When performing a complex set selection of weight is very important. I would always start with a light bar first, much lighter for some of the exercises compared to if you were just doing them on their own in straight set fashion. Focus first on being able to complete all the exercises without stopping or putting the bar down, using perfect technique. If at the end of the complex set it feels comfy then look at increasing the load. Check out the complex set below.

Warm up

Complex set: (Perform 10-12 reps of the following exercises)

Straight legged deadlift

Bent over rows

High pulls

Clean and press

Squat

Alternating front lunge

Alternating side lunge

Alternating reverse lunge

At the end of the set perform the below abdominal circuit using a stability ball.

Plank with arms on ball: 30-60 second hold

Lower back ext over ball x12 reps

Jack-knife x12 reps (Press up position with shins on the ball, pull your knees into your body).

At the end of the abdominal circuit rest for 1-2 minutes and then repeat the complex set. Aim to complete 3-4 sets of the above workout.

1. : 

Below is the 8 exercise circuit that make up the challenge.

Jab, cross lead hook: Throw 10 reps of this combo onto a heavy bag.

Dumbbell bench press: 15 reps with 10kg dumbbells.

Shuttle runs: 10 times up and down the studio which is approximately 10 metres long.

Barbell clean and press: 10 reps with a 15kg barbell.

Elbow strikes onto a floor bag: Place your right knee on the bag and your left leg out to the side. Throw a right elbow strike and then switch positions bringing your left knee onto the bag and throwing a left elbow. Throw 20 strikes in total.

Barbell squats: 15 reps with a 15kg barbell.

Roundhouse kicks: Throw 10 rear leg roundhouse kicks with right and left leg onto a heavy bag.

Jab, cross sprawl: Perform a jab cross onto focus pads before dropping down into a sprawl. Complete 10 reps.

Tips:

Wear fingerless MMA gloves so you can perform your resistance exercises without having to take your gloves off in between.

Throw all your strikes with maximum power to get the most out of this workout.

Aims:

First target should be to complete each round in less than 4 minutes so that the entire challenge is done in less than 12 minutes.

Below are the 8 exercises used within this challenge.

BENCH PRESS

KETTLEBELL 2 HANDED SWING

CLEAN AND PRESS

BARBELL SQUAT

BOX JUMPS

MEDICINE BALL CRUNCH

BENCH HOPS

KETTLEBELL FIGURE OF 8

TIPS:

For this challenge women will be using a Bodypump type bar with 5kg per side, a 9kg kettlebell and a 3kg medicine ball. For the men it will be 10kg per side on the bar, 16kg kettlebell and a 4kg ball.

Barbell squats

Barbell lunges

Barbell upright rows

Barbell shoulder press

Body Rocka press ups

TRX Rows

TRX Single leg squats

TRX Front raise

Kettlebell swings

Kettlebell clean and press

Medicine ball Russian twists

Recline rows

Trciep dips

AIMS:

Try to complete between 3-5 rounds depending on time and fitness levels.

See if you can do it without performing the same exercise twice.

Try and avoid just picking exercises you find easy! Challenge yourself with your exercise selection and the amount of resistance you use.

Keep the rest between exercises to a minimum.

While performing an exercise get thinking of what you will do next. If you can’t think of anything, then keep going with that one until you can!

1. : 

Below is a sample chest workout that will help to build strength and size that uses the above exercise.

Barbell and stability ball press up: 3 sets of 12 reps

TRX Chest fly: 3 sets of 12 reps

Single arm kettlebell floor press: 3 sets of 10 reps per arm

Incline dumbbell fly: 3 sets of 12 reps

WORKOUTS:

Before doing each of the workouts make sure you spend 5-10 minutes warming up with some light cardio and stretching the muscles you are about to work. I would also perform a couple of light sets for each of the exercises that you do first on each training day. So for example on chest day perform 2 sets of 15-20 reps on the bench press using a comfortable weight.

DAY 1 CHEST AND BICEPS:

Barbell bench press: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps. (For each set increase the weight slightly so that by the final set you are struggling to complete the last couple of reps whilst maintaining technique).

Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps (Same principle as above)

Flat dumbbell flyes: 3 sets of 10 reps

Press ups: Perform 3 sets, working until fatigue per set.

Barbell bicep curls: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps. (Again increase the weights per set)

Seated dumbbell curls: 3 sets of 10 reps

Barbell 21’s: 3 sets

DAY 2 LEGS AND SHOULDERS:

Barbell squats: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps. (For each set increase the weight slightly so that by the final set you are struggling to complete the last couple of reps whilst maintaining technique).

Alternating dumbbell lunges: 3 sets of 20 reps (10 per leg)

Barbell stiff legged deadlifts: 3 sets of 10 reps

Standing or seated calf raise machine: 3 sets of 12 reps

Barbell clean and press: 4 sets of 15, 12, 10 and 8 reps (Use the first set as a warm up set using a light weight)

Barbell upright rows: 3 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell lateral raises: 3 sets of 12 reps

DAY 3 BACK AND TRICEPS:

Barbell bent over rows: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps (For each set increase the weight slightly so that by the final set you are struggling to complete the last couple of reps whilst maintaining technique).

Wide grip pull ups: Aim for 3 sets of 10. (If this is comfy then increase the intensity by using a weight belt for extra resistance. If you struggle with pull ups then look at an alternative such as a pull up assist machine or do recline rows)

Single arm dumbbell rows: 3 sets of 10 reps per arm

Lower back extensions: 3 sets of 12 reps (When this becomes comfy then increase resistance by holding a weight plate across your chest)

Narrow grip bench press: 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 (For each set increase the weight slightly so that by the final set you are struggling to complete the last couple of reps whilst maintaining technique).

Tricep press downs: 3 sets of 10 reps

Tricep dips: Perform 3 sets doing each set until fatigue. This exercise can be performed either off parallel bars or for an easier version off a bench.

Abdominal training:

 I would suggest you train your abdominals 1-2 per week at the end of your sessions. Pick 2-3 of the below exercises performing 3 sets of 12-20 reps of each.

Crunch

Hanging leg raises

Bicycle oblique twists

Stability ball crunch

Plank (hold for 30-60 seconds per set)

Reverse crunch

Medicine ball Russian twists

Cardio training:

I would suggest doing 1 cardio session a week of 30-40 minutes of steady rate training to help maintain fitness and keep the body fat low. If you have a high percentage of body fat, then look at increasing your cardio up to 2-3 times per week alongside your weights programme. If you can fit it in then do your cardio on a separate day but if not then do it after your weights session.

For all online members you can receive a more personalised training plan along with a mass building eating plan by simple e mailing me.

For each of the resistance exercises the aim is to start with a comfy weight and then increase the weight slightly on each set so that the last couple of reps become tough. If you can complete the target repetitions easily then look at increasing the weight on your next training session.  Between sets, rest for between 45-60 seconds.

Bench press (Vary between flat and incline bench presses) Reps 12, 10, 8, 6

Press up and plank superset: Aim to complete 12 reps on each set of press ups and hold the plank for 30 seconds. Have no rest in between the 2 exercises and then rest for 45-60 seconds and repeat for 3 sets. If the press ups become comfy then look at a harder version such as placing your feet on a low step. Aim to increase the plank up to a 60 second hold.

Lat pulldown: Reps 12, 10, 8, 6

Medicine ball crunch: 3 sets of 12 (Start on your back with your legs in the air and knees bent at 90 degrees. Crunch up lifting your shoulder blades off the floor and take the ball over the top of your knees.

Shoulder press (Vary between the shoulder press machine, barbell and seated dumbbell versions) Reps 12, 10, 8, 6

Medicine ball Russian twists: 3 sets of 12

Bicep curl and tricep dip superset: Pick a barbell that you can complete 10-12 reps of the bicep curl with. For your dips the aim is to complete 20 reps per set. Have no rest between the 2 exercises and then rest for 45-60 seconds and repeat for 3 sets.

Side plank: Aim to hold the position for 30 seconds per side and complete 3 sets.

Guidelines:

: You need to complete 5 challenges over the 4 week period. You can only complete a maximum of 2 challenges per week.

: Have at least 1 rest day after doing a challenge.

: Aim to train 2-3 times alongside your challenges doing your normal routine.

: You can complete the challenges in any order you wish.

: Make sure you warm up and cool down before and after each challenge.

: I have included guidelines for what weights you should be using on each of the strength exercises. These can be altered to suit individual fitness levels.

: If you redo this programme in 8-12 weeks time then not only try to improve on your total score but on each individual challenge as well.

Challenge 1: FANTASTIC 4

This challenge is done over 4 rounds and mixes together strength exercise alongside high intensity aerobic ones. The workout will hit all the major muscles of your chest, back and legs as well as giving you cardio benefits and is a great calorie burner. The challenge itself will take in the region of 30 minutes to complete so with a warm up, cool down and rest time in between rounds this means you should be finished within the hour. Since 60 minutes is the optimum time for most people to spend in the gym and the length of your average personal training session, it makes this challenge a perfect alternative to your normal workout. The aim of the challenge is simple; complete all 4 rounds in your quickest time. At the end of each round stop your clock and rest for up to 2 minutes and then start your next round and restart the stopwatch. Once you have finished the last round record your time and post it on here.

For each round you complete 5 sets before taking your 2 minute rest.

ROUND 1:

Barbell clean and press x10 reps

Burpees x10 reps

For the burpees there are 3 options to choose from depending on your fitness levels and how hard you want to push yourself.

1: Bend down and place your hands onto the floor then jump your legs back so your body forms a straight line. From this position jump your legs back in and stand back up.

2: This time as you stand up perform a vertical jump. As you land drop back down into your next rep.

3: The harder version includes a press up and a vertical jump.

ROUND 2:

Press up x20 reps

Squat jumps x10 reps

ROUND 3:

Barbell deadlift x10 reps

Double leg squat thrusts x20 reps

ROUND 4:

Barbell push press x10 reps

Double burpee x10 reps (For this exercise drop down and perform 2 double legged squat thrusts before standing up, this counts as 1 rep).

Weight guidelines:

I would suggest that men use an Olympic bar with between 5-10kg per side for cleans and push presses and between 10-20kg for deadlifts. For women use a barbell used in group classes such as Bodypump. For cleans use again between 5-7.5kg per side and 10-12.5kg per side for the deadlifts.

Scoring method:

Under 25 minutes: 20 points

Over 25 minutes-28 minutes: 15 points

Over 28 minutes-31 minutes: 10 points

Over 31 minutes-35 minutes: 5 points

Over 35 minutes: 2 points          

Challenge 2: 3 way play

This short but intense workout mixes 2 kettlebell exercises with 1 bodyweight one. The 3 exercises used are the snatch, squat to press and the walk over press up. You perform 10 reps of each exercise and complete 5 rounds in your fastest time.

Snatch: : Swing the Kettlebell between your legs as far as possible by bending at the hip and knees. Forcefully extend your hips and swing the weight forwards and upwards. When the weight gets to shoulder height then bend your elbow slightly so the Kettlebell pivots around your hand. As the kettlebell gets to around head height then drive the palm of your hand through the handle and straighten your arm so the weight is directly over your shoulder. Swing the weight back down and through your legs and repeat. 10 reps per arm

Squat to press: Hold the kettlebell in the rack position so your hand rests by your outer chest and shoulder. Squat down and as you stand up press the bell upwards. Bring the weight back down to the rack position and repeat. 10 reps per arm

Walk over press up: Start in a press up position with both your hands on a low step. Take one hand off and place it on the floor to the side of the step and perform a press up. As you push yourself back up return your hand to the step and repeat on the opposite side. You can regress this exercise onto your knees. 10 reps

Weight guidelines:

For women I would suggest using kettlebells that weigh around 4-6kg and for men 8-16kg.

Scoring method:

Under 8.30 minutes: 20 points

Over 8.30 minutes-10 minutes: 15 points

Over 10 minutes-12 minutes: 10 points

Over 12 minutes-14 minutes: 5 points

Over 14 minutes: 2 points

Since this challenge will take no more then around 15 minutes to complete I would suggest that you do it at the start of your session after warming up. After this finish with around 20-30 minutes of cardio/core work depending on your aims and goals.

Challenge 3: 300

If you have seen the film 300 then chances are you will have heard of the 300 workouts. There are many to be found on the Internet but the original one used to get the actors and stuntmen into incredible shape used exercises such as pull-ups, clean and presses and box jumps. The entire workout added up to the magic total of 300 reps. As well as being put through this workout the cast were put through 6-12 weeks of hardcore training using kit such as kettlebells and medicine balls.

Now here I bring you the Results Conditioning 300 workout, a tough barbell session that can help you towards the physique of a Spartan soldier. The workout uses large compound barbell exercises completed in circuit fashion, which will help you to improve your muscular endurance, burn body fat and help bring out the muscle definition.  Below are the 2 ways of performing this workout, either as a basic 3 round circuit or as the Results Conditioning 300 challenge.

3 Round circuit: For this you will perform the 10 exercises back to back with little rest in between each one. You complete 10 reps of each exercise and at the end of the circuit you rest for 1-2 minutes before repeating. 

300 Challenge: Same as above but this time the aim is to complete the 3 rounds as quickly as possible. Start the clock at the start of round 1 and do not stop it until you have finished round 3.

The aim is to use the same weight for each exercise, as it is more of an endurance workout. Start light first and focus on good technique. Once all 3 sets can be completed comfortably then increase the weight on your bar.

300 workout:

Clean and press

Hang clean

Squat

Bent over row (overhand grip)

Bent over row (underhand grip)

Barbell press up

Rollouts

Suitcase deadlift (right hand)

Suitcase deadlift (left hand)

Burpee to deadlift

You can find a video showing the exercises used within this challenge at the Results blog.

Weight guidelines:

For men I would suggest an Olympic barbell with around 5-10kg per side and for women a Bodypump type bar with around 5-7.5kg per side.

Scoring method:

Under 13 minutes: 20 points

Over 13 minutes-15 minutes: 15 points

Over 15 minutes-17 minutes: 10 points

Over 17 minutes-19 minutes: 5 points

Over 19 minutes: 2 points

I would do this challenge on its own so including warming up and cooling down you should be finished within 30-40 minutes.

Challenge 4: KB3

Recently I posted a 3 round kettlebell workout that mixed kettlebell exercises along with bodyweight ones. Here is a challenge that uses the same 3 rounds as the KB3 workout. The aim is simple, for each round complete 40 seconds of each of the 5 exercises followed by 30 seconds and finally 20 seconds. For this challenge you are trying to complete as many repetitions as you can over the 3 rounds. Between each round, rest for 1 minute before starting the next one. Below are the 3 rounds complete with the few changes between the workout and the challenge.

Round 1:

2 handed swings

Press ups

Burpees

Single kettlebell squats (Hold the bell at chest height)

Crunch with reach (Hold your arms above your head with your legs in the air. Crunch up and reach towards your shins)

Round 2:

High pulls

Bench dips

Squat jumps

Alternating front lunge (Hold the kettlebell at chest height, count each leg as 1 rep)

Bodyweight Russian twists (Twist both sides to complete 1 rep)

Round 3:

Single arm snatch (Alternate between arms)

Plank up and down (Start on your forearms and then push up into a press up position before returning back down to the plank position)

Double leg squat thrust

Stand up kneel down (Hold the kettlebell at chest height. From a standing position place one knee onto the floor and then the other before standing back up)

Oblique bicycle twists (Twist both sides to complete 1 rep)

TIPS:

: Do all the exercises within each round back to back without any rest. Once you have done each exercise for 40 seconds then start again doing each one for 30 and then 20. Count up your reps for this round and rest for 1 minute.

Weight guidelines:

For men I would suggest using between 8-16kg and for women use between 4-6kg.

Scoring method:

1000 reps or over: 20 points

900-999 reps: 15 points

850-899 reps: 10 points

801-849 reps: 5 points

Less than 800 reps: 2 points

Challenge 5: 60/60

The final challenge has you doing just 60 reps over 3 exercises which should be completed in less than 60 seconds. Because it is such a short challenge do it at the start of your normal routine after the warm up and then continue with your regular session. For this challenge you do 20 reps of the following 3 bodyweight exercises as fast as possible.

Squats

Double legged squat thrusts

Press ups

Scoring method:

Under 40 seconds: 20 points

Between 40-46 seconds: 15 points

Between 47-52 seconds: 10 points

Between 53-58 seconds: 5 points

59 seconds and over: 2 points

For each round you complete 5 sets before taking your 2 minute rest.

ROUND 1:

Barbell clean and press x10 reps

Burpees x10 reps

For the burpees there are 3 options to choose from depending on your fitness levels and how hard you want to push yourself.

1: Bend down and place your hands onto the floor then jump your legs back so your body forms a straight line. From this position jump your legs back in and stand back up.

2: This time as you stand up perform a vertical jump. As you land drop back down into your next rep.

3: The harder version includes a press up and a vertical jump.

ROUND 2:

Press up x20 reps

Squat jumps x10 reps

ROUND 3:

Barbell deadlift x10 reps

Double leg squat thrusts x20 reps

ROUND 4:

Barbell push press x10 reps

Double burpee x10 reps (For this exercise drop down and perform 2 double legged squat thrusts before standing up, this counts as 1 rep)

AIMS:

: For each of the barbell exercises try and use a weight that will challenge you for 10 reps. If you are just starting out then learn the technique of all the barbell exercises with a light weight before increasing your load.

: First target should be to complete the challenge in around 30 minutes. Anything under 25 minutes is excellent. If you are much below 25 minutes then look at increasing the weight of the barbell exercises or using a harder version of the burpee.