30 oxygenmag.com
The simple truth about
complex workouts
move BURN
If you want to
burn fat in a time-
effi cient 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 fl at, shins per-
pendicular. (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 vertical line as you
come to standing. Reverse
steps to return to start.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 exer-
cises are fi nished.
Complexes are essentially a
form of metabolic condition-
ing, which incinerates mega-fat
while maintaining lean mass.
According to one study pub-
lished in the Journal of the
American College of Nutrition,
participants who exercised
three days a week using tech-
niques similar to a complex lost
more fat than participants who
only did four hours of aerobics
per week. Furthermore, the lift-
ers retained all their lean mass
and were shown to signifi cantly
increase their metabolism —
while the aerobic-only group
decreased theirs.
Take this barbell complex
out for a test-drive, either as a
fi nisher 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.