Weight Training Complexes for Beginners — Your Strength is Personalized Strength Training
Weight Training Complexes for Beginners

Weight Training Complexes for Beginners

Long complicated workouts often get ditched because the effort seems so big. Shorter workouts interspersed in your week can help you get the workout that you would have missed to the workout that got done!🙌.

In this short blog I am going to discuss weight lifting complexes and how they might be useful to you. Included is a complex video and prescription that will get you working hard in no time.

A weight lifting complex, sometimes called a barbell complex and be used to increase strength, create shape, and improve cardiovascular capacity depending how and when its used.

How to preform a weight lifting compelx

  • complete a series of exercise

  • back to back,

  • with little to no rest between exercises ( rest between rounds)

  • set number of reps

Complexes are useful because they are designed to be short, challenging, and simple. You can build your own any time following a basic template.

Pick 4-6 exercises, decide on implement (bodyweight is totally an option), decide on number of reps and number of rounds. As an example you can pick to 4 barbell exercises or 6 bodyweight exercises. You can use kettlebells, sandbags, slam-balls or even a TRX.

Now you pick which exercises you want to do. Say you have really been wanting to get stronger in the upper body. So you pick push ups, rows, shoulder presses, bear crawls and bicep curls. Now you need to figure out your reps. There are a few things you can use to help you decide. Say you only have access to two light dumbbells, you might choose to do 10 reps of each exercise. However, if you have access to a barbell, 5 reps of each exercise might be plenty of work.

Picking rounds will be similar to picking reps. How much time do you have, what are your goals? What kind of workout do you want? More reps and more rounds means that you are going to be working out for a longer amount of time. The opposite will hold true for less rounds and less reps.

Think about 5 exercises x 5 reps each for 5 rounds = 125 reps but 5 rounds of 10 reps for 5 exercises = 250 reps. This means that you will be doing double the work. Which is fine if you have lighter weight, are doing body weight or even more importantly are just getting started in your fitness journey.

A few more things to think about when it comes to complexes.

  • If your new to fitness or complexes, start slow. Give yourself time to learn how little to no rest will impact your body. Manipulate rest times between exercises and rounds to gauge progress and adjust intensity.

  • Rest as needed. Getting done with a workout and you have a headache, injury, tweak, or just feel downright whipped, is the opposite of what we are trying to do when it comes to improving our health through movement. BREATHE!

  • If you cant do all the movements with the same weight and you have access to others, that’s ok, use your options!

  • Do be creative, curious and have some fun. While these are planned to kick your buns, if you take weight and speed out of it, you have a flow. Try new implements and movements.

Remember to have fun when you move. Get curious, ask questions, learn how to keep yourself safe. If you need help with complexes or strength training in general. reach out, I’m here to help.

complex 5 rounds /5 reps/5 exercises

  • front rack squat

  • alternating shoulder press

  • alternating bent over row

  • single leg RDL with kickstand

  • deficit push ups

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