Complexes For All Occasions And Goals

Complexes. Created by Istavn Javorek in the 70’s, a former Romanian weight lifting coach who later brought the concepts to the U.S.

Love and hate.

I relate the former to the latter. I love the results that the complexes get me and my athletes/clients, but I hate thinking about doing them and waiting to pick up the barbell before my set is about to begin. They are probably one of the toughest things you can do when it comes to training/conditioning. If you don’t agree with me then please try a set of this barbell complex with 115 lbs on the bar (you should also focus on speed of movement as well as form and get through it under 1:30 minutes). Go for 3 sets with a 90 second break:

– Deadlift x 10

– Bent Over Row x 10

– Clean x 10

– Push Press x 10

– Squat Jump x 10

– Alternating Reverse Lunges x 10

Ok, now take around 20 minutes to get yourself together, drink a post workout Surge recovery drink and try not to pass out. Maybe they got your attention?

Lately, complexes have started becoming “popular” again and you will see more written about them in the near future. The reason why you probably won’t see everyone doing them at your local gym though, is because they’re crazy hard and uncomfortable and that’s just not acceptable for most people (sarcasm intended). Most prefer the hamster wheel for 45-60 minutes of steady state cardio which includes a nice dose of muscle breakdwon and a spoon full of overuse injuries.

Fortunately there is not enough space for a human sized hamster wheel at Hocevar Performance, so we stick to things such as barbell, kettlebell and other complexes to get mutant conditioning

But let me back up a little bit first…..I might have jumped the gun without even explaining what complexes are. For those of you who don’t know what complexes are, I will try to make it as simple as possible to understand. You would choose two or more exercises using the same implement/tool and load (we can use just about anything, barbells, dumbells, kettlebells, cable’s, sandbags, etc….), then choose your number of repetitions, sets, and load. Then you would perform the exercises in a back to back fashion. Just as an example, if you chose to perform a barbell from squat into push press for 3 sets of 10, you would perform all 10 reps of your front squats and then immediately perform 10 push presses without putting the bar down. We usually do four or more exercises in a complex and we will change the repetitions depending on goal and load.

Some things you should stick to when doing the complexes:

The exercises should follow a smooth transition pattern
You cannot put down implement/tool until the whole set of the complex is over
The load should be determined based on the weakest movement. For example, if your complex is made up of deadlifts, rows, snatches, overhead squats and lunges, you would choose a load that you could handle for your weakest lift (which in this case would be the overhead squat)

Enough with the instructions……

Here’s what we use the complexes for (and how) at Hocevar Performance:

– Meatbolic Conditioning and fat loss: This is what we primarily use the complexes for, creating a huge metabolic disturbance that is great for fat loss. It is also an incredible tool for anaerobic conditioning. For this we will use 8-12 reps per exercise and we will never go over 120 second break (usually 90 seconds or less).

– Muscle Building: Since complexes will make you stay under tension for long periods of time (many times over 60 seconds), they are also great for building muscle. We will stay within the 5-8 reps per exercise range here.

– Strength and Explosiveness: Even though you cannot load the complexes as much as you would the exercises by themselves, heavy complexes have had a significant impact on our athletes strength and power. We will go as low as 2-4 reps on these. To give you a better idea of how a heavy complex would look like check out what we did on Saturday using a 195 lb barbell (3 reps per exercise)…

So what part of the workout do we put the complex in?

Mostly we will put it after the lifting session or it will be done on the off days as your cardio strength training (replacing the regular cardio).

The great thing about complexes is the ease of progressions (load, time, speed, sets, reps) and the amount of tools you can use them with. We will change it up in different cycles and move from barbells to dumbells, kettlebells, sandbags, etc. To get an idea you can check out some complex loaded kettlebell conditioning.

I hope that you’re using complexes in your training as I promise that you wil reap the benefits especially when it comes to conditioning and fat loss.

Let me know what type of complexes you use. If you don’t use them yet then finish of your next training session with three sets of the complex that is presented at the top of the post with a weight that is challenging for you. Let me know how it goes!

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About Luka Hocevar 4 Articles

Luka Hocevar is the president of Hocevar Performance and the performance director of Elite Athletics LLC, as well as Owner of Hocevar Performance Gym in Renton, WA and co-owner of the Kettlebells Center Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Luka has made a name for himself as one of the premier trainers in Washington state as well as one of the up and coming strength coaches in the country, helping clients and athletes from all walks of life achieve their personal physique and performance goals.

Luka has spent his whole life in the training and sports industry. He is a former professional basketball player that played years in the European leagues as well as the NBA Summer Pro League. During his career Luka started his training career by openening a kettlebell training center in his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has now grown to be one of the premier kettlebell gyms in Eastern Europe.

Luka Hocevar

Luka’s journey continued to the U.S. to take his knowledge of training to the next level, studying everything he can get his hands on, as well as learning under some of the world’s top strength coaches while applying it with hundreds of clients in the real world. Over a decade of knowledge and training, as well as a lifetime of experience has come together as Hocevar Perfomance.

Luka’s training methods include a mixture of powerliting, Olympic weightlifting, Kettlebell training as well as many other methods to produce significant strength & performance gains. His specialty is his versatility to provide the highest quality training for every ability level from the young athlete, fitness enthusiasts to elite/professional athletes.

Luka has trained national and world champions, Euroleague basketball players, NBA, MLB players, UFC and other mixed martial arts fighters, as well as players from multiple other sports. He commits the same passion to all of his clients that are committed to reaching their goals regardless of what they are striving to achieve.

Luka has written a number of articles for international magazines and newspapers as well as being featured in the local newspapers and mentioned in the local KOMO 5 News. Luka’s gym in Slovenia has been featured in the international Men’s Health as well as being one of the hosts of the Men’s Health challenge 2009.

Luka is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS – FZS) and a certified fitness trainer (ISSA – CFT). He is also a Russian kettlebell instructor (RKC) with close to a decade of experience with kettlebell training.

Luka’s passion of training the youth has also led him to become a youth fitness specialist through the gold standard for youth fitness certifications – the IYCA.

Albert Park

Albert has been working and training at Hocevar Performance as a true apprentice to the Strength and Conditioning field since January 2009. His background in athletics and martial arts has allowed him to quickly gain knowledge and insight into the industry. He has helped numerous individuals reach diverse goals including Sports performance, Combat performance, fat loss, and overall health/fitness.

In college, Albert was a division II athlete competing in track and field at Western Washington University. While in school his passion for fitness and athletic performance was expressed as he became a Trainer and Group fitness instructor. A lot of his unique training styles come from the last 6 years of training in the arts of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

From continuous studying, being mentored by Luka Hocevar, and drawing upon his experiences, Albert incorporates the most effective and latest strength and conditioning techniques into his training. His training methods are a fusion of strong-man movements, Olympic lifts, Mixed Martial Arts conditioning, bodyweight training and Kettlebell work. This variety of training methods allows him to effectively train different and diverse individuals from the weekend warrior to the athlete desiring to take it to the next level.