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| Pavel inspecting his trainees |
A recent fun and worthwhile podcast interview of PavelTsatsouline by Tim Ferris prompted me (reminded me) to write reviews of these
two books. I read them a while ago, but they’re almost like reference books,
which you can return to repeatedly for guidance, ideas, and motivation. Both
books focus on fundamentals. After functional movement, strength is the most
important physical attribute, Pavel argues. This makes sense, as endurance must
always operate as a function of any activity undertaken. Also, as many sources
suggest, you can cultivate cardiovascular endurance and health through strength
training programs. It saves a lot of time on boring treadmills if you do it
right.
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| Basic program from the man who brought kettlebells to the New World |
I’ve enjoyed and learned a lot from books by Pavel. He
combines learning, practice, and humor into his no-nonsense books. Born in
Minsk, Belorussia, he served as trainer for Soviet special forces in the 1980s
before emigrating to the U.S. He interjects Soviet and Russian (or Belorussian)
humor in his books, which is good for a wry smile. But he also brings the
knowledge that made Soviet and Russian (-speaking) athletes some of the most
successful in the world. What they lacked in technology (which may have been a
blessing of sorts) they made up with dedication to learning through science and
experience. Thus, a rather blunt, clumsy looking apparatus like a kettlebell
can serve as a terrific training device. I’ve gotten very serious about Pavel’s
Simple and Sinister kettlebell training
regimen since returning home from our trip over break, and it’s really paying
off. If like me, you’re looking for general fitness and strength development, I’m
not sure you could find a better place to start than with this program. Male or
female, old (like me) or young.
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| Covers a lot of territory |
In Easy Strength,
written in tandem with master trainer Dan John, you have an encyclopedic
treatise on athletic and fitness issues and ideas. Written almost in the form
of a dialogue, these two masters share a great deal of knowledge and insight about
training issues. (By the way, as Pavel mentions in the Ferris podcast (that can
serve as an excellent introduction to Pavel), he doesn’t “work out”, he “trains”.
Big difference. As he might say, he wants to work “up”, not “out”.) While Simple and Sinister is a terrific basic
program, this book allows you to consider more wrinkles to your fitness program
and helps you dispense with a lot of nonsense and wasted time and energy.
While I’ve greatly enjoyed other books by Pavel (Power to the People! and The Naked Warrior), these two books really
cover the most territory, offering on the one hand simplicity, and on the
other, breadth.
Enjoy, comrade!
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