Veggie:
"
Any way to combine complexes with ES? Or does that defeat the purpose of both? "
This is a great idea. I don't have experience with it. I think I am talking about this with one of my elite programs:
This is a rough draft. I have some better ideas now:
Fast Fifteen for Athletes
People often ask me that question that gets me all “Twilight Zoned:” if I could change anything about my career(s), what would I change? I hate the question as, first, I don’t believe in time travel and, two, if I did change something, everything I cherish might vanish.
But…if I could…I would have embraced fasting much sooner in my career. Listen: I wasn’t wrong about having my athletes focus on a good breakfast, snacks and lunch before training. Most of my career, we trained in the mid-afternoon. Generally, yes, it was school, but it was also prime-time for weather and this is the best time to throw.
So, fasting could have been done, but we have better tools now.
I think the 15-hour fast is just about perfect. The 15-minute transition workout from fasting to feasting is something that makes me think.
A lot.
For athletes, I think the answer is simple: the post-fast workout should be Olympic complexes. It doesn’t have to be long or hard, just get the reps in. Included in this is a full review of complexes, but for now let’s just look at the Fast-15 “transition” workout for most athletes.
Three rounds of eight reps each:
Complex C
Hang snatch
Overhead squat
Back squat
Good mornings
Row
Deadlift
Do them like this:
Hang snatch x 8
Overhead squat x 8
Back squat x 8
Good morning x 8
Row x 8
Deadlift x 8
Put the bar down. Rest. Repeat for two more rounds!
I offer you a total of six complexes (see below). Try these variations: Three rounds of three, Five rounds of three, three rounds of five, three rounds of eight. Every so often, do five rounds of eight (good luck).
After you put away the equipment, drink your protein shake. Later, perhaps after the first big meal, do your sport. If you are an Olympic lifter, try this training session.
Easy Strength Approach to O Lifting
If you follow my work, you know my Movement Matrix.
On the far right, you will find the two lifts in the SPORT of Olympic lifting. Winning in the O lifts requires that you have the highest total of those two lifts in your weight category. It’s a sport, but the lifts can also be done to train other athletes.
In “my world,” the O lifts are foundational movements for football and throwing and everything else, IF we have the time and the appropriate mobility, flexibility and fitness.
I get lots of requests for programming the O lifts, but the issue is always multi-faceted:
1. Do you have an Olympic bar and a place to drop weights?
2. Do you know the lifts?
3. What are your records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total?
4. Why are you asking me to help you online?
Each is key. With Question Four, I often discover that the person is broken, damaged and destroyed by trying to train like a drugged up full-time lifter who eats, sleeps and trains…and somebody makes those meals.
Often, I suggest an Easy Strength approach with appropriate poundage and per cents. Basically, I think, and this is nothing new, that the casual trainer can make GREAT progress focusing simply on the O lifts and ONE conditioning tool. The weight is usually in the 70-80% range and we only go HEAVY on the platform at a meet with three officials.
And, yes, I wish I would have done this myself!!!!
Basically, the ES O Lift is simply a five-day a week training program that involves three weeks of:
Snatch
Clean and Jerk
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls (and vary it as you wish)
Then, a single week of:
Power Snatch
Power Clean
Front Squats
That’s it.
With the Olympic lift training, for a non-national or non-world class lifter, is going to be a study in “picking options.” (I use “managing compromises” to explain how you prepare for things like rugby, American football and war. Nothing is perfect…you compromise. For most sports, we “pick options.” There are many ways to get to the top…pick one!)
I feel that the performance of the Olympic lifts is oddly the SMARTEST training in sports (we can include the power lifts, too, here):
Your sport blends the technical training with the strength (mobility and flexibility) training at the same time.
Adding the Loaded Carries (Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls) and the Front Squats are for conditioning/work capacity purposes. Yes, if necessary, drop those! (I wouldn’t recommend it)
Quickly, the “rules:”
1. NEVER miss an attempt in training. If you do, you really missed the point of this whole program.
2. Strive to use the “Heels Only” technique (see the Get Up! archives for details)
3. Always finish fresh…and enthusiastic
Repeat this for three weeks.
Day One (Five days a week training)
Snatch: 5 sets of 2 with a single weight
Clean and Jerk: 5 sets of singles with a single weight
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls
Day Two
Snatch: 3 sets of 3 with a heavier load than Day One (it can be one kilo)
Clean and Jerk: 3 singles with a heavier load than Day One
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls
Day Three
Snatch: 2 sets of 5 with a lighter load
Clean and Jerk: 5 singles with a lighter load
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls
Day Four
Snatch: 5 sets of 2 with a single weight
Clean and Jerk: 5 sets of singles with a single weight
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls
The secret to the program. Try to go a little heavier than Day One but try to see if it “feels” the same.
Day Five
Snatch: A set of five, add weight, a set of three, add weight: double
Clean and Jerk: Three singles adding weight each time.
Farmer Walks or Prowlers or Sled Pulls
Measure progress by the Day One and Day Four loads. These should nudge upwards monthly.
Week Three, Day Five: strive for heavier and heavier attempts each month.
Week Four
Day One
Power Snatch: 3 sets of 3
Power Clean: 3 sets of 3
Front Squat: 3 sets of 3
Day Two
Power Snatch: 2 sets of 5 (fast and snappy…find a good load)
Power Clean: 2 sets of 5 (fast and snappy…find a good load)
Front Squat: 2 sets of 5 (fast and snappy…find a good load)
Day Three
Go HEAVIER than Day One
Power Snatch: 3 sets of 3
Power Clean: 3 sets of 3
Front Squat: 3 sets of 3
Day Four
Repeat load from Day Two (go heavier NEXT month)
Power Snatch: 2 sets of 5
Power Clean: 2 sets of 5
Front Squat: 2 sets of 5
Day Five
Go HEAVIER than Day Three (if reasonable)
Power Snatch: 3 sets of 3
Power Clean: 3 sets of 3
Front Squat: 3 sets of 3
If you read my work, you know I don’t trust per cents, but an experienced lifter would think about 65-70% (or less) on the first round of doing this. Oddly, you might feel so good that you jump up really heavy and…
Miss the point of the program!
The volume is deceptive. My math skills are always suspect, but it appears that we are doing 18 quality sets of snatches a week (Weeks one through three) and 21 sets (basically singles) in the Clean and Jerk.
My coach, Dave Turner, got me to understand too late in my career that the Clean AND Jerk takes a really high toll on the body.
Singles are fine.
Can you do more? Well, try this first. My goal for you is to have a full month of “makes” and grease the positions and patterns. After the second full month, “invent” a meet and go heavy and see how you feel AND see how you do.
You are going to argue it’s “too easy.”
Until you do it.
An Explanation of Complexes
My definition of a complex is simple. A complex is a series of lifts back to back where you finish the reps of one lift before moving on to the next lift. The barbell only leaves your hand or touches the floor after all of the lifts are completed. Although you can do them with dumbbells or kettlebells, I argue that we only use barbells. Certainly, there's great value in the other tools, but for getting athletes bigger, I like to use the heavier bar.
The key to organizing a complex is to make sure that the bar passes over your head in some kind of logical manner. In other words, if you do rows first, followed by back squats, how did the bar get there? I try to have the bar pass backwards over the head after a few lifts, but only pass forward again one time.
So, when you try these (it's probably best to use a broomstick first), note that it'll save you some effort if you think about the exercise transitions before you get too heavy.
For example, if you have a military press before a back squat, on the last military press rep, lower the weight to the back.
Take a minute to think them through before going for a max on these complexes.
Your rest periods should be longer than what you originally think. Like most of my workouts, these appear easy on paper.
The most difficult thing to consider is the rep range. For a fat burning hit and a massive conditioning bang, try doing sets of eight.
Complex A for Eights
Row x 8
Clean x 8
Front squat x 8
Military press x 8
Back squat x 8
Good mornings x 8
Gently place the bar on the ground and rest!
I like sets of three for adding mass to my young athletes. The more time under the bar, the more the body adapts by getting bigger. Moreover, it seems to also be most helpful on the playing field. When you watch a Sophomore boy handle Complex A with 155 for three complexes of three reps each, you have to realize that this is a very strong human being, even if he's just 15.
You can play with any rep variations you like, but I've found that eights, fives and threes are the best. If you do five sets of eight, you probably won't be doing much more in this workout. Three sets of three make an excellent pre-lift warm-up or, with heavier weights, can be used as a strength and mass building workout.
The sets seem to be almost geometric in the impact on the body. Err on the side of caution for the first few workouts before attempting more than three sets of complexes.
One other thing I like to do is to print out each complex in size 68 Arial font so that I can see the whole series on the ground in front of me. Place the sheet about three feet in front of the barbell and simply keep your mind on the exercise at hand. Use the sheet to remind you to move to the next exercise. With my large groups, I have the sheets all in plastic protectors, and we save them for weeks at a time.
The Select Six
Now it's time I offer you my six favorite complexes. Note that each has six lifts and many of the exercises will be fairly familiar to all of you. If you don't know how to do a lift, don't do it.
Complex A
Row
Clean
Front squat
Military press
Back squat
Good mornings
Complex B
Deadlift
Clean-grip high pull
Clean-grip snatch
Back squat
Good mornings
Row
Complex C
Hang snatch
Overhead squat
Back squat
Good mornings
Row
Deadlift
Complex D
Upright row
Clean-grip snatch
Back squat
Behind the neck press
Good mornings
Row
Complex E
Power clean
Military press
Back squat
Good mornings
Behind the neck press
Front squat
Complex F
Overhead squat
Back squat
Good morning
Front squat
Rows
Deadlift
Complexes: Keep it Simple
Daniel John
Just handing down what I was handed down...
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