040 : 003 Complexus VIII

Session 8

‘Up, over and round’ Breathing ramp up Warm-up
Then...

Work to the heaviest weight possible for the following landmine complex:

5 x Meadows row
5 x Ipsolateral reverse lunge 5 x Two handed press
5 x Ipsolateral reverse lunge 5 x Meadows row

Then...
@ 50% of finishing weight complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

1 x landmine complex as above 10cals row/ski/ride or burpees

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

Obviously, as ever, focussing on your inhales and the subsequent intra-abdominal pressure is a good place practice proper bracing techniques for the heavy lifts ahead. This is even more pertinent when dealing with offset/unbalanced loads that require a degree of three-dimensional bracing. Fill that trunk.

Inhale, focus on filling from the bottom up; use your nose an 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 Complex

Set up your barbell in a landmine attachment or jam it into a corner. Perform five meadows rows, taking a b-stance/ split stance and squeezing the opposite fist to create tension, take the barbell

from slightly in front of your shoulders to create a stretch in your lats and row it up in a long arc towards your pocket. Before the weight gets too heavy, attempt a slight pause at the hip before lowering the bar back down, under control. Once we’re getting heavy— obviously we want to continue using a full ROM and sharp form— but we can (and should need to) get much more aggressive with the movement. This applies to all movements.

After your fifth row, clean the loaded end of the bar up onto your shoulders, but immediately turn back into the same 45 degree angle from the bar that you were in for your rows. Secure the bar with both hands on your shoulder. Shuffle/ step away from the bar slightly, so that you’re leaning into it, almost creating an ‘A-frame’ with your body and the bar. From here, perform five reverse lunges, keeping the foot closest to the bar planted, and stepping back with the opposite leg. Follow the natural arc of the bar.

After your fifth rep stand tall and turn to face the bar, holding it with both hands in the centre of your chest. Continue making the strong A-frame structure with your body and the bar. Press the bar up and forwards using both hands. Use a strict press for as long as you can, but once the weight creeps up switch to a push press or even jerk. The press should not become the limiting factor; the overhead press is the ‘hardest’ lift in terms of the weight you should be able to move on the complex, that’s why we switch from unilateral to both hands here— to even out the odds. Perform five presses to full, controlled lockout.

After your presses, turn away from the bar at a 45 degree angle, but this time in the opposite direction. Perform lunges on the opposite leg, before lowering the bar to the ground and performing rows with the opposite arm.

Begin with your weaker side and essentially work from the floor; up, over and back down, five reps at a time.

Add weight each round until you can no longer perform a full complex. Get aggressive with this. The landmine allows you to move almost freely through space, just like dumbbells, but it does enable you a slight bit of support that you can lean into and use to help you to create a lot of aggressive leverage on the weight. So, lean into it.

As ever, try to sync up your breaths with your reps— find the least compromised position to take a full inhale— creating tension and stability in your trunk— and explosively exhale, driving the weight.

The Complex Conditioning

Rest as necessary before halving the weight on the bar (or as close as possible using the easiest plate integers). Set a countdown timer for 12 minutes and perform as many rounds of the ‘up and over’ complex as possible, with impeccable form and good intentions. This time tag on an additional 10 calories (or burpees) to the end of every round. This is designed to create an additional stress (which will compound) and break your rhythm and focus. Your task it to immediately get back on the bar after those calories and sync back up with your breath/rep rhythm. If you keep a tight set of reins on the breath from the very beginning, including the conditioning section, this should be more than manageable. If, however, you lose focus and let it get away from you, you’re going to have to try and catch it again.

Use yours inhales and exhales as your paceman. Not a single breath unaccounted for.

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.