USING COMPLEXES IN YOUR STRENGTH TRAINING PART I

by Brad Leshinske BS. C.S.C.S Athletic Edge Sports Performance, inc.

With a lot of articles being geared around strongman training and training with time in mind, I thought we should explore some workouts using complexes. Using complexes in training can have a great effect on your training. They are phenomenal for increasing work capacity and also increasing strength as most complexes involve multi joint movements which in my opinion are the best movements. If your into getting stronger and burning more calories you cannot find a better solution then complexes. So before we give you the first workout lets look at some definitions of what to know before we start with the workouts. You always have to know why and what your doing in your workouts, they have to have meaning.
Complexes- a series of exercise used to elicit high calorie burning effects. Also used for increasing work capacity for athletes.
Run- when you complete a set of the complex workout
Rest intervals- the time between your runs, as you get more efficient you can decrease your rest interval to increase your work.
With these definitions in mind lets take a look at what a beginner would use as complex I
Dynamic warmup as always
Warm up the upper body and lower body

Complex I
Pushups x20
+
Prisoner squat x 10-20
+
Blast strap rows or fatmans x 10-20
+
Lunge walks x 30 yard
+
Skaters or sl rdl’s x 10-20 on each leg
Rest interval is between 4-5 minutes for beginners and for intermediate rest 1-2 min between each run and for high level participants 30-60sec between runs. Beginners would do 1 -2 runs as you get better and more conditioned work up to 4 runs will decreasing your rest period to make it harder.

This version of complex is great for beginners. While all these exercises are bodyweight I firmly believe in increasing the ability of moving ones own body prior to adding load especially to those who don’t have a long training age. Training age being the time you have lifted in years. These are great for younger athletes and athletes looking to have a deload week or change up a Saturday workout.
Adding twists to complex one. If you think this is too easy try adding a weight vest or even better you can add a core movement in between each exercise for example:

Pushups x20
Plank
Prisoner squatsx10-20
Plank
Blast rows/fatmansx10-15
Plank
Lunge walks x30yard
Plank
Skaters/sl rdl
Plank
Each plank would be held for 10 seconds to 20 seconds focusing on drawing the abs in.

This is how you can add some bodyweight core work in with out ruining the system of the complex.
Again complex training is great tool used by many boot camps, mma athletes, fitness enthusiast, athletes and people looking to burn calories. This type of training has been around for a while providing people with great loss in fat but also strength.
As you will see in the next article about complex training you can make these really sport or lift specific. Adding in the bar, dumbbells, multi joint lifts and strongman lifts are just the beginning.
Complex II is going to explore how we add in the bar to complex training and how you go about choosing your exercises for adding the bar into the program.

This article is intended to be of information only and anyone chosing to use this workout does so on their own accord. You should always consult a physician prior to exercise. Athletic Edge Sports Performance inc. and its trainers are not responsible for any injuries sustained while trying this workout. This is for information only and should not be done unless with Dr.’s permission or under the guidance of a certified trainer.