Barbell Complexes

If you’ve been considering adding some conditioning to your strength program or are actively trying to lose body fat, barbell complexes will make a nice addition. I’ve talked about them before, but want to further the discussion.

What is a Barbell Complex
A barbell complex is one large superset of various exercises completed without stopping or setting the bar down. The number of exercises and reps can vary, but four to six exercises with five to ten repetitions each is standard. Running through all of the exercises once would constitute a set and is usually followed by a rest period. Multiple sets would be completed in a given session — typically at least three. When ability improves, more than one set can be completed before resting. For example, one round can consist of running through the exercises twice. Doing three rounds would result in six sets overall, but grouped in twos.

Endurance Capacity
Conditioning the energy systems occurs when lots of musculature is worked to the point of having a deficit in substrates. That deficit acts as the stress, and the body adapts so that can handle that same stress easier in the future. This capacity is best done with high intensity since it’s more effective than low intensity (read FIT for more on this topic). If you haven’t been doing any conditioning work, then barbell complexes will have a high intensity effect because the stress is relative to your current adaptation.

Good barbell complexes will hit up several large movements that move multiple joints through a full ROM and subsequently work lots of musculature. The more musculature working will establish that deficit of substrates to provide a good stress. Using movements like back squats, front squats, deadlifts, presses, jerks, and rows are ideal. By doing more sub-maximal reps, you can improve muscular endurance as well as overall endurance (the uptake and delivery of energy substrates).

Swollertrophy and Muscle Mass
It’s possible to maintain and even improve musculature by using barbell complexes (even when on a body fat loss program) because of the number of reps done at one time and the total number of reps done in a session. By doing eight to twelve reps of each exercise, the muscles will receive a hypertrophy rep range. Now compound that with the muscles receiving upwards of fifty additional sub-maximal reps in a hypertrophy range and you can see why muscle mass can improve (it’s like big rest-pause sets). Since good complexes use the big exercises (think squats, pulls, rows, and presses), they provide a systemic hit that is significantly more effective than circuit training done with isolation exercises. Finally, take into consideration that this is done after a strength training session and you can see how barbell complexes would be a good compliment for muscular growth.

Drawbacks?
The only drawbacks of regularly including complexes are recovery issues and skill development. If you add complexes to an already strenuous program, then it may be difficult to recover from. In this case, the strength program can be reduced to just the big lifts and can even reduce the rep scheme (shifting to triples instead of fives, for example). This way there would still be an intensity-focused stress with lower volume while the complex provides extra tonnage and work stimulus for growth. Complexes can even be treated as light assistance — throw rows and RDLs in instead of doing them during the strength session. The load during the complex won’t be as heavy, and strength won’t be actively developed, but strength will at the very least be maintained after altering the primary strength session.

Skill development won’t really occur with barbell complexes since the same lifts and exercises that are normally performed in a gym are repeated during the complex. It’s good to use different forms of training — whether it be with implements, body weight, or new sports that demand unique body awareness — to improve the body’s overall athleticism and capability. Just because performance is good in the gym doesn’t mean it will be on the field, dance floor, or shag pad, and utilizing other activities will develop these skills.

Lastly, barbell complexes will be more effective when you’re strong(er). If you can use 135 lbs (~60kg) during a complex, the muscles will receive more work than had you only been able to use 95 lbs (~43kg). Being stronger will yield more efficient conditioning, whether it be from an energy or muscle development perspective.

Here’s a video I recently made with Chris (who is incorporating barbell complexes and sled pulling into his program). It demonstrates an incredibly simple barbell complex and touches on some other topics like not sacrificing form for the sake of quickly completing the workouts.