Conjugate CrossFit

The conjugate system is a cornerstone of Westside Barbell training. Chris Mason suggests ways for CrossFitters to incorporate the method into a CrossFit program.

I believe it is an immutable fact that an increase in absolute strength for any CrossFitter would make him or her a better CrossFitter assuming said strength is not accompanied by a big increase in total body weight (or a detraining effect on endurance or strength endurance). Louie Simmons’ Westside system of strength training is for my money the most effective strength-building system ever developed.

That said, CrossFit is its own modality with specific goals: “Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.” It is not realistic to expect a CrossFit practitioner to adopt the Westside system wholly and fully because he or she would, by definition, no longer be a CrossFitter. So, the question is how to incorporate some of Louie’s principles into a CrossFit-based program, and it is a question I’ve carefully considered.

To be clear, the ideas presented in this article are therefore not Westside ideas. Westside is a unique system developed by Louie, and it is a system he does not believe in altering or bastardizing in any way. The training methods and techniques presented here are snippets of the total Westside system, from which I am borrowing in order to help CrossFit practitioners continue to build their CrossFit abilities while simultaneously increasing their absolute strength. The ultimate goal, of course, is improved CrossFit performance.

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