Pavel Tsatsouline?

[jqmaverick]

Has anyone read his books? If so which ones and what do you think of them?

I've heard mixed messages about him but don't really know much about him. I've been to dragondoor.com but am assuming bias.

[Blarg]

I've read a lot of his stuff, and it's very good. His forums don't seem quite as active anymore, but they are a good source of information and are far less biased than you would think, from a guy who is the leading seller of kettlebells. There's plenty of discussion of every type of physical activity really, and it's always encouraged. Really the only way he shuts down on or discourages any type of discussion in his forums is when it's promoting competing brands of kettlebells, which seems reasonable for a business venture.

His emphasis on generating tension is very good, and his emphasis on training for strength is a welcome antidote from the Weider-type bodybuilding training that has all but buried other type of weight-training ideas in America for decades. I'd suggest starting with The Naked Warrior, and then continuing to Power to the People.

Both books contain variations on two full-body exercises each, which are discussed in detail, and programs are given. This isn't much in the way of providing numbers of exercises, to be sure, but each book uses these exercises primarily as explanation and illustration of very useful training principles.

I'd pay particular attention to the "grease the groove" protocol discussed in The Naked Warrior, as it is probably the best strength protocol to quickly increase strength that there is, regardless of body type. Anyone would do well to practice it for a time on at least one exercise.

Also, buy the books at Amazon.com rather than in brick and mortar bookstores or on the dragondoor site. They are quite expensive otherwise.

Finally, don't be put off by the hype in those two books. The style can be a little cheesy, and make the short books seem even shorter due to promotional filler. However, there is a surprising amount of meat in those short books, so much so that they deserve repeated re-reading. When Pavel stops self-promoting, he actually packs a lot of material very densely into a small space. So, there's enough value to be had to warrant wading through the fluff.

Check out the articles on his site, too. And the forum has a very good search engine. You'll find a fair amount of posts on grease the groove or GTG, for instance, that are well worth reading, including some stuff that I wrote when I used to frequent his forum more.

[jqmaverick]

Have you read bullet proof abs? and his stretching book?

[Blarg]

No I have not. I've read that the Ab-Pavelizer is overrated, and I think that's probably true, especially for the price.

[Subfallen]

There is a very steep neurological learning curve for Pavel's tension techniques. That much is clear. When he says it may take months to learn pressurized breathing, he's being extremely conservative IMO.

[mmctrab]

The stretching stuff he has isn't that good. Scott Sonnon has good joint mobility and yoga stuff if you're really interested in it. Pavel's kettlebell stuff is very good. Naked Warrior is okay if you want to learn how to do one legged squats and one armed pushups. Power to the People is fine for very basic weight training.

[Blarg]

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The stretching stuff he has isn't that good. Scott Sonnon has good joint mobility and yoga stuff if you're really interested in it. Pavel's kettlebell stuff is very good. Naked Warrior is okay if you want to learn how to do one legged squats and one armed pushups. Power to the People is fine for very basic weight training.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sonnon's stuff looks very good, although he too hypes things to a creepy degree and some of his stuff comes off like he's trying to set himself up as practically a guru. I'll inevitably wind up dropping a fair amount of money there eventually, because my very limited, casual training in Filipino stick fighting has still been more than enough to show me that things like clubbells are actually great ways to improve coordination, flexibility, and get in great shape. And unlike most exercise implements/programs, stuff like that is pretty fun to use/do.

Re Naked Warrior and Power to the People, I'll reemphasize that the exercises themselves are not really what they're about at all. It's about the training protocols and tension techniques, and the exercises are just ways to illustrate them with full-body exercises. I'd strongly suggest reading both even if you are not into the particular exercises. After that, Beyond Bodybuilding is a very good book with lots of protocols, exercises, and good emphasis on proper form.

Re: Pavel stuff I'm not fond of, you get some pretty spooky, faddish nutritional ideas on his nutrition forum. He doesn't write the books his site sells there, but by partnering with and promoting some of the authors, he essentially endorses them. Let the buyer beware.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
There is a very steep neurological learning curve for Pavel's tension techniques. That much is clear. When he says it may take months to learn pressurized breathing, he's being extremely conservative IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is made easier if you've done things like meditation before, but for those who haven't, it's a bit of a tricky thing. A side note: doing pressurized breathing can make your blood pressure absolutely skyrocket and dramatically increase the risk of things like hemorrhoids or simple things like dizziness. Especially if you are out of shape or older, I'd be very careful.

Conversely, however, things like drawing up and tightening the anal sphincter are quite beneficial and can actually serve to help prevent and alleviate hemorrhoids. Which goes to show that putting together these techniques properly isn't something you're likely to get right away, and that they should be done with great care.

[longbody]

His best work is Super Joints, imo. A good joint mobility program is the best way to feel like a million bucks.

The dragondoor forum used to be cool years ago, but sucks now. Steve Maxwell, Scott Sonnon, and Steve Cotter (all doing their own thing now) used to post there.

Some of the posters left and went to www.irongarmx.net because they got sick of the cult like forum, and some thought Pavel was a fraud and a plagiarist. A fraud because of past credentials, not because he wrote about things he knew nothing about. All the books I've read from him are good, but I'd stay away from the pavelizer. His stuff is way overpriced and full of ads, but blame that on the publisher John DuCane, not Pavel.

The Joint and Stretching stuff is priceless.

[jqmaverick]

[ QUOTE ]
After that, Beyond Bodybuilding is a very good book with lots of protocols, exercises, and good emphasis on proper form.



[/ QUOTE ]
I've read elsewhere beyond bodybuilding maybe his finest book. Is it complete or does it require reading naked warrior/ power to the people?