Not all exercise is created the same. With that being said there generally is a time and place for each and every type of exercise out there, granted that it’s not too ridiculous. For example though it gets a lot of hate there is a time and place for long distance steady state cardio. Whether that’s running miles, swimming laps, or whatever else. Though it certainly should be the main part of exercise routine it still has benefits that are often overlooked.
However for those that are squeezed for time and looking for the most efficient and effective way to work out we need to look at what is going to give us the biggest bang for our buck. We want to become athletic across the board. Not just develop strength, hypertrophy, power, endurance, flexibility, or any one thing while neglecting the others.
We need to look at modalities that cover all these things. That won’t make you strong but fat and out of breath walking up stairs or jacked but unable to lift your own bodyweight or conditioned by looking like you just got out of a prison camp. So what do we look at then? What covers all of these things and more?
Enter The Romanian
When it comes to weight lifting you can learn a lot from old soviet bloc countries. They had a way of working out and developing strength that was often very different from America’s, and they had much success. While many claim that is was simply steroids that gave the Soviets their success that’s not true. Plenty of athletes, including Americans, took/take plenty of drugs but never see those results. Regardless there is a lot to learn.
Anyways I was researching some old Soviet styles of weight lifting when I came across a man named Istvan Javorek. Javorek is an Olympic weightlifting coach who defected to the United States in 1982. With him he brought what are called the “Javorek Complexes” while nothing is new under the sun, these were very different than the way most Americans were training at the time.
Javorek designed complexes, series of exercises done back to back, in order to help break up the monotony of a workout while also making the participant an amazing athlete across the board. To develop strength, speed, power, flexibility, endurance, coordination, hypertrophy, and more. Dan John has also written about Javorek’s methods over a T-Nation. Check out the article here.
The Fastest Way To Less Fat, More Muscle, & More Drive
So we explained the basics that a complex is a set of exercises done back to back but what does that look like and how to program it? There are a couple different ways to go about this. First off if you’re an active athlete then you can do the complexes on days you don’t train. If you’re lifting weights regularly then you can do the complexes after your main lifts such as the overhead press, squat, and deadlift. Use as end of workout conditioning that’ll also build strength, muscle, and over athleticism.
Or if you’re just looking for conditioning then do the complexes daily or five times a week, but start slow because they’re going to make you very sore at the start. Let’s look at an example of a complex. This is Javorek’s “dumbbell complex 1” if you want to see the rest of his complexes check them out here.
Javorek’s “Dumbbell Complex 1”
- Dumbbell Upright Row x 6
- Dumbbell High Pull Snatch x 6
- Dumbell Squat Push Press x 6
- Dumbbell Bent Over Row x 6
- Dumbbell High Pull Snatch x 6
You do all the exercises back to back without resting. You can do 1-5 sets in a workout depending on what the goal is with the complex. You should gradually increase the number of repititions. Maybe get to 10-12 and then add 5-10 lbs and keep going from there. Or visit Javorek’s site and do one complex then a second and a third.
There’s plenty of variety here. Start lighter than you think you need too, because these things are tougher than they look and there’s nothing like them for conditioning an athlete. You’ll be looking forward to road work and sprints after this. But it’s extremely effective at making you a better athlete and a strong human being across the board.
Don’t Forget Diet
Of course don’t forget that when it comes to looking and performing at your best that diet plays a bigger role than exercise does. So make sure you’re eating the right things, otherwise all of this won’t do very much for you. Make sure you’re not only taking care of your macronutrient needs but your micro as well. Too many focus on macro at the expense of micro and end up malnourished because of it.
Make sure you’re getting in things like eggs, liver, quality dairy, and the like. Make sure that you’re covering your micronutrient needs as much as your macro. Do that and you’ll be well on your way to achieving the health, athletic, and wellness goals that you have for yourself. So try out the complexes and see how they work for you. They’ll be hard, but worth it in the end.
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-Charles Sledge
