complexes (specifically kettlebell complexes) are compound exercises to be performed successively and uninterruptedly. Compound exercises, as you may well know, call upon the coordinated action of multiple muscle groups to move multiple joints through a range of motion simultaneously. But to perform them successively and uninterruptedly means to string these exercises together and execute them without the luxury of rest. Complexes can be performed with almost any implement or no implement at all. The kettlebell, however, lends itself uniquely to complex training. The compact nature of the implement, along with its offset center of gravity, encourages one to flow seamlessly from movement to movement. As the saying goes, you can’t swing a barbell between your legs. Who Are Kettlebell Complexes For? I play Tae Kwon Do. I competed throughout college, and many times was bested by a more skillful competitor. What I’ve learned from this sport is that sometimes you you will lose becausesomeone is better than you and that’s OK.  It’s how you learn. But never should you lose because someone is better conditioned than you. That’s where kettlebell complex training comes in. My mentor, Brian Petty RKC, a lifelong fighter, once told me that kettlebell training is the closest thing you can get to fighting without throwing a punch. He explained to me that kettlebell complex training allows us to generate “high quality fatigue” and that the feeling of lactic acid flooding the system to the point of one feeling almost panicked, or poisoned even, is the reality of a physical confrontation. I agree on all points. To understand why this is important is to know that a fight is often won in the last round, and when there are two competitors of equal skill, the winner is the one with greater strength and staying power. I should also mention that when coupled with a workable diet, metabolic conditioning will melt fat like raw meat on a hot grill. This is how I keep under 8% body fatyear round. The great deal of stress and systemic fatigue generated from kettlebell complex training stokes the metabolic furnace, creates a large oxygen debt, and promises prolonged caloric after-burn. To understand this is to know why short and intense kettlebell complex training sessions are far more effective for melting fat than low-intensity aerobics ever were. Into The Lungs of Hell I believe kettlebell complexes are such handy fat-chopping devices that every fitness enthusiast should have at least five pegged to memory. Now I have more folders full of complexes than Romney has binders full of women, so if you’ll permit me, I’d like to offer a few up a few of my favorites. The Great Destroyer The Great Destroyer is like an extremely hot pepper. It’s both alluring and frightening. You want to taste it, but as soon as you do you regret it. Once you run your first set of The Great Destroyer, I think this will strike you as a pretty good analogy. The Great Destroyer Consists of thefollowing: Double Kettlebell Swing x 10 Reps Double Kettlebell Snatch x 10 Reps Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 10 Reps Double Kettlebell Clean and Press x 10 reps Push Ups x 10 Reps Bent Over Rows x 10 Reps Recommended Operating Weight: Pair of 16kg or 20kg kettlebells for most males Pair of 8kg or 12kg kettlebells for most females    The Hellion This single kettlebell complex is deceptively challenging. The fatigue, like a night prowler, creeps up and slams you unexpectedly. Check it out, The Hellion goes like this: Two Hand Swing One Arm Swing (Left Right) Single Arm Kettlebell Thruster (Left Right) Start with two reps of each movement. Then, after your first cycle through, perform four reps of each movement. Continue to ladder up by two reps every cycle until you are performing a total of ten reps of each movement. Descend the ladder in the same fashion. 😀� Recommended Operating Weight: One 16kg or 20kg kettlebell for most males One 12kg or 16kg kettlebell for most females  Sequential Dismay Imagine what it’d feel like to have a thousand cold knives slipped into your quads, twisted, and withdrawn. That’s Sequential Dismay. The sequence of this complex is based off the Fibonacci series in reverse, starting from eight, and combines double kettlebells cleans and front squats. In case you’re a little rusty on your logical sequences, Sequential Dismay looks like this: Double Kettlebell Clean x 8 reps Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 5 reps Double Kettlebell Clean x 5 reps Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 3 reps Double Kettlebell Clean x 3 reps Double kettlebell Front Squat x 2 reps Double Kettlebell Clean x 2 reps Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 1 rep Recommended Operating Weight: A pair of 20kg or 24kg kettlebells for most males A pair of 12kg or 16kg kettlebells for most females   Fresh Off the Yacht This type of complex should be made like biscuits: fresh every morning. Pick five single arm kettlebell exercises and perform five reps of each, back to back,with no rest. Once you’ve completed the series on one side, switch arms and repeat. Here is just one recipe idea to get you started: One Arm Swing x 5 Reps One Arm Clean x 5 Reps One Arm Snatch x 5 Reps One Arm Jerk x 5 Reps Reverse Lunge x 5 Reps Recommended Operating Weight: One 16kg or 20kg kettlebell for most males One 12kg or 16kg kettlebell for most females   The Man Maker I got this kettlebell “sandwich” idea from Jiu Jitsu champion Steve Maxwell, when he paired the double kettlebell clean with a push up on the handles. I’ve since taken his original recipe, added a few ingredients, and turned it into a party-sub. The sandwich reference indicates that there are two pieces of “bread” from which to load ingredients (exercises). For our purposes here, the bottom piece of bread is the double kettlebell snatch, and the top is the renegade row (a push-up on the handles of the bells paired with plank rows). Begin by performing one rep of the double kettlebell snatch and the renegaderow. Each cycle there after you will load one additional ingredient (one rep of one new exercise), and continue to cycle through, without rest, until you have constructed a 5-layer sandwich. I believe an illustration of this monstrosity is obligatory: Layer 1 – Double Snatch Renegade Row Layer 2 – Double Snatch Double Press Renegade Row Layer 3 – Double Snatch Double Press Front Squat Renegade Row Layer 4 – Double Snatch Double Press Front Squat Double Clean Renegade Row Layer 5 – Double Snatch Double Press Front Squat Double Clean Double Swing Renegade Row Perform only one rep of each exercise. No rest between layers. Recommended Operating Weight: A pair of 20kg kettlebells for most males A pair of 12kg kettlebells for most females   Concluding Thoughts Even at the risk of being overly repetitious, I’ll reiterate that these workouts are brandy to the sauce of ordinary conditioning routines. Just how too much booze ruins the sauce, these too can beoverdone. When applied judiciously, however, kettlebell complexes are marvelous, but the last thing I want to happen to anyone is to collapse in the midst of The Great Destroyer, with two bells overhead, like an overcooked soufflé. Please lift responsibly. –       Pat Flynn PS – If you have any questions on how to work kettlebell complexes into your training routine, please drop them in the comment section below.  About Pat Flynn Pat Flynn is a certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor, fitness philosopher, and 7th degree blackbelt in hanging out. Pat is the founder of where he talks mostly on how to chop fat and multiply muscle through kettlebell complex training. Glassman, Greg (June 2003). “Metabolic Conditioning”. CrossFit Journal (10).

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