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IRON.VOLUME
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Kettlebell Complex Generator

A complex is a walk through the bell's positions. The bell never touches down, so each movement has to begin where the last one finished — a clean ends in the rack, so whatever comes next starts from the rack. This generator treats those positions as a graph and walks it, which means it cannot produce the kind of sequence that needs an undocumented bell drop halfway through.

It also counts drive patterns rather than movement names. Swing, clean, snatch and high pull are one hip drive projecting the bell to four different heights: a complex built from all four looks varied but hits the posterior chain four times, and the movement names hide that. Ballistic work is confined to the first half for the same reason technique fails before strength does.

Load for the weakest link. The whole complex runs at the weight of the hardest single movement in it, which is usually a press rather than a swing — and that is what makes complexes comparatively safe to programme blind. Pick a bell that is too heavy and the chain simply stops, rather than breaking down under you.

Build the complex

Bells
Movements
Rep scheme
Leave out
The Deep Keel generated. 4 movements, Dead clean, Front squat, Stiff-leg deadlift, Bent row.

The Deep Keel

4 movements · one bell · seed yc4w95

OverheadRackHangGround12345
Solid = the complex. Dashed = lowering the bell once the last rep is done.

The sequence

  1. 15 repsDead cleanground → rack · ballistic · Moderate grip
  2. 24 repsFront squatrack → rack · squat · Low grip

  3. ↓ Lower to hang

    33 repsStiff-leg deadlifthang → hang · grind · Moderate grip
  4. 42 repsBent rowhang → hang · grind · High grip

What it costs

Relative load
18.7
Grip index
26
Drive patterns
3

Relative load is a weighted rep sum for comparing complexes with each other. It is not a difficulty rating.

  • Bell weight is capped by the weakest link — the whole complex runs at the load of the hardest single movement in it.
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The four positions

Ground: bell on the floor. Appears only at the start and the end.

Hang: arm straight, bell down. Swings, rows, stiff-leg deadlifts and suitcase work live here.

Rack: bell on the shoulder. Front squats, rack lunges, good mornings and every press start here.

Overhead: locked out. Overhead squats, overhead lunges, windmills and waiter walks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a kettlebell complex?
A kettlebell complex is a sequence of movements performed back to back without putting the bell down. Because the bell stays in your hands throughout, each movement has to begin in the position the previous one finished in — a clean ends in the rack, so whatever follows must start from the rack. That constraint is what separates a complex from a circuit, where you are free to reset between exercises.
How does this generator avoid producing impossible sequences?
The generator treats the bell's positions — ground, hang, rack and overhead — as a graph, and each movement as an edge between two positions. It then walks that graph, so every movement it picks is one that can actually start where the last one ended. A random selection would happily produce '5 snatches, 5 front squats', which needs an undocumented bell drop between them. Walking the graph makes that output structurally impossible rather than filtering it out afterwards.
Why are swings, cleans and snatches limited to the first half?
Those movements share a single explosive hip drive, and ballistic technique degrades faster under fatigue than grinding strength does — and degrades more dangerously. A sloppy snatch at the end of a long set is a shoulder or a lower back. Confining the ballistic work to the first half of the complex means the fast movements happen while your technique is still intact.
What does the relative load number mean?
It is a weighted sum of the reps, where each movement carries a cost per rep reflecting how demanding it is. Use it to compare one generated complex against another — a complex scoring 30 asks more of you than one scoring 18. It is deliberately not a difficulty rating or a calorie figure, because a weighted rep sum cannot support either claim.
How heavy should the bell be for a complex?
Load for the weakest link. The whole complex runs at the weight of the hardest single movement in the chain, which is usually a strict press or an overhead squat rather than a swing. This is what makes complexes relatively safe to programme without supervision: if you pick a bell that is too heavy, you physically cannot complete the chain, so the mistake stops the set rather than causing an injury.
What is the grip index?
A weighted measure of how much the sequence asks of your hands, based on the grip cost of each movement and the reps prescribed. Grip failure ending a set before the intended training stimulus is the most common way complexes go wrong, so the generator also refuses to stack more than two high-grip movements in a row.