Conjugate Method for Functional Fitness and Crossfit

Westside Barbell's functional fitness lead coach Zach Filer joins Mac McFarland to talk Conjugate Method for functional fitness and CrossFit.

Zach spent 17 years running a CrossFit affiliate, taught kettlebell sport with Jeff Martone at CrossFit Kettlebell, and joined Conjugate Tactical with Jason Gusic before Tom brought him on to lead functional fitness for Westside. He explains how he runs the Conjugate Method for functional fitness and CrossFit athletes like Tudor Magda, Emily Wolf, and five-time Tactical Games champion Jacob Heppner, using the same four-day split Westside built for powerlifting: Max Effort lower, Max Effort upper, Dynamic Effort lower, Dynamic Effort upper, plus an event day for sport-specific work.

The 80/20 rule keeps max effort and dynamic effort work to about 20 percent of a session. The other 80 percent is GPP and accessory work: reverse hypers, accommodating resistance with bands and chains, and other movements that build the durability and work capacity CrossFit demands, without wrecking an athlete's conditioning. Zach also tells the story of coaching Tudor Magda through a bad ankle injury four weeks out from the 2025 CrossFit Games, where Magda couldn't train legs for most of that month but still PR'd his squat and press on the competition floor.

Zach also introduces Competitor Pipeline, a new 12-week program on CoachRx built from this same conjugate method for functional fitness and CrossFit template, for coaches and athletes who want to run it themselves.

LEARN THE CONJUGATE METHOD

Conjugate Coach Pathway: https://www.westside-barbell.com/pages/conjugate-coach-certification

Digital Internship (Level 1): https://www.westside-barbell.com/products/digital-internship

Conjugate Club: https://www.conjugateclub.com/

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