Combo Lifting Exercises for Guys

Combo lifts involve merging two different exercises into one. A prime example of this is the clean and jerk in Olympic weightlifting, which combines a barbell clean and an overhead jerk. Many guys choose to perform singular combo lifting exercises in a straight sets fashion, or perform a whole combo workout, otherwise known as a complex.

  1. Barbell Combos

    • For an easier version of the clean and jerk, try the clean and press. This involves lifting a barbell from the floor to your shoulders, pausing briefly, then pressing it overhead. These hit your legs, back, core arms and shoulders, according to Dave Coulthard, fitness manager at the Reebok Sports Club in London. He recommends keeping the bar close you your body and driving with your legs to generate power. The front squat to overhead press also works most of your major muscle groups, as do deadlifts into bent-over rows, performed by mixing a deadlift with a barbell row.

    Kettlebell Combos

    • Kettlebell training is a way to get the benefits of cardio and strength training in one and develop the broad upper-body and slim waist that many guys strive for, according to Michael George of RIverside Kettlebells. Replicate the barbell clean and press or front squat to press with a pair of kettlebells, or if you're just starting out, use one kettlebell at time. You can also merge lunges, performed holding the kettlebells at your shoulders with presses, squats and rows.

    Body Weight Combos

    • Even if you don't have access to weights, you can still perform combo lifts as part of your routine. A simple body weight combo is a pushup combined with a burpee. Make this more difficult by lifting a leg off the ground on your pushup, then jumping onto a box when performing your burpee. For a move that works your back, arms and core, perform a chin-up or pullup into a hanging leg raise. Or for a combo move to really test your lower-body, perform a forward lunge on each leg, then a backward lunge on each, a squat, followed by five squat thrusts.

    Complexes

    • A complex is another way of combining lifts. This involves performing standard weightlifting moves -- usually with a barbell or set of dumbbells -- back to back, without putting the weights down. Personal trainer Jon-Erik Kawamoto recommends a barbell complex consisting of bent-over rows, upright rows, overhead presses, good mornings, split squats, back squats to behind the neck presses and Romanian deadlifts for eight reps each. Do this five times, resting just 60 seconds between each set. Incorporate combo lifts and complexes into your regular weight training workouts, or do them as standalone sessions.