Weight training complexes made simple

Despite their name complexes are an easy way to get fitter and stronger in a hurry. Increasing strength, work capacity and reducing body fat are often thought to be time consuming or difficult to manage. Complexes allow all three to be done at the same time.

Complexes are a sequence of exercises that are performed without putting the weight down. Barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells and medicine balls can all be used to create the desired result.

Istvan Javorek has really made these popular in the last 20 years. His book complex conditioning lists hundreds of different combinations of these types of work. One of the basic ones is:

Javorek's Barbell Complex #1
Barbell upright row x 6
Barbell high pull snatch x 6
Barbell behind the head squat and push press x 6
Barbell behind the head good morning x 6
Barbell bent-over row x 6

That is 30 repetitions without putting the barbell down. If you only use a 20kg bar you have moved 600kg in one set. Compare that with sitting down on a bench and doing 5 sets of 3 reps of dumbbell shoulder press with 3-4 minutes rest between sets and you get an idea of work effort.

The advantages of complex training are:

• Huge amount of work in limited time
• Grip strength improves rapidly
• Doesn’t require a lot of space or equipment
• Because of the relatively high number of repetitions the load on the barbell is limited so it is more suitable for beginner to intermediate types.
• Suitable for team training as you can work on a “one on, one off basis”

Sequencing is important when designing a complex you can either work on power and difficult exercises first like this one:

Hang snatch
Overhead squat
Back squat
Good mornings
Row
Deadlift

Or you can work from the ground up in a logical sequence so that the bar eventually passes over your head and you finish with back squat like this one:

Deadlift

Bent over row

Hang clean

Front squat

Military Press

Back Squat

You can try different amounts of repetitions, but I wouldn’t go higher than 8 reps per exercise.  My standard format is 6 exercises, 6 repetitions, with 6 sets. Sometimes I do 5 sets of 5 or 3 sets of 3 ( No real science behind this, it is just that the athletes I train have difficulty remembering more than one number at a time!).

By changing the mode of resistance you get different benefits from the same sequence of exercises.  Barbells allow you to go heavy, dumbbells and kettlebells allow for a lot of variety and flexibility, sandbags are good for balance and just making it awkward, and medicine balls allow you to add throws and slams.

Be warned, they are more fatiguing than you may first realise, but if you are looking for time, space and equipment efficient forms of exercise, complexes offer a valuable change.