Javorek's Barbell Complexes?

[Sassy69]

Anyone ever hear of these or have any experience w/ them?

http://staff.jccc.net/ijavorek/bookdb.html



These were suggested on another board in response to my queries re: circuit training w/ more aerobic spin.

 

[al420]

It reads to me a lot like "The Bear" or at least simaler.

I do The Bear like this:

Deadlift to Clean to Push Press to Front Squat to BTN Push Press to Back Squat to Push Press. I do them in sets of 6 on Cardio days. 95lbs is about all I can hanlde - it is pretty tough. I guess if it will be considered your weight training as well you could tinker w/ weights or rep/sets.

Man I will feel special if the likes of you takes any advice from me, or much less do my suggested routine!

 

[Sassy69]

The Bear ... ROAR!

 

[al420]

I'm roaring right now - could be the Test........could be you!!!!!!!!

 

[Ilovetolift]

is this the flirting forums, sheesh

 

[fortunatesun]

I like complexes, tho my goals may be a bit different from yours. They're superior to 'cardio' for conditioning, esp. for me as I've built up a tolerance for biking, treadmill, etc. over the years. (I know, I should get a jump rope.)
Also, they're done with quickly- I don't have as much time sometimes as I would like. And great for fat burning too.
Though I 've seen the Javorek system, I've not actually used those specific combinations as he's outlined. The one's I do are very similar, although, due to a recent thread, I'm going to have to question the need for upright rows:
http://www.t-nation.com/portal_includes/articles/tips/06-105-tip.html
Cleans are a better alternative.
I'd have to agree with his various claims, tho I lump them under the catch-all heading of GPP. And they will induce hypertrophy. I used to find it silly the way my legs would bulge after a few minutes of repping with 100lbs. I like his ideas of cycling for different effects. Maybe if I'm ever happy with my conditioning I'll give these a try.

 

[petpre61]

I did them for conditioning this summer - wanted to do 5xDL/slDL/Rows/Power Cleans/Push Presses/Front Squats/Back Squats/Good mornings (there was an article on eliteftns.com or so - I cant remember the page's name anymore). I tried it with 135lbs and couldnt hold onto the bar anymore after one cycle and a half b/c my underarms were just killing me . Later on I did them with less exercises and longer breaks otherwise I wouldnt have been able to get through them

I think they are also referred to as mammoth-sets.

 

[petpre61]

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/mma2.htm

 

[Sassy69]

Thx for the feedback guys - I was actually wonderign about the upright rows as well - I've been doing those for yrs and I have stopped because I tend to get a wrist pinch with that particular grip. Was goign to ask about some other options for that particular exercise.

 

[Sassy69]

OK I've played one day w/ the Javorek complexes over the weekend.I kept the weights to the bar (45 lb) up to 55 lb (bar + 10 lb), these being the weakest lifts of each set of exercises.

I did:

Javorek Complex 1 - 3 sets = 3 x 30 reps (per set) = 90 reps

Javorek Complex 3 - 3 sets = 3 x 46 reps (per set) = 138 reps

Javorek Complex 5 - 2 sets = 2 x 64 reps (per set) = 128 reps

Total reps: 356

(OMG! LOL - these were for the most part NOT heavy, fairly fast but controlled reps and easy transition to the next exercise within the sequence... obviously aerobically focused - but since part of this was just figuring out the exercises, doing the sequences & finding my weight limits...

My question is if I'm doing this 3x/week w/ cardio & abs/little stuff on the off days, how many reps or sets should constitute one day's workout?

Details of workout:

6 min cardio
15 min dynamic warmup
10 min static stretch
Lift sequence: (ref: http://staff.jccc.net/ijavorek/bookdb.html)

- each "complex" is completed as a "mammoth set" - basically transition from each exercise to the next, no rest, the weight used for the whole set is the weight that is the lowest one of all that you can execute for all the exercises - basically your weakest weight is the one you stick w/ thru the sequence.

Javorek's Barbell Complex 1 (clean grip): 3 sets - w/ barbell (45 lb) x 2, 55 lb x 1
- BB upright row x 6
- BB High Pull Snatch x 6
- BB Behind the head squat push press x 6
- BB Behind the head Good Morning x 6
- BB Bent over row x 6

Javorek's BB complex 3: 3 sets - bar (45 lb) x 1, 55 lb x 2
- BB supinated curls x 6 --- here I opted for the EZ bar at 50 lb - straight bar curls give me nasty pinches in my wrists.
- BB Romanian DLs x 6 -- here I replaced the scheduled upright rows w/ RDLs -- upright rows I'm not a big fan of & they also tend to cause a nasty pinch in my left wrist. Unfortunately after getting my ham / glute / ilio psoas beat on during the massage session I was tight as f**k here
- BB high pull snatch from the hip x 6
- BB behind the head GM x 10
- BB behidn the head squat push press x 6

Javorek BB Complex 5: 55 lb x 2 --- replaced 3rd sequence w/ cardio - just friggen tired at this point....
- BB upright row x 6
- BB high pull snatch (med grip) x 4
- BB bent over row (med grip) x 4
- BB alternate leg step up on flat bench X 16
- BB good morning x 16
- BB upright row med grip x 6
- BB high pull snatch med grip x 4
- BB back squat jump x 8

 

[fortunatesun]

My question is if I'm doing this 3x/week w/ cardio & abs/little stuff on the off days, how many reps or sets should constitute one day's workout?

Compare the total volume of your prior workout to your new workout.
If,say, you did 4 set for chest @ 135x10 every week, then total volume equaled 5400 lbs.
With a 45 lb. bar, you would have to do 120 reps every week to equal your previous output.
In theory, you want the two numbers to be equivalent for the obvious reasons- if the new total is < the old total you're not working hard enough and if more than you may be overtraining.
Of course, this doesn't factor in the effects of changing both frequency and intensity. These values will differ depending on the individual so you're not totally off the hook, you have to provide you're own evaluation. But maintaining, or hopefully incrementally increasing volume is where you want to start out.

If you check out the exercise index at crossfit.com they've got many clips posted of individuals doing fast rep, multi-exercise workouts- the WOD videos. Watching them helped me get a handle on what I needed to be doing when I started this stuff. I felt suddenly much less awkward and they are a great motivator- I wasn't going to look like an out of shape idiot in front of a group that works out with pink dumbells Seriously, though, there's some really good stuff there.