is dealing with a work capacity issue or that the training weights are too heavy.

Dynamic effort training also provides insight into an athlete's current fatigue level. Often, when excess fatigue is present, dynamic effort barbell velocity is the first to suffer. If we notice a consistent issue with barbell velocity, we can reduce training percentages by 5% each week, or we can begin reducing accessory exercise volume. 

Read Between the Lines

The Conjugate Method provides consistent feedback in various ways, provided a coach or athlete has the understanding and experience to evaluate training properly. This is why we stress the importance of in the gym experience, considering this is where a coach or athlete develops proper training sensibilities. 

While we have access to velocity tracking devices and various other means of tracking training data, we also need to have the ability to judge performance on the fly. Every time we are in the gym, we need to pay attention to all aspects of exercise execution and performance to gather sufficient feedback and identify correlations between exercises, ultimately optimizing our training approach. 

On any given training day, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. Some coaches and athletes see training as nothing more than barbells, dumbbells, machines, and hard work, while others view training from a more scientific perspective. The mind of the coach or athlete will always dictate the level of success when it comes to Conjugate-based training; read a book and train your brain.