Pavel Tsatsouline Kettlebell Strength Training Weight Lifting Workouts Exercise and Flexibility Questions & Answers.

Pavel and comrades, I would like to discuss an article in the March 2004 Ironman magazine. Quoting author Michael Gundill, "THE BILATERAL DEFICIT - Another impediment to truly high intensity is the bilateral deficit. When you train two limbs at the same time, your muscle strength suffers. Studies have shown that the muscles are much more powerful when you train one arm or one leg at a time.* For example, during biceps curls your total poundage for each arm will be higher when you work one arm at a time. Paradoxically, it's much harder on your body when you train both arms at the same time. When you use only one arm at a time, you put far more stress on the target muscles and far less on your overall body. Also, your range of motion is better than what you can achieve with bilateral exercises." "In other words, it's far more productive to work your bodyparts one side at a time rather than both sides simultaneously. Yet most bodybuilders continue to do bilateral exercise. Needless to say, that's the best way to guarantee that your fibers will grow as slowly as possible, if at all." *Van Dieen, J.H. (2003). Reduced neural drive in bilateral exertions: a performance-limiting factor? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 35(1):111-8. Now there are moments of out-and-out bodybuilder fearmongering in this article ("Needless to say, that's the best way to guarantee that your fibers will grow as slowly as possible, if at all."), but there are also some compelling lines: "When you train two limbs at the same time, your muscle strength suffers. Studies have shown that the muscles are much more powerful when you train one arm or one leg at a time." I'd like to get a discussion going about this and hear people's thoughts on the matter.  

Com Pavel Congratulations on grinding the coc #2. How do you train for the grippers? Ken 

Gents, Exactly what does the Russian military's PFT consist of? Between RKC, NW, NW HLR pdf, it seems to be Snatch, Broad Jump, Pistols, Gymnastic-style bar flips with no kip. What else? Next, why does the snatch requirement of 14L/R with 24KG seem so modest compared to the other tests? (I don't have any of the materials I'm referencing in front of me, and I apologize if I'm being inaccurate). 14L/R snatches should be a walk in the park for absolutely anyone who can do 10L/R pistols, I would imagine. Anyway, I'm just curious to know, as the HLR pdf got me thiinking about the topic. Thanks in advance! Jim Haines  

(Follow-up to OHS thread from Tuesday) I can't believe I'm reading this!!! I've been lifting for over 25 years and NOTHING has tested my physical and mental abilities like working on the overhead squat. This exercise is the pallet where your strengths and weaknesses are displayed for all to see... If you have never tried them before I would suggest starting out with an exercise band stretch above and behind your head and then attempting the squat. Once that starts to feel easy and you find your 'groove' then I would try it with 1 KB. Same idea but the stability, flexibility, and coordination issues come into the forefront even more. Try watching the KB and see if it helps solidify the up and down groove even more. Two KB's are a different beast altogether but START LIGHT!!! I have found that people who can normally squat in the 400's can't do ONE OHS with one-fourth of that weight... you want to talk about getting strong and functional: do OHS's!!! :P BTW - This has inspired me to work even harder on my OHS's and document the results...

Mike Krivka and Martial Arts Koncepts 

I went to Denver for the weekend to visit my wife Sara's family. On Sunday I trained at a Bally's, which is the mecca of mulletude. Still, it has everything you'd ever need unless you want to lift kettlebells, pretty amazing equipment selection. I did my second 20-rep squat session, 175 x 20, still breaking in slowly. That was followed by barbell military presses and towel chins. Then on Monday I ran in the Bolder Boulder 10K which is run at 8,000 feet on hilly terrain. Despite zero (0) training days and zero days of altitude acclimation, I managed to run without stopping and finished the damned thing in 57:04. Cardio was not an issue at all, even though I have not run so much as a mile in over a year. Moral: GS for cardio is not a joke. On the other hand (foot?), you cannot get the specific leg endurance for running unless you run. My calves are still killing me. In retrospect, I could have run a bit faster, maybe 50:00, but I had no idea how to pace. Much respect to endurance athletes, I don't know how you guys can take that stuff week after week. Lastly on Monday I drove by and visited Columbine High School. Way creepy, worse than Ground Zero if you can believe it. Rob 

Pavel Im on a mass building routine, working each bodypart 2 or 3 times a week, one exercise per body part. Example below Mon & Fri deadlifts Squats or single leg squat and step-up or front squats leg curl or ghr or romanian dl shoulders triceps Tuesday & thursday & sat bench press or board press or inc. press bent rows or pull=ups biceps calf raises neck wed good mornings reverse hypers leg curl or romanian dl Pleasee give your opinion and advice for bear routine. Thanks 

Hi, my name is Paul Goldgeier and I am a 5'6" 155 lb, 46 year old living in Haifa, Israel. I was very active in sports until the age of 42 (cycling, swimming, wrestling, basketball) Over the last 4 years I have had several medical problems, most specifically, severe back pains due to slipped discs. My problems were complicated due to a ridiculouly high pressure job in management in a high tech startup. By the time I left the job last October, I was a complete wreck. During a short visit to the states last October, my brother in law, Steve Freides (RKC certified trainer), introduced me to kettlebell training as it had helped him alleviate his own back miseries. Equipped with 2 of Steve's introductory sessions, a 16 kg kettlebell and two of Pavel's books ((Power to the People) and the Kettlebell Challenge), I returned to my home in Haifa and started training. It was all very painful at first. My body really had been inactive for about 4 years. Two hand swings were easy but it took me 1.5 months before I could do a single military press. My shoulders were pathetically weak. Steve provided me with several excercises to strengthen and loosen up my shoulders. (We talk on the phone regularly and he sends exercise video's via e-mail) In any case, it took me about 2 months and then my body started reacting. All of a sudden the workouts were getting easier and easier and I was ready for 24 kg. My wife brought me back one a month ago and I've been making progress weekly (I work out at home 5 times at week for the last 6 months). One evening this past week I did 200 military presses (5 reps, 20 sets, right and left). Another evening I managed 100 snatches (5 reps, 10 sets, right and left)in 15 minutes. Having said that, I realize that after 6 months of training, I am still but a mere novice in both knowledge and ability. However, I am interested in training others here in Israel. Towards this end, I am seriously thinking in taking the certification course this October. I am hesitating. When is the right time to take the course? Does the course cater to experienced weightlifters or those with more kettlebell training than I have? Is it worth waiting another 6 months or so in order to make the most out of an intense 3 days of learning and training? Any words of wisdom out there????????  

Hi everybody, this week my training felt great,it went like this: Mon-strength Weighted wide grip pullups-10kg-12x1,starting one set every 50sec. HSPU from headstand-8x2,every 55sec. 1arm Hammer curl(pause at top)-12kgDB-4x4,2x3, every 60 sec. External rotation-4kgDB-3x8,30-40 sec rest. Tues-cardio/core 18kgDB 1arm snatches- 20,15,10,5 r,l alternated with 20-25 burpee+pushup+jump, 40 sec. rests between sets TGU-16kgDB-3x1 Windmill-16kgDB-2x3 Wed-strength Pistol-12x1 r,l every 60sec.(first sets using a 5kg plate for balance) 1leg calf raise-4x10, no rest some work on glute ham raise. Thur-cardio/core 18kgDB 1arm snatches- 20,15,10,5 r,l, 1min of shadowboxing btween sets as active rest. TGU-16kgDB-3x1 Side press-16kgDB-2x3(light,just to work the obliques) finished with balance training- 3-5 min. Fri-sterngth Clean and push press-2 22kgDBs-12x1 every 55sec. 1 arm floor press- 26kgDB- 8x2 every 60sec. alternated with 1 arm row- 30kgDB- 8x2 every 60sec. Pistols- 3x2, +singles on week leg finished with balance training- 3-5 min. Bodyweight at 68kg(150lbs). I found that when training with this rest pause/density protocol, is much more efficient decrease the time in which you start each set than time your rest intervals and decrease them, because this keep you away from inconsiously cheating taking more time preparing for a lift and putting the weight down(well, at least for me). Its also interesting that when you train this way for 12 sets every time you reduce 5 sec, you are doing the same volume in 1 min less, this gives you a clear progression. I would apreciate any critique or advice on my workouts. Thanks for reading.  

I was wondering if anybody on the forum/yoga practitioners had read/used B.K.S Iyengar's book,'Light On Yoga'?.I saw it some time ago and was thinking of buying it.I started some Iyengar yoga(basic,beginner) via materials by two ladies, MELA MERTHA and RUTH WHITE,which i felt were very instructive.Nevertheless,i intended to delve a little deeper and was pleased the man himself had a book out.(Although,it is clear the book is actually quite old and has,thankfully,been reprinted into it's modern incarnation). I read that he has since said he wished some of the more advanced asanas had been removed from the book,but it still looks like an extremely valuable resource.Some of the positions are out of this world,which wise men would do best leave to the truly schooled.I wondered if anyone had any suggestions,based on their experiences,about the book?Or,suggestions about other yoga books/resources? My brother,highly recommended Godfrey Devereux's materials,and Baron Baptiste.I know of the yoga websites,i am simply interested in the opinions of those on this forum-since we use other materials for our training(otherwise we would not be here,LOL). Any replies would be welcome.Thank you.  

I can now do snatches and c/j with a degree of comfort, but have a question? Are doing bent press and windmills a questoin of shoulder strength, or arm strength? I just can not seem to pregress into the "bent" position for either exercise. What would strengthen you for that pregression?. Thanks in advance 

Comrade Pavel, Is there any literature on the site or out there that has details on the workouts practiced by soviet paratroops? Not only weight lifting, but running, calisthenics, etc. I just finished reading a book by written by a soviet paratrooper about his experiences in Afghanistan and I'm curious about the training. Any information you could provide or a shove in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Sean  

1. After training in Russia and now training the elite forces in the US how do they compare. 2. Are you now, or do you plan on becoming an American Citizen. Also, I agree with the previous post that a DVD, or book detailing your workout would sell well, as would a Russian Special Forces workout book. Thanks for passing on this valuable information to the people and the POWER! PTP and NW are really helping me get rejuvinated. Thanks, Rex cuffnstuff 

I posted a message a few weeks ago about looking for the word "girya" etimology. Pavel said that the word came from the Middle East and (according to my mother) he was right. The Persian word "giran" means "heavy". It came to Russia probably through Turkey. The first girya in written Russian appeares in the sixteenth century. It looks like my old mother did better research than me, she teaches Russian in a High School in Poland. Jacek  

Zack, to answers your questions from farther down the page... Deadman Quad Raises: Lisa Shaffer showed me these at our KB Club and has a great explanation here: http://forum.dragondoor.com/training/message/272298%5C "I'll attempt to give you a description and I'll show this exercise at the next KB club meeting. Kneel down on both knees with tops of your feet on the ground not on your toes. Lean back keeping your body in line (you look like you are trying to make a slide for the kids to slide down), pause and squeeze your quads hard to get back up to straight position. Great exercise to superset with front squats. You can do them with just your body weight or holding a KB or plate in front of you. Hope the description made sense.. Lisa" To emphasize what Lisa said, you must keep your body straight as a board from your knees to your head to put the tension on your quads. If you have the slightest bend at the waist you will be putting the tension on your abs and hip flexors and missing the quad workout. A friend of mine has a hard time doing them with bodyweight and uses an assist but still keeps her body straight to get the quad benefit. An assist is much better than bending even the slightest at the waist. I don't know how your knee would feel with these. Take it easy with them at first. One Legged Deadlift: The one legged deadlift is not a Pistol. Basically, you stand on one leg with a KB in front of you, keep your head up, back straight and look forward. Bend at the waist and at the knee to get low enough to pick up the KB and use your glutes, hamstrings, and quads to pull yourself up. Your free leg will end up behind you when you're at the bottom. You should be tightening your abs, your glutes, your legs, even your arms and shoulders. If you start to fall off balance, tighten your core harder. They don't look or sound all that impressive but they are a tremendous exercise for your glutes, hamstrings, and quads. You also get some good lower back and ab work in too! I think the negative is alot harder than the positive since you need more body tension to keep your balance. Also, try it with two KBs at your sides and slightly in front of you, like two suitcases. I'm thinking your knee would be ok with these. Lisa also showed us these at KB Club and has some good tips in this post, and I believe the exercise is written up in the FRWTL book: http://forum.dragondoor.com/training/message/267802%5C "it takes total concentration on full body tension. I noticed that if my mind is some where else during the lift then I tend to fall over. And instead of just lifting it off the ground tell her to think about squeezing it up off the ground, if that makes sense. Use a crush grip that you can feel go all the way up to your shoulders. Tighten your abs, glutes, quads and grip the ground with your toes. Think about pushing your foot through the floor. Like I said, it takes alot of concentration. Also, don't look down. Keep a focal point with your head up and looking toward the horizon. Just a few of my observations when doing this drill. Hope it helps. Lisa, RKC " Have fun with them! Try supersetting them with FSQs and hack squats for some great leg work! Let me know how it goes. John 

Hello, I just received (Relax into Stretch) today and have a question about something Pavel wrote on page 46. He wrote "Isometrics mess with your proprioceptors and impair your coordination for the rest of the day. So don't do them before your sport practise. The rule of thumb is: if you ahve to do a static stretch before you engage in your sport, you are not ready for the skill you are practising." Just to clarify: Does this mean no more stretching before, after or during sports? Thanks! Brendan 

I've been k-bell lifting for, oh, must be a year and a half now at least. I've got a set of homemade 1 poods, and a Dragondoor 1.5 pood, and I've recently ordered a 2 pood. So my 2 pood k-bell has finally showed up in the mail today. Yay! :) So, of course, I've had a cold for the last couple of days. Boo! :( While I'm staring wistfully at my new toy and, at most, trying a few weak two-arm swings with it, several questions have come to mind: 1) I know that kettlebells larger than 2 poods are generally called "Bulldogs". I know (from the RKC book) that 2 pood k-bells are called "dvukhpudoviks" in Russian. I wonder if there are similar Russian names for the 1.5 and 1 pood k-bells. 2) Pavel, how large is the k-bell you are pressing on the cover of RKC. The te4xt within the book says 32 kg, but another source said it was 90+ lbs. 3) How precise are the weight markings on Dragondoor k-bells? Does the manufacturer spec them to within 2 kgs? 1 kg? 0.5 kg? Has anyone ever noticed a significant weight difference (say, more than a pound) between k-bells of the "Same" weight? Thanks all, love the forum and the k-bells, HeatDeath 

Am i correct in saying that at the bottom of your bench and squat you should exhale 75% of your breathe, reload with a full enhale, than hoist back up. Just need some confirmation. Thx 

Senior Instructors, I am new to the sport of KBs, but I ahve recently ourchased two and have been working out with them for the past approximately 2 months. I love them. I am a ranger qualified Captain in the United States Army looking to go into the SOF community. So i guess this question would be more aimed at SSgt Morrison. I have a routine that I am doing that I received from some ranger buddies of mine, and have supplemented kettlebells along with running, cycling, and swimming (triathlete). I am looking for a Kettlebell routine that would help along with this path. Anyone have any ideas? I own the H2H DVD and the RKC book. Along with this question is how do I go about getting certification for RKC? So that I can pass that knowledge onto my junior officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel? Thanks for the help. John 

Comrade Pavel: I attended your stretching workshop and there was one stretch I really enjoyed but cannot remember the technique. You had us walk up the chain link fence, put our back to the fence, grab the fence with our hands close together, then somehow pull up and out to expand the chest and force the shoulders back...I remember my chest REALLY opening up and my spine lengthening...My posture was absolutely perfect for the next 15 minutes and I want to practice that more. Is there any resource you can point me to, or give a brief decsription? Thanks! Comrade Tom 

Found an interesting article below. Does anyone here have any experience in using the pullover? Seems like an overall upper body exercise. Is it good for functional strength? http://www.grassrootstraining.com/BarbellPullovers.htm 

Pavel, I know you are so busy, but: when you was GS competitor, which of these ways of workout at competition did you use: 1) my point of view: you need to warm up without weights, stretch is very neccessary, then warm up with kettlebells (few sets with light kettlebell, then 1-2 sets with competiteve kettlebell) including jerk and snatch. 2)Rob's, Stephen's etc's... point of view: warm up without kettlebell. you don't touch kettlebell before your 10 minutes atarted. or may be you used other way, please, let me know, I'm VERY interested. thank you alot! Andrey

http://www.GirevoySport.ru 

Pavel, I know you are so busy, but: when you was GS competitor, which of these ways of workout at competition did you use: 1) my point of view: you need to warm up without weights, stretch is very neccessary, then warm up with kettlebells (few sets with light kettlebell, then 1-2 sets with competiteve kettlebell) including jerk and snatch. 2)Rob's, Stephen's etc's... point of view: warm up without kettlebell. you don't touch kettlebell before your 10 minutes atarted. or may be you used other way, please, let me know, I'm VERY interested. thank you alot! Andrey

http://www.GirevoySport.ru 

On pg 24 of BPA, Pavel recommends coming all the way up on Jandas, however according to cbass's webpage, Pavel says "Sitting up all the way becomes a mechanical impossibility unless you start with a jerk (a no-no!)." Which is it? BTW, until I can afford a Pavelizer II, I'm using a Mattelizer III (first 2 ideas were dumb) which consists of a stretchband (tire intertube) with one end around a post, 2.5 ft off ground, and the other around my calves.  

Well first things first let me introduce myself. My name is John and I’m 22 years old, 5’11.5”, and weigh 149 pounds as of yesterday; with body fat in the single digits. This is a sickly weight even for someone like me who is naturally thin. I usually weigh 158-162 lbs but I’ve been so busy with school and work that I skipped a lot of meals...plus I have the appetite of a pre-pubescent girl so it wasn’t too hard. ;) Now that it’s summer and school is out, I have plenty of time. I’m hoping to put on some weight -- maybe to about 170 lbs -- which is the most I’ve ever weighed. Maybe even more, who knows...I’m ready to eat A LOT. Meat, whole milk, coconut milk, and PB&J sandwiches are my friends. I don’t really mind gaining some fat in the process either. My body fat has been slowly creeping up anyway with my up and down weight loss and weight gain. So my primary goal is hypertrophy but my secondary goal is to increase my vertical leap. I play basketball (recreationally) and even though I’m lighter my vertical really suffered. I was able to grab the rim easily before but now I can barely touch it. At the very least I want to keep my vertical at the same level it is now. I just don’t want it to get worse as I get heavier. I wasn't sure if I should concentrate on hypertrophy and forget about the vertical for now...or try to integrate the two together. I also didn’t want to ask for advice without first giving it some thought myself...so I thought about it and here is what I came up with: Superjoints every morning (I already do this anyway...this is what really got me interested in Pavel to begin with) M, W, Sat - Power Clean: 2x5 (PTP style) - Olympic Style Squat: 5x5 (Basically Bear but I stop at the 5th set) - Bench Press: 5x5 (Basically Bear but I stop at the 5th set) - Glute-Ham Raise: 2x5 (PTP style) T and Th - Maybe some evil wheel...I don't know - Turkish get-ups (not sure on set-rep scheme on this one) - Bearhug heavy sandbag and walk for distance This is utilizing the heavy, medium, light system Pavel mentioned in the last newsletter. The heavy day (Saturday) starts at 70% of my 1RM adding weight every week. Light days (Monday) are 80% of heavy, and medium days (Wednesday) are 90% of heavy. Since the weights get heavier every week, I was going keep the same weight for the TGU and sandbag carry through the whole cycle so they should be getting easier near the end of the cycle. I’ll be cutting back on my basketball so I just threw these in there to mix things up and keep it fun. I've never really lifted weights so this will be a first for me. I already started since I wanted to do something. I figured it has to be better than doing nothing but I'd really like to start off right. I hope I'm not one of those beginners that tries to do too much too soon. I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. Feel free to let me know if my program is horrible. Maybe it’s OK but I just need to make a couple of changes. You might even have a entirely different program you would recommend. I would appreciate ANY help at all. I really didn’t mean for it to get this long and if you made it through all the way, thank you. John Mann  

I have been reading Coach Sonnon's articles and his breathing techniques are different than Pavel's. He says that Power Breathing is unhealthy even if it gets good results. Anyone here have something to say about this? I know I've made great results with Power Breathing, but if it is unhealthy, I don't want to keep doing it. Thanks, Jake  

I'm looking for some help to understand or unify my understanding of the use of open hand vs. clench fist in strength training and maritial arts. I've been KB, NW, RIS, H2H, etc. training for over a year and have most of Pavel's/others books/tapes. So I've been mainly focused on techniques of full body tension for my lifts. I've recently began studying Aikido and I'm being shown techniques of keeping one's hand open and fingers outstretch to convey "intention". They have demonstrated it is harder to bend somebody's arm that is out stretch with intention vs. a clenched fist. Also the ability to keep one's wrist straight while turning your opponents over. Talk about the clench fist cutting off the flow of chi,etc. I'm not really sure how much tension they are advocating during the use of this technique as well. I've tried some kb mp lifts with an open hand but generating high tension in the hand with fingers open. Not sure if it helped with the press, but perhaps the lockup or rest at top. I've also tried some NW 1A/PUs with the free arm outstretched/tensed and not touching the body. I felt it forced the core strength higher by not having my hand generating tension on my back or side, but by having to recruit lat and arm stength while focusing on the out stretched arm. I'm simply trying to understand the unification of these two techniques and wondering where the cross over in the use of intention is in KB training. Thanks for any help!!!! Dave  

Hello Pavel, Just had some questions for you. I just received your new dvd and was wondering what the kettlebell sizes or weights were that were used in Resilent? I want to get some lighter kettlebells for the various different exercises in Resilent that you covered,I'm just not sure what size to start out with? I currently own a single of each size 16,24,& 32kg. I want to order all sizes and eventually have two of each size. I saw that someone had posted on the forum wanting to get rid of there collection. That particular person said they were all in good condition except some of them were worn on the bottom. I don't know if they were talking about just the paint or if the protective coating is part rubber and paint. If that's the case would the kettlebells loose a little weight over a long period of time from general wear. Do kettlebells have a warranty? How long is the warranty good for? P.S I thought Resilent was awesome, I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward for next dvd or book. Thanks for all the knowledge.  

Hi All, I have a question in regards to the technique of "screwing" the shoulder into the socket during the HSPU...or any other press/striking movement. If, for example, I focus on the right arm during the HSPU. When pressing up from the bottom, I'm attemption to screw the shoulder joint in with a clockwise intension. Yes/No? What should be my intension on the way down, unscrew or counter clockwise? The pulling yourself down portion the press movement. Now depending on the answers above. When attempting a KB MP starting from the rack postion. Moving from the rack posture - out and up - does the palm rotate as you attempt to screw the shoulder joint in? Do you end up on top with palm sideway like the rack or facing forward at the top? Thanks for any help! - Dave  

Im noticeing that on deep knee bends or pistols that my feet want to turn out a lot.I try to force them straight but then I cant bend as far,I know this is a flexability issue.What can i do to over come this. Also does any body how to perform that squat with the KB behind ur back , thank you Hawkman 

Someone please help! im so confused i read an article on strength endurance by Matt Wiggins from MMA weekly. it described a strength endurance program. It pretty much worked at high sets of low reps. i.e 15 x 2 with only 15-20 seconds rest time with roughly 85% of 1RM. consisting of 4 exercises. this is 'ideal', but never more than 60 seconds rest between sets. also, ofcourse, start with less sets and stop before failure, and increasing the sets, or starting with a longer rest period and decreasing that , or starting with a lighter weight and increasing that ... performing any given exercise twice to three times per week. he doesnt say anything about doing the exercises explosively or grinding them out. (this is another thing i have no idea about, strength endurance, power endurance ? explosiveness?. =S =S ) but my main question being, is how similar is this to the bear ? and how similar are the results ? bear says weights which you can lift 3-5 times (so 85 - 90% of 1RM), then a set with 90% of that weight, followed by sets of 80% of the first weight, stopping before failure. with 60-90 second rest periods. this seems very similar, do you increase strength endurance doing the bear ? or do you want to keep the rest long so you can put in more sets. and in turn this doesnt increase strength endurance ? will the strength endurance program increase size ? does this program lead to myofibrillar hypertrophy ? is what im missing, that you dont want to be reducing the time between sets in bear because that will reduce the sets that you can do, and therefore less tension is generated, or for a shorter time atleast ? so less size increases ? does this mean that if i stick strickly to the bear program until i am happy with my size, and then start reducing rest between sets. Just say i get to 15 sets doing the bear. and then start reducing rest, so i can only do 5 sets, and slowly start getting better and back to 15 sets, but with short rest time. during this time in which im increasing the sets with less rest i wont be gaining size yeah ? ( and my muscles wont get bloated and soft either yeah?) so once i get back to 15 sets i increase the weight, and back to less sets and until i get to 15 again or whatever, i wont be putting on size ? so what will be happening, increase in strength endurance and no size increases ?? is this an ok route to take ? for MMA ? so confusing, sorry this must be such a boring post, but very confusing for me, and i have so many other questions about explosiveness etc. and just endurance exercises, regular pushups, situps, for 50 reps at a time etc. or should i just stick to this kind of strength endurance exercise. but most importantly, can anyone answer; the similarities/differences in results from the bear and this strength endurance training.. ? sorry if this is a really obvious answer, i dunno. only place i could turn to. =\ thnx so much people! if you're down here you must have read through the post, unless you just scrolled down to see which idiot started the thread >=\ =P thanks. Phil  

Hi, im 14 years old and new to kettlebells. I use them to help me with wrestling because there is a great carryover with strength and explosive power. My workout today was two handed swings 3x8, one hand swings, 3x8, 3x8, cleans 3x5, shoulderpresses 4x5, then i finished my workout with bodyweight exercises like pullups pushups jumpsquats and dips. Tell me what you guys think or any advice on how to make my workouts better because I really need advice. Thanks. 

Bear with me please, this is kinda long, but I really need some sound advice!!! Guys, I am Marine Officer candidate and currently going into my senior year of college. I am going off to Marine PLC next summer which is kinda like officer 'boot camp' (for lack of better word). I desperately want to be ahead of my peers at the school so I am starting pretty intense training right now for next summer and for the periodic PFT tests that come up. The first PFT is in a little over 5 weeks and I am pretty far behind most of the 50 other candidates that I train with. I am just coming off of two torn calf muscles in my right leg, and have just currently gotten back to 100%. I NEED SOME HELP, and I know this is THE ONLY place to get it! To receive a first class rating on my PFT tests I need to do: 1) 20 or more pullups from the straight lockout position 2) 100 or more crunches in 2 minutes 3) run 3 miles in 18:00 minutes or less Currently I am at 1) 15 pullups 2) have no idea (because I never do worthless crunches, however my abs are hard as rocks, Thanks Pavelizer) 3) 21:50 in the 3 mile run, but I could probably run 30 seconds to a minute faster if I pushed it I know that the tests are extremely arbitrary when it comes to the actual tools you will need in combat, but I have to take them nonetheless and I want to excel. In addition, I would like to maintain and improve my flexibility, increase my ab and core strength, keep, if not improve my 4.5 speed and 53 sec quarter mile. Also, and this goes without saying, I need to improve my strength and am looking for more explosive power (plyos, punching power, jumping, etc.). In addition, any helpful military advice would be greatly appreciated because I know I am missing the boat when it comes to a lot of things. I am not totally lost even thought it may sound like it. Currently I own: 1) 16kg kettlebell (prob need to graduate sizes) 2) Pavelizer 2 3) Ab Wheel 4) Pull-up bar 5) and numerous Pavel Books: Power! to the People, Bullet-Proof Abs, (The Naked Warrior), (Beyond Stretching), and (The Russian Kettlebell Challenge) (video included) I guess I need to know how to put it all together, WITHOUT OVERTRAINING which leads to right calf injuries. All the info in my hands seems overwhelming at times. I can't seem to find some cutting-edge, no-nonsense hard-core military training advice or guidance that will help me blow away the competition other than here. I have a good amount of training knowledge, just need to focus it to an all-encompassing workout. I am willing to do anything, except 'roids or supplements. My days consist of training, going to school and working, so I have time to re-research and train more. Also, I am a poor college kid living on a tight budget. If anyone can point me in the right direction and somehow focus my training I would be greatly in debt. I want to represent Pavel, and the whole dragon door family the best I can. Thanks for reading this far and thanks ahead of time for any and all advice.