The question, which exercise is the best, oftenly arouses. There are proponents of many exercises but generally the choice can be narrowed down to a few basic compound exercises: The clean, the snatch, the squat, the deadlift, the overhead press, either dip or bench press.

But nothing beats the power of a complex. A complex is a continuous compound consisting of a number of exercises that are done consecutively. By doing this, you can combine the advantages of a squat with the benefits of the overhead press by incorporating them both in the exercise complex. I was inspired to do this by my comrade Dominik, who has done a great blog post on his work with complexes. Once again, his source of inspiration is the legend Dan John.

The CrossFit crew also works with complexes and has created a workout of the day (WoD) for this purpose: The Bear.

But there are countless other options how to design a complex. For instance, I tried out a downward ladder complex (starting from 4 repetitions) of clean, push press and front squat with two 16 kg kettlebells

Compare my efforts to Dominik’s training partner Willi. He is doing this exercise with the barbell and from 5 repetitions down (beast ).

I can tell you that this workout brings you to your limits in an extremely short span of time. It is not only the exercise itself that is so exhausting, the grip challenge is even more of a battle. Especially with kettlebells, it’s hard to maintain a firm grip over an extended period of time. Keep in mind that your grip is pre-fatigued with every step down the ladder. I had to fight hard with the grip already at the 3 repetition ladder. Hard to imagine how the 5 repetition downward ladder must feel like – I look forward to trying it!

From what I have experienced, I can wholeheartedly recommend complexes for training. They train the body as one unit and every musle of the body has its share in successfully surviving the workout.

Train on and stay strong,
Simon