Real complexes originated in the Soviet Union. Complexes are simply blocks of exercises. The Soviets used only two exercises in their complexes – one strength-movement and one power/explosive movement. The idea was to work both extremes of the strength curve.
I've taken the concept of complexes and ramped it up. Instead of training only two points on the force-velocity curve, I train around five points, which is why I call them star complexes. (This is part of my 6 Weeks to Superhero program.) https://www.archive.t-nation.com/workouts/6-weeks-to-superhero
Each complex will use five exercises of the same movement pattern. The five exercises will be performed back to back, starting with a heavy/slow movement as the first exercise. Each subsequent exercise will be lighter in resistance than the previous exercise, allowing for progressively faster rep speeds. Here's an example using the bench press:
Ask Me Anything I receive great questions in my T Nation Community Coaching Lab. If…
Ask Me Anything I get a lot of great questions in my T Nation Community…
An Exaggerated Warm-Up Isn't Helpful I don't know when the lengthy warm-up became a thing,…
Training and Your Metabolic State When I think "workout," I think of speeds. Your metabolic…