Yep, it’s complex alright. A complex is defined as ‘a whole that consists a number of intricate parts, especially one with interconnected or mutually related parts’.
Grabbing a barbell (or set of DB’s) and moving continuously through a movement pattern that flows from one movement to the next, well, that’s like poetry to me. Poetry that may include various curse words in the midst of the poem that is.
I love complexes because they look deceptively easy but they just add up to a whole lotta sweat. I like that I need to really focus on form and the reps are low. I hate workouts that make me count to 20 or higher. Have you noticed that you’ll rarely see any of my workouts with that many reps?
Another bonus is that complexes are short and more effective than other forms of long, boring cardio.
Your workouts don’t need to take forever. You can be DONE in 30 minutes or less with a more effective fat burning and muscle building workout than if you were to spend an hour.
A 1998 study in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition had women do 45 minutes of cardio per day, 5 days per week. They followed this protocol for 3 months.
Not surprisingly, they lost NO more weight than those who dieted alone. Talk about a big waste of time.
Another 2007 study in the journal Obesity revealed that doing 60 minutes of cardio, 6 days per week only resulted in an average 3.5 pounds of weight loss after an entire year.
Losing 3.5 pounds after an entire year of hour upon hour of daily cardio is shockingly bad. Add that up and that’s 312 hours of cardio in a single year.
What actually works?
My latest ‘flavor favorite’ workout is a Challenge Complex.
This is a workout that you can do with a barbell or swap in DB’s if you prefer. OR, do the same workout with DB’s on a different day, it’ll feel very different.
Set your clock for 1 min of work with a 15 second rest or transition time.
You’ll do 5 reps of exercise one and finish up with exercise two. You’ll do 5 rounds.
5 overhead (or front) squats finish up with weighted burpees
5 bent over rows finish up with high pulls
5 per leg spider crawl push up finish up with ab roll out (plank reach if you’re using DB’s)
5 rounds
I loved this one. If you want more Challenge Complex workouts, head HERE.