Monday, June 7, 2010

The Barbell Complex: Its Uses and Benefits

The Barbell Complex: Its Uses and Benefits
As the title suggests what will be discussed in this article is the barbell complex this article will attempt to shed light on a what the purpose of this exercise is and one of its hidden benefits when it comes to training the new lifter or seasoned athlete. The first thing that needs to be done is to define what a complex is, a complex by definition is a series of movements done with a barbell or dumbbells to completion before resting. With this definition out of the way let’s look at some of the movements that are usually performed when doing a complex. The shoulder press, bent-over row, Romanian deadlift, deadlift, and squat. Before we get to the hidden jem of the complex let’s look at what the complex is known for. It is known for its fat-burning prowess and metabolic conditioning genius (not to mention its ability to make you want to throw up that Denver omelet you just made from your precision nutrition book), however the hidden jem within this movement is its ability to train the new lifter in all the basic lifts and teach proper form and technique. How does this occur one might ask well to keep t simple it happen due to the repetitive nature of the complex. The neuromuscular system learns how to get the trainee or athlete’s body into the proper positions through repetition. The complex forces the lifter to repeat these over and over again so when they actually start doing those movements outside of the complex they can ‘naturally’ get into those positions with very little instruction. Now I know this may sound heretical to all you purist out there who still teach these movements separately citing that “that’s how I learned” or “the separate approach worked for me,” well it’s time to modernize and try this out and watch your stress levels drop when training new clients and even seasoned athletes who may have forgotten some of these basics (yeah it does happen with all the certified bosu ball trainers out there now). The complex is a beast of an exercise with many benefits the new one being teaching new lifters how to do it.

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