The excitement seems to be waning a little already, but at least momentarily, weightlifting complexes were the coolest thing on the internet. People had a cure for everything involving a lifting complex, and many blurred the line considerably between weightlifting and conditioning. Many articles included something about “getting shredded” in the titles, which to me is a sure sign that they’re arbitrary combinations of exercises meant to just get you out of breath.

When you use a complex, make sure you have a reason to, and that it’s a good one (i.e., not “complexes are cool”). It should serve a clear purpose and be the most effective and appropriate way to achieve that purpose for that lifter at that time. Sometimes a legitimate purpose is nothing more than variety to stave off mental staleness—but this is a short-term plan, and this isn’t a reason to suddenly abandon all manner of training in favor of complexes only.

I use complexes occasionally in my lifters’ programs when they serve a goal. This is usually a technique-related goal, which is why most of the complexes you’ll see me use combine one exercise with either a snatch, clean or jerk afterward—they’re allowing the lifter to practice something specific immediately prior to the lift in which I need them to correct that specific technical element.

The other reason I’ll use them is strength-related (including mental strength). They may do a partial lift before a full classic lift to introduce a little fatigue before the classic lift and force them to fight harder for it.

Following are just a few complexes I use fairly regularly. The rep notation will be the first exercise + the second exercise. Numbers inside parenthesis are one series that gets repeated as many times as the number outside the parenthesis. For example:

Halting Snatch Deadlift + Snatch – 1+1 means one halting deadlift followed by one snatch.

Halting Snatch Deadlift + Snatch – 2(1+1) means one halting deadlift followed by one snatch, then one halting deadlift followed by one snatch for a total of four consecutive reps.

Halting Snatch/Clean Deadlift + Snatch/Clean

This is usually used to reinforce the posture and patience of the snatch or clean pull—that is, to help the lifter stay over the bar longer before initiating the second pull. In the snatch, I’ll usually put the pause of the halting deadlift at the hip, and the upper thigh for the clean, and have them hold that position for three seconds. However, I also have them hold at a different position, such as the knee. I would use the knee in the case of a lifter who has a lot of trouble moving his/her weight back in the pull off the floor. This complex would allow them to focus on that initial lift from the ground that involves shifting back as well as moving up. If these complexes are done without straps in the snatch, they’re also excellent grip training. The more technique work the lifter needs, the lighter the weights will need to be. You can take this complex very heavy, but don’t exceed the weight at which the lifter is no longer able to maintain the proper posture, including a full back arch, and the full pause count, or you’re defeating the purpose.

Snatch High Pull + Hang Snatch

This is a complex I use to train and reinforce the proper high-elbow, forceful pull under the bar that’s needed for good snatches. The snatch high-pull allows the lifter to focus on both accelerating the bar upward maximally with the legs and hips, and then also the action of pulling the elbows high and to the sides, strengthening that movement at the same time. They then snatch from the hang (usually just above the knee) to perform that same arm action in the turnover. Doing the snatch from the hang instead of the floor means they will have to be aggressive in the pull under because of the limited time and space to get the bar moving upward, forcing the strong, high-elbow pull they’re working on. It’s also a good complex to help the lifter work on keeping the bar close in the turnover.

Clean + Front Squat

This is just a great strength complex, forcing the athlete to make a strong, accurate clean to have enough left over in the tank to make the front squat. The more technically sound the clean, the more energy the athlete will have for the squat. But even the best clean will make the following squat tough, so in any case, the lifter is forced to gut it out.

Snatch/Clean Pull + Snatch/Clean

This complex is great off the blocks as well. Performing a pull before the associated lift does a few things I like: It’s an opportunity for the lifter to practice the proper movement from the floor to the point of explosion; it fatigues the lifter before the classic lift, forcing more focus and effort and making the body recruit more motor units; post-activation potentiation means the lifter should be capable of recruiting more motor units in the classic lift after the pull, and it helps lifters focus on a strong, upward leg drive at the top of the lift.

Snatch + Overhead Squat

This is a pretty obvious one—a lifter who is weak in the overhead position can easily get in more overhead/bottom position strength and mobility work by simply adding one or more overhead squats after his/her snatches.

Power Snatch/Clean + Snatch/Clean

I more often use the clean version than the snatch version. A power clean before the clean can be helpful in getting the lifter to be more aggressive in the finish and quicker in the turnover. The idea is to turn over and rack the clean at about the same height they did the power clean. Lifters who drop out from under their cleans and let the bar crash on their shoulders, or who cut their pulls short to rush under the bar in the clean, are the perfect candidates for this one.

Front Squat + Jerk

This is good for getting the legs a bit tired before the jerk to force the lifter to be more aggressive and follow through better, but also to simulate a jerk after a clean without having to do a clean first, which you may want to avoid for various reasons. Lifters who struggle to jerk from the rack (i.e. they tend to jerk better after a clean than when they take the bar from the rack) will often jerk better after a front squat because it helps them adjust into the jerk rack position better than they can straight from the rack.

Jerk Behind the Neck + Jerk

Lifters who tend to leave the bar a bit forward overhead in the jerk because they’re not locking the shoulder blades into place well may find this helpful. Starting behind the neck allows them to set the shoulder blades tightly together where they should end up overhead, and the bar can move straight up into position instead of having to move back slightly. They can then aim to put the bar in the same place and get the same feeling of locking the position when they do the subsequent jerk from the front.

Pause Jerk + Jerk

Pause jerks are tough, and I think they can be effective in both helping improve the upward drive of the jerk and the balance in the dip and drive, but used alone, I’ve found they can interfere with a lifter’s dip and drive rhythm. Because of this, I prefer to always have the lifter do a normal jerk after a pause jerk to maintain that rhythm. In the pause jerk, dip at a controlled speed and hold the bottom of the dip position for 3 seconds, then drive directly into the jerk from that bottom position (don’t bounce or dip down at all before driving). Reset after recovering from that rep, and perform a normal jerk with no pause.

Push Press + Jerk

This is a good complex to use for a lifter who tends to drift forward in the dip or drive of the jerk, or who fails to finish the upward drive before splitting under. The goal is to drive the jerk exactly the way they drove the push press—all the way up, straight up—and then split the feet.