Complex Commentary (Part 1)
February 24, 2010
by Carter Schoffer
Back in June 2007, Alwyn Cosgrove penned a great piece for T-mag, aka T-nation aka T-muscle (forgive, me, I don’t recall which hat they were sporting at the time), championing the merits of Complexes for Fat Loss. Although not the first, fifth or five hundredth coach to support the approach, in typical Cosgrovian fashion, he did a smashing job of succinctly detailing when, why and how to implement these belly-devouring beasts.
Specifically, he provided 4 main reasons why one would implement these fat-feasting forays. The first of which, and the one I’d like to draw attention to, being a limited amount of time, space and/or equipment. Read that again. The number one reason why it’s advantageous to load up and stick with a single bar or make use of a single select training implement is because of limited available resources. You do it because that’s all you have; out of necessity you make the most out of scarce resources and you manage to do a commendable job working with what you have, countering the condition imposed compromise by emphasizing volume by variety.
Pretty straightforward that.
However, for some reason, the trend du jour is to overlook the scarcity requirement and self-impose the single-implement condition even when entire gyms are available. It seems a bit silly to me – not unlike using a hammer to drive in a screw when you have a fully equipped tool box at your disposal. In fact, more than that it seems short-sighted and, quite often, the result is a short-changed training effect – irrespective of how hard you or your client may be panting.
Fact: hyperventilating is the bastard stepchild of the inbred married-in uncle of the training-effect family.
Why is this a big deal? Because, more often than not, it means that an intensity disparity is created, rendering otherwise useful movements as workout filler.
Take a look at this common complex, for example –
Deadlift x 6
Bent-over row x 6
Power clean from hang x 6
Front squat x 6
Push press x 6
These are arguably 5 of the top 10 – 15 exercises one can perform but because load is determined by the weakest movement(s), at least 2 of them – the deadlift and front squat – are demoted to gap fillers. Two of the finest, and arguably most effective, exercises of the bunch, relegated to mediocrity. Why? Because deadlifting or front squatting for 6 what you can clean or push press for 6, barely registers as warm-up weight. The drive to self-impose a single load and/or a single resistance training implement takes what would otherwise be 5 super effective exercises and creates a bland soup of compromised effort.
Now I can’t say for sure why this self-imposed handcuffing takes place. Maybe it’s because of that same innate condition that leaves us mesmerized by the late-night infomercial spots where Item X can do 30 things poorly for just $9.95. Maybe it’s that. Or maybe, in many cases, it’s because of the arbitrary mandate that the bar, dumbbell or whatever instrument of choice being used, should never be put down.
Why not? Are we playing a video game? Is the reset button hit as soon as the bar touches the ground? Is it some form of metabolic hacky-sack? Do you return to being in a lazy sedentary state as soon as the weight hits the ground?
Sorry I must’ve missed the memo.
Look, I appreciate the spirit for the rule: keep training density and focus high by limiting transition time. But to what extreme and at what cost? Is it more advantageous to achieve Über smoothness at the expense of properly calibrated efforts or might it be more beneficial to open up the training toolbox while maintaining as much flow as possible?
Never a fan of rules – a wee bit of a rebellious streak in me, I must confess – I vote for the latter. Feel liberated by putting the bloody bar down, spitting on it and grabbing the right tool for the next phase of the job instead of making do with compromise.
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Thus concludes part 1 of this 3 part examination. In the next installment we’ll take a look at the importance of exercise order and rep allocation in complexes – another area many trainees and trainers fail to get quite right.
