Bear Complex
Monday morning brings us our old favorit wod, the “Bear Complex” , which is a series of movements involving lifting a barbel up into a front squat, pressing it overhead into a back squat and overhead again. This movement series is repeated seven times consecutively. Each round the athlete adds a little weight to the barbell during a three to five minute rest period. And no, the barbel can never rest on the floor longer than a split second during the seven repetitions. Now in my mind, the first time I tried it I was thinking, oh I can press 135# overhead so that should be the weight that I use—nope. Wound up using like 95# and it was a “bear”! This workout pushes a lot of the energy systems- and yes, it does become aerobic. The first couple times through your body can possibly be working in an anaerobic alactic energy system then move right into an anaerobic alactic endurance system right up to an anaerobic lactic endurance system. So depending on your level of training each of you will respond a little differently to this workout.
If this is your first time – go lighter and experience how it feels first. Notice how you are breathing, where you can rest during the repetitions, which body part is fatiguing first, how fast you are tiring out, and find out at what point you mentally break and feel like stopping. All of these are indicators that can help you learn about yourself and where your training is. Some people will get really winded before their muscles fatigue, others have muscle failure but their wind isn’t touched, and some mentally quit halfway through and the second half feels insurmountable.
So take the time to notice these feelings and let them help you grow as a person. Many lessons outside of just getting a PR can be learned during this wod and in general in the gym. That said, we’ve seen everyone set personal records today – which as a coaches makes us very happy to know we all moving forward!
Eric
