040 : 023 Complexus XI
Session 11
‘Heavy Hypertrophy’
Breathing ramp up
Warm-up
Then...
Work to the heaviest weight possible of following complex:
2 x strict press
4 x push press (with controlled eccentrics) 6 x pendlay row
8 x high bent over row
*eliminate movements from complex the round after you fail to hit prescribed reps Then...
@ 40-50% of finishing weight complete one round E2MOM until failure 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
Each complex here contains 20 reps. That’s a long time to be under a barbell, especially a heavy one. Your ability to take breaths that simultaneously achieve the goals of adequately bracing your trunk, quenching oxygen hunger and expelling carbon dioxide will help you stay under the bar for longer. The good news is none of these goals are mutually exclusive, one skilful breath across each rep will achieve all three in one hit. Pay attention and practice this ability here.
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
This complex combines low rep, ‘strict’ movements that create a great deal of mechanical tension, with explosive movements (and controlled eccentrics) that give you advantageous leverage— reps rising reciprocally— allowing for more time under tension whilst creating metabolic stress. That’s a long winded way of saying ‘this complex starts hard and stays hard’.
As in previous weeks, be conscious of the weight jumps you make, ideally you want at least 3-4 sets where you can still incorporate the strict press, followed by another 3-4 before you have to eliminate the push press. As I’ve said before, this format isn’t a race to the heaviest row you can achieve, it’s a challenge to see how long you can skilfully tow those other movements along with, before you reach that destination. Once you eliminate the push press, perform 25 push-ups after each complex attempt, to keep some ‘push’ volume in the mix (or 15 dips, or 10 lateral raises— pick your own poison).
Keep the strict presses strict, squeeze your glutes and lock your rib cage down. Control the weight both ways. Eliminate the strict presses after the first time you have to give a little push to get that second rep.
Control the eccentrics on your push press. You don’t have to keep a super prescriptive tempo, but you want to keep the tension on your upper body, so maintain control. Even 1-2 seconds is better than simply bombing the bar onto your shoulders.
Take each pendlay row from the floor, aim for minimal movement from the torso, a strong squeeze into your hips and then fight the bar all of the way back down to the ground, don’t just drop it. Get tight and pack your lats before each pull, and think about pulling in a short arc, from below your shoulders up and in to your hips. Follow the same arc back down, squeeze those lats to slow the descent.
After your final pendlay stand tall with the bar, then slow hinge again, lower until the bar is just below your knees, your torso at around a 45 degree, no longer parallel to the ground (as it should have been for the pendlays...) From this more advantageous position you should be able to continue rowing. The ROM is much shorter, so focus on keeping your lats switched on throughout, bringing all of the muscles of your mid and upper back into play now. Tension, tension, tension throughout for these final 8 reps. Put your attention firmly on your posterior and light it up.
This portion of the workout ends at the heaviest 8 quality rows you can muster.
Complex Conditioning
Rest as necessary after your final heavy complex and strip the bar down to 40-50% of your finishing weight. As I’ve said before— don’t short change yourself by going too light here, if you know that you’re usually very good at repping out close to your 1rm, go heavier. It’s vital that you think about your loading here, if you don’t make it past 2-3 sets, you went too heavy. If you find yourself walking back up to the bar for your next set, 20 minutes in— you went too light. Consider starting heavier than you think you should, knowing that you can always lower the weight if you think you’re going to gas out to quickly. The intended stimulus here will happen with the accruing of 5-7 sets, so keep that in mind.
Start a running clock and at the top of every second minute perform a complete round of the complex. Rest for the remainder of the two minute window, rinse and repeat.
Pay attention to your breath and body in the balance of each two minute window. Consciously recover, don’t just wait. The work will reflect the rest. Performance reflects recovery.
This workout ends when you can no longer perform an unbroken complex, not when you no longer think you’ll get the next round. Stay with it, one rep at a time, don’t dwell on whether or not you’ll get the next round, or even the next rep; simply do everything you can to execute the rep you’re doing right now.
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.
