039 : 016 Complexus VI
Session 6
‘Just then bar’
Breathing ramp up
Warm-up
Then...
Perform any heavy lift(s) that are relevant for your training Then...
Using just an empty olympic barbell perform: 10 minute AMRAP of:
3 front raises
6 reverse grip curls
9 high pulls
12 overhead press (strict or push press) 15 long arc barbell row
*Each time you have to drop bar perform 20 push-ups
Then...
10 minute AMRAP of:
3 alternating forward lunges (on each leg) 6 alternating reverse lunges (on each leg) 9 good mornings
12 heels elevated/ Hindu style squats
15 front squats
18 alternating single leg RDL (total)
*Each time you have to drop bar perform 20 explosive split squat jumps
Immediately into...
Walking or seated down regulation Until you reach a comfortable nasal: 4-6-8-0 breathing cadence.
The Ramp Up
3 rounds of-
5 x Triangle breathing 7:7:7:0 20 x Power breathing 1:0:1:0 1 x Full inhale
1 x Max hold
1 x Full exhale
1 x Max hold
Depending on what heavy lift you’re going to open with, it may pay dividends to focus your attention around the filling and subsequent stabilisation of your trunk during the triangle breathing
inhales. Notice which muscle facilitate the maximum intake of air, and how you can consciously manipulate that. In previous weeks we’ve discussed adding constrains such as performing the ramp-up laying down with a weight atop your torso, to help add some resistance and a bit of a ‘tactile’ cue to your breathing, but also consider simply holding your sides, just below your ribs, and giving a small squeeze to ‘push against’ as you inhale. Notice how these secondary breathing muscles can aid in generating pressure and stability in your abdomen; take this awareness into your big lift.
Inhale, focus on filling from the bottom up; use your nose and breathe deep into the bottom of your trunk and lower back, before working your way up into your chest and then your upper back. Your rib cage should expand in all directions. For power breathing execute a quick but full and powerful inhale through your nose, then simply open your mouth wide and ‘dump’ the air out on the exhale. Get into a quick rhythm. After 20 reps perform 1 final full inhale through the nose, filling your trunk, and then hold. Pay attention to air hunger cues— little tremors, swallowing, fidgeting. Before they get too strong, perform a long exhale under control through your nose, completely emptying the tank, then hold until you feel strong air hunger. Return to triangle breathing and repeat for 3 rounds.
The Heavy Lift
Not much to say here other than the rest of the session if going to be ‘light’, full body and focus primarily on strength-endurance, so if you have a relevant heavy lift to open with, whatever it may be, this is a good time to get it in, using the rest of the session as quasi-condition/ accessory work. Avoid doing anything above 6-8 reps though. You’re going to need those muscle fibres for what’s coming.
The AMRAPs
Again, I’m going to keep this uncustomarily brief for me. We’ve spent the last few weeks focussing on complexes at the heavier end of the spectrum. One of the major goals of this phase is to kit you out with some new tools that will hopefully sharpen your skills for implementing complexes to write effective, practical workouts (that actually make sense), when equipment is limited. This week we’re going to look at how we can generate a useful stimulus, even when we’re limited to literally just a bar.
The key here is in the ascending rep scheme and exercise order that is aimed at fatiguing and pre-exhautsting smaller, assisting muscles, before moving onto more compound movements that would otherwise receive very little stimulus from such a light weight.
Control the tempo for each movement, especially the eccentrics. Junk movement here— especially losing tension on the eccentrics— will completely rob you of the intended stimulus.
Once the ten minute countdown starts, your goal is to accumulate as many rounds as possible without dropping the bar. If you do drop the bar, stop and perform either push-ups or split squat jumps before jumping immediately back onto the bar.
Simple. Not easy.
Some notes on the movements: for the overhead presses, despite what I said about junk reps and tension, don’t hesitate to drop to push presses if you need to, but do be sure you’re still controlling the eccentric portion of each rep and only using as much body-english as necessary to get the bar up. For the rows, get your torso as perpendicular to the ground as possible and allow the barbell to drift right out in front of your shoulders, row the bar up in elongated, pendulum-like arc, from far in front of your body, up into your hips. Try to flex your lats throughout. For the heels elevated/ Hindu squats, do not stand on plates or blocks, but literally lift your own heels from the ground/ balance on the balls of your feet as you squat. Keep your feet relatively close together, toes turned out. For the singe leg RDL’s, alternate legs on each rep, but take each rep very, very slowly, aiming for a huge stretch in your hamstring on each rep.
This should be a fun little experiment into the type of burn and pump you can elicit from a very, very light load, if you’re in a pinch.
Recovery/ Down Regulation
Come into laying or seated position with your hips raised above your knees if you can. If not, simply move slowly and deliberately as you transition into whatever’s next in your day. Wrap your full attention around your breath, observe where it’s at and begin to slowly nudge it downwards with a gentle but deliberate inhale, creating a little bit of space at the top of the breath, before slowly letting it back out under full control. Aim to work towards a breathing cadence of 4-6-8-0 and spend as long here as you can spare.
