Combo lifts that rock!!!

As a high school athlete I hated lifting weights.  Actually, I hated everything except for squatting because for some reason I had a knack for putting up big numbers which I was never able to do with bench pressing.  However, a little over a year ago I learned a new and improved exercise that I wish I'd known back in the day.  It's called the Clean Complex and I learned it at the University of Arizona softball clinic.

The lift is actually four lifts in one starting with a shrug to a clean to a front squat to an overhead press.  When done properly you work the whole body and your heart will be racing!  For a guy who never liked lifting, I've come to love this particular lift because it hits all my weak areas as well as my strong ones.  The first thing you will need is a weight bar that you can lift over your head with minimal effort.  Once you get the lift pattern or sequence down you can progress to an Olympic bar and from there begin to add weight.

The first part of the lift is gripping with an overhead grip and standing, letting the bar hang across your thighs.  You will then bend at the knees slightly and then shrug the weight up chest high.  Let the weight drop in a controlled fall back to the starting point.  Bend your knees again and clean the weight, flipping your elbows underneath and allowing the bar to rest on your hands in a front squat position.  Bend into a shallow front squat and then explode up, pressing the weight overhead.  Now, allow the weight to come down and control it back to the starting position at your thighs.  That is one rep!  When starting up our off season program we will do a seven, five, three rep breakdown until we start adding weight and then we drop to a five, four, three.

If I only have time or strength for one lift this is the one I do.  It works every major muscle group and it kicks my tail!  Give it a shot with a no weight.  Use a broom handle if that's all you have until you get it down.  You should develop a good rhythm as I tell my girls:  Shrug it, flip it, squat it, throw it!  Do it again!  As always talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program and good luck!

Wanna see what it looks like?  Here's how I do it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJWsTaULgac