Strengh Sensei Bookshelf
Conjugate by Travis Mash
How to apply Louie Simmon’s strength principles to weightlifting
The Westside Barbell Conjugate System is a proven method to develop champion powerlifters. With Travis Mash’s new book, Conjugate, you’ll
gain insight on how to apply these Louie Simmons’ methods to the sport of weightlifting.
If you’re a powerlifter, you know the name Trash Mash. Not only was he a world champion in the sport, but he was the first to beat the legendary Ed
Coan’s total record. Among his best “raw” lifts are an 805-pound squat, a 550 bench press, and an 804 deadlift. He has also squatted 1015 in a multi-
ply squat suit.
After mastering powerlifting, Trash became a strength coach working with numerous athletes at all levels, including Olympic hopefuls and NFL stars. More recently, Trash took on the challenge of coaching weightlifters and has produced several national champions and international competitors, including an Olympia.
The complete title of Mash’s book on weightlifting is Conjugate: Travis Mash’s Olympic Weightlifting Applications of Louie Simmons’s Timeless Principles. It could be considered a companion book to Simmons’ 2016 book called Olympic Weightlifting Strength Manual.
The critics of Simmons’ approach to training weightlifters point out that his ideas are merely theories as Simmons hasn’t coached any weightlifters. However, Mash has effectively countered that argument by building one of the best weightlifting teams in the country.
In Conjugate, Mash explains that the key to making weightlifters better is to make them stronger, especially in the squat. And the best way to accomplish this is by cycling training protocols that prevent strength plateaus. As such, in one workout, you would focus on what Simmons calls the maximal effort method, another day the dynamic effort method, and another day the repetition method.
Those who follow Simmons know that his Conjugate system was inspired by his study of textbooks written by accomplished Russian weightlifting
coaches. For example, Simmons discusses using the Prilepin chart, a program design system that breaks down training intensity into zones.
These zones provide precise guidelines about what set/rep ranges to use for how much weight lifted in specific exercises. Prilepin’s chart also gives the optimal range of total reps for each zone. For example, when lifting weights that are 80-90 percent or more of a lifter’s 1RM (1 repetition maximum), the lifter would perform 2-4 reps per set with a range of 10-20 total reps in a workout.
Mash has become a prolific writer in the Iron Game. One reason his books have become popular is that he goes beyond theory to provide in-depth
workouts that include all the basic loading parameters. In Conjugate, Mash will tell you exactly what exercises to perform, how many reps to use, how much weight to use, for every major exercise, every day, for every week.
If you’re a believer in the Westside Barbell Method for getting strong and want to apply it to the sport of weightlifting, Travis Mash’s Conjugate is a
must-read.
[You can purchase Travis Mash’s Conjugate: Travis Mash’s Olympic Weightlifting Applications of Louie Simmons’s Timeless Principles at mashelite.com.]
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