A Posterior
Chain Barbell Complex For Challenging Your Strength, Endurance
and Cardio Capacity
If you're not familiar with
the term "barbell complex," it's pretty easy to
grasp...it's a series of barbell exercises done without
changing or removing your grip on the bar.
This is VERY good training,
especially for fat loss or when you're short on time - it
stimulates a tremendous amount of muscle mass (especially
this posterior chain complex I'm going to show you) and
really ramps up the metabolism.
It's not great for building
muscle, though, because you'll be limited in the weight
you use by the weakest exercise in the complex.
As far as the posterior chain
goes, if you're not familiar with that term, it's basically
a group name for all the muscles that run down the back
of your body...traps, lats, spinal erectors, glutes, hams,
calves.
So here's the exercise list
you're going to:
1. Hang Clean & Press
- hits shoulders and traps
2. Wide Grip Bent-Over Barbell - upper back (rhomboids,
teres major, middle traps)
3. Stiff Legged Deadlift - hamstrings, glutes, lower back
4. Conventional Deadlift - pretty much everything!
You're going to use the same
grip on every single exercise, starting with the hang clean
and press. I usually set my index fingers on the smooth
O rings on the Olympic bar. The rest of the exercises are
done with that grip - even the conventional deadlifts.
As you can see, you're going
from weakest to strongest lifts with this complex. It's
going to work the hell out of your grip, too.
The video shows the whole
run-through in sequence. Got some pics, of course, too.
#1 Hang Clean & Press
If you need instructions on
how to perform this exercise, click
here.
#2 Wide Grip Barbell Rows
Make sure you keep an arch
in your lower back and use tight form with this one. No
bobbing up and down to get the weight up. A good trick I
like to use is to think about forcing the chest DOWN as
you pull the barbell UP.
#3 Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
The wider grip on this one
(not quite a snatch grip) will give you a bit more range
and a bit more stretch on the hams. Be sure to keep that
arch in the lower back, too!
#4 Conventional Deadlift
All done!
This is one really hits the
whole body hard. As I mentioned above, great metabolism
booster while on a fat loss program or when short on time.
