Oxygen Australia — January-February 2018

24 Jan/Feb 2018 oxygenmag.com.au

The simple truth about

complex workouts

If you want to

burn fat in a time-

efficient manner

but don’t want to

lose your hard-

earned muscle, a

complex could

be key.

DEADLIFT

Stand with your toes

underneath the bar.

Push your hips back,

then bend your knees

until you can grip

the bar outside your

legs, back flat, shins

perpendicular. (Note:

Your hips should be

higher than your

knees!) Extend your

knees and hips at the

same rate and pull

the bar up in a verti-

cal line as you come

to standing. Reverse

steps to return to start.

S

ometimes the

simplest way to burn

fat is complex, and

no, we don’t mean

“complicated.” A complex is a

series of exercises performed

seamlessly one after the other,

using the same equipment and

same weight for all the moves.

All reps of one move must be

completed before moving to

the next, and you can only put

the equipment down when all

exercises are finished.

Complexes are essentially

a form of metabolic condi-

tioning, which incinerates

mega-fat while maintaining

lean mass. According to one

study published in the Journal

of the American College of

Nutrition, participants who

exercised three days a week

using techniques similar

to a complex lost more fat

than participants who only

did four hours of aerobics

per week. Furthermore, the

lifters retained all their lean

mass and were shown to

significantly increase their

metabolism — while the aer-

obic-only group decreased

theirs.

Take this barbell complex

out for a test-drive, either as a

finisher for a strength session

or as a stand-alone condition-

ing workout. Since the idea is

to boost your metabolism and

ignite the fat burn, don’t use a

crushing weight — just play to

your weakest lift. For instance,

if you can squat a Smart Car

but can’t do an overhead press

with a naked barbell, then use

a naked bar for all the lifts.

When in doubt, err on the

lighter side; you can always

increase your weight next

workout.

Move

Photos by

Cory Sorensen /

Model:

Nikki Herrera /

Hair & Makeup:

Kristin Turner /

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