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

There are pictures of this drill in (Beyond Bodybuilding) but no instructions that I could find. Does anyone have any experience or advice on the drill -- what percentages of DL max to work with, technical points, etc.? Thanks, Rob 

Hey dudes. Ive started trying to GTG with pullups, doing singles throughout the day. I can pull much higher with chins than pullups; with the latter I can just about get my chin over the bar. If I grip the bar in my palm, I can get up about 2 inches higher than if I grip in just my fingers. Presumable if I attatched the bar to my wrist somehow, I could get up a few inches further still, with the same effort. So by this I can see that forearm length plays a role in how high one can easily get with a pullup; the shorter your forearm the higher (bar further down your head/chest) you can get. Could trying to get higher at the top, where it becomes very difficult/impossible to pull any further be considered failiure? Since it is a sort of isometric pull at that point, I guess its ok IF that strength of pull can be maintained, and if it isnt continued until it has to be reduced. I want to be able to experiement with pullup form, but I cant do more than a rep or two without OTing pullups. This makes it hard to try different techniques; it would be ok if I had sets of 5 to play around with. While im posting, do you guys agree than testing a pullup max (not to OMG TOTAL FAILIURE AND DEATH) once every two weeks is reasonable, or once a week? Thanks dudes --Joe 

Hi, I'm Chris, 27, Army officer (infantry).I found tis site researching ways to improve my workouts and boost my functional strength. I've found a wealth of information on this site and in Pavel's books, and I'm now workimg on putting together a specific program. Honestly, I'm suffering a little bit of information overload at the moment. My main goal (and the impetus for the new program) is to pass Special Forces Assessment and Selection which I start January 6th. This is a 24 day "try-out" for Special Forces, and if I pass I will be able to continue SF training, earn the Green Beret, and command an Operational Detachment Alpha. Since there are alot of past and present SOCOM types on this board, as well as a lot of fitness smart guys, I thought I'd ask for input as I put my plan together (cardio plan is already pretty well developed). Here's some specific info (sorry for the length): The Challenge: SFAS Primary focus is on ruck marching, with distance running, obstacle course negotiation, swimming, and team movements carrying heavy awkward items. There is an initial physical assessment spread over the first few days consisting of an Army Physical Fitness Test (2 minutes push ups, 2 minutes sit-ups, two mile run), 50 meter swim in BDUs, distance run and distance rucking, and an obstacle course emphasizing climbing (ropes as well as various wooden structures). After that there is a great deal more rucking (for distance as well as during other activities such as long distance cross country land navigation with a ruck, etc.), some more distance runs, and team challenges that primarily involve moving heavy stuff (ammo cans, water cans, duffles full of sand, HMMWVs missing a wheel, etc.) over distance while wearing a heavy ruck (60-80 pounds). Although there isn't the same kind of deliberate nutritional deficit as Ranger School, I'll likely be taking in fewer calories than I'm burning. Where I'm at: I'm 5'8", 178 lbs, 12-14% body fat. I exercise 7-10 hours per week, until recently using the army system: high rep push ups, sit ups, pull ups and dips to muscle failure + running. Since October I've been on a high-volume (350 year-hours) cardio plan (I use Sleamaker and Browning's SERIOUS system if anyone's familiar) emphasizing running, rucking and swimming. I've never done any serious weight lifting. Some hard numbers: On the APFT I usually do 90-100 push ups, 85-95 sit ups, and run 2 miles right around 12 minutes. I can do 12 chins, 25 dips, and 10 hand stand push ups with my hands elevated on milk crates for full range of motion. Goals: I haven't quantified all my goals specifically yet. My primary focus is long distance cardio endurance, emphasizing high-weight rucking. Second is total body strength, emphasizing endurance, power, and explosiveness in that order. Specific areas are grip endurance, climbing motions, and carrying heavy objects (i.e. farmers walk). I would also like to maintain agility and flexibilty. Body composition wise I don't want to bulk up much or drop body fat below 12% (because of the nutritional deficit thing). Here are a few specific goals, although these are still tentative and I'm open to input: ruck 20 miles with 80lbs in 5 hours; run 10 miles in 65 minutes; swim 200m in BDUs witout straining; 100 pushups in 2 minutes; 100 situps in 2 minutes; 20 bodyweight chins; 1 chin w. 80 lbs; 30 bodyweight dips; 1 dip w. 90 lbs; climb 20' rope without using legs. Also farmer's carry of 2 kettelbells for distance (haven't finalized weight or distance yet) and obstacle course for time, also not final. Plan: As I've said my cardio plan is wll worked out and I think its working for me, but I could use help on te strength portion. I'll probably be integrating kettlebells with bodyweights and some PTP style DLs and presses. Passing SFAS is my primary focus at this point, and luckily I'll be in an Army school the rest of the year which is all 9-5 classroom with no field time, so I can accomodate high training volume fairly easily. I could probably do up to 3 strenght work-outs per day, keeping length under 45 minutes. I'm looking for any kind of input to help me pull my strength training program togther, particularly from guys who have done this type of thing before. Here are some specific questions: When doing periodization should I match up strength and cardio or not (i.e. high intensity cardio week is also high-intensity strength week, or recover one while intensity on the other)? When doing strength vs. strength endurance, vs. explosive strenght, is it best to do different workouts throughout the day for each one, or emphasize each one on a different day of th week, or do a multi-week strength cycle, then strength endurance cycle, etc.? What types of kettlebell exercises would you recommend emphasizing given my goals? Any recommended periodization techniques to keep me from overtraining (which I tend do do when using "instinctual" training)? Whew. Sorry to be so long winded, but it really helped me just to type it all out. Anyway, I'm rally glad I found this forum, and thanks in advance for any elp or advice you can give. Chris  

Hello everyone - I've been working out with kettlebells for 3 months after a co-worker told me that they helped him with his back. I saw a post on the forum from someone that had the same probelms I'm having but forgot to bookmark it. About 3 years ago my toes started getting numb. I saw a podiatrist and he said I probably had pinched nerves in my feet. He gave me some insoles for my shoes and said that they would work out the pinched nerves. After 3 years without them doing anything I started looking into other causes. After some research it appears that I have a bulging disc. My toes and the balls of my feet are numb and my ankles and feet are very tight. I don't have any pain or loss of motion. I can do any exercise I want although I don't like jogging and jumping because of the tightness. It's sort of like my feet fell asleep and won't wake up. Doing kettlebell swings sometimes makes it feel better. I've been doing the stretches in "Treat Your Own Back" by Robin McKenzie for a couple of weeks and they seem to be helping. Also, I've noticed that hanging by my arms like I was at the bottom of a pull-up makes my back feel good. I saw it in (Super Joints) at the library; I think it's called "spinal decompression hangs". (I'm ordering the book tomorrrow Pavel :) My neighbor has had 2 spinal fusions, a 3rd different back operation, and has yet more back problems. He said I sould get an MRI and then do what the doctors say I should do. I've also thought about going to a chiropracter. The podiatrist I saw wanted to lengthen my calf muscles, but that creeps me out and is just not going to happen... Is there any way to get more of a stretch when doing the curved pushup stretch mentioned in the McKenzie book? I can't push myself up anymore. When doing the spine hangs is it ok if you bend your knees? I've been doing 3 of them for 60 seconds from a pull-up bar in a doorway. I don't have anywhere I can do them where my legs are straight. What do you think I should do? If anyone can recommend a doctor/orthopedist/chiropracter/other-medical-person in the Chicago area, please let me know. Thanks for you help, Rebecca 

I just got my P2 today, I've been trying hard to get the form down. I started off with a 25 pound plate and couldn't get it right. The pads kept sliding up to behind my knees and I know thats wrong. I flexed my glutes and pressed my heels into the floor hard, still wouldn't work. So I tried a 10 pound plate which was better. I could hold it down on the back of my calves, it didn't slide up, but I still didn't feel like I was doing it right, my situps didn't feel that much harder. Any advice? On a side note, I'm a rower for my college crew team. I only started this past year, my senior year. I started training lightly with a kettlebell last fall, but crew took over a lot of my time. About halfway through the spring season I started using the kettlebell more often. Every Tuesday we would have a 2000 meter test on the rowing machines at the field house. One week, my time was 6:59.2. I trained hard with the kettlebell 4 days out of the next week and the next Tuesday I shaved a full 7 seconds off, 6:52.2. The results are amazing. Pavel, if you're reading this, thank you! 

A cross country meet is being planned for Oct. 22, 2005. Also, there has been a change in the men's scoring system. Please go to nakf.net to the member forum for further details.  

I think it is Com Jeff Martone who is credited with the idea of a ‘self correcting” exercise. If not my apologies. Basically learn to do it right fast or suffer the consequences.After years of trying to balance my body via micro managing it with variations on isolation exercises;even the “functional” ones on balls and boards, it seems this “body as a unit” thing really works. And has very deep applications. The late, great Dr Mel Siff told me the body knows movements, not muscles, and training hasn’t been the same since for me. After seeing what it is doing to me and my clients I believe there might be a “kettlebell correcting” effect, especially for the deconditioned population , although it is certainly not limited to that at all. As they will build you up if you are thin and slim you down if you are heavy I think the basic kb movments create a unique balance in the body as they require that you move from such a balanced position of power. The body knows how to use the right muscles if you give it the right movements. Rif

http://www.giryastrength,com 

The question I forgot to phrase was - Have you come across any literature (maybe from McGill) that says that a slight posterior pelvic tilt from the sacral spine is optimal posture? fF

Dallas Kettlebell 

A lot of great food for thought. Any comments? jack 

after reading the "world record in pistols" post below, i started wondering what the long term effect on the knees actually were, with regular practice (i.e. GTG day after day to work up to the Speznatz standard or higher). also, are there any pistol points in particular that one should be mindful of to preserve overall knee health? thanks... 

I have not been training more than a few months, and I mean not at all my entire life until recently. I am about 130 pounds 5"7 and 16 years old. I was wondering if only the bicep is used in arm wrestling because I am able to beat a classmate that weighs 30 pounds more than me and can curl weight 10 times where I can only curl it about twice. That doesn't make much sense because I always thought it was purely a bicep contest. 

Hi guys this is my first post here. I do want to say i was inspired when i met Brett Jones and Pavel at a grip gathering i had last December at my home.These guys didn't really do any K.B.stuff but showed some of their strength in other areas.Brett with a pretty good deadlift and Pavel with what appeared to be a zercher type lift from the ground with a weight i don't believe anyone else could do and there were some very strong guys here.Anyway they inspired me to look into adding kettlebells to my training.So i now have a set from 12,16,24,32 and 40kg KB's.With an extra 12 and 24kg. Anyway have a few questions that maybe some of you can help with concerning combining some KB work to enhance my powerlifting workouts.I have seen the article with Donnie Thompson and have some ideas. Right now i usually do KB work after my squat and deadlift workouts. I usually do two arm swings alternating sets to the inside and outside of the legs.Two sets of 20 with the 12kg kb's and two sets of 15 with the 24kg kb's.I then go to one arm snatches working up doing one arm then go to the next droping reps as i go up.I was just able to do a single with a 40kg kb after about five weeks of added kb work.If anyone has some powerlifting experince and has used KB work to help their lifts please advise me on how you incorperate them in your workouts.sorry for the long post i'm just excited to be here.Thanks! 

Are there any RKCs or kettlebellers in general in Salem, Oregon area? 

Pavel, I wrote recently about my drop-zone injury and getting the most bang for my buck in my upper body recovery. You replied to me as: "Com. Bigpig63, use the same GTG principles, just less often. Also vary the difficulty, e.g. easy in the AM, hard (but not max) in the afternoon, medium at night, a lot of volume on Saturday, off on Sunday, etc." I must begin training immediately, so I'll begin as follows: Present ability - 46 PushUps (chest to ground) takes me to failure Goal for 04 Jul 05 - 65 0630 AM - 30 pushups x 2 sets with 2 min rest between Situps, mirroring the above guidelines Mike Mahler Solution for Size and Strength 5x5 routine 1200 PM - 30 pushups x 3 sets with 2 min rest between Situps, mirroring the above guidelines 1800 PM - 15 pushups x 4 sets with 2 min rest between Situps, mirroring the above guidelines Saturday- 15 pushups every hr from 0700am to 1900 pm I will also increase my protien intake to at least one gram per pound of bodyweight and drink one ounce of water per pound, as well. I translated your advice of "Easy, hard, medium" as variation in numbers of sets rather than changing the leverage of my body with feet on a bench or wide arms, close arms, one arm, etc. Please inform me as soon as possible if this routine can be adjusted for better results. I have been training with many people who squeeze all the off-time they can get from their injuries. You might call them "malingerers", and the people at the top are bringing down the axe on poor performers, no excuses. I need everything I've got to get through this. God bless you, Bigpig63  

Please forgive me if I missed the big post. Have the requirements for joining the team been released, do we know who is on the team, when is the meet, and/or has the meet already occurred? Thanks, -Kyle

http://www.geocities.com/dirtyley 

Hi Pavel, I have a question(s) that has been bothering me. DOES STRENGTH BREED ENDURANCE? I have read your articles, and own Naked Warrior, which talks about the necessity of strength training. Is it possible that one can reach such a high level of strength that their endurance increases also? For example, in Naked Warrior, you said a man that weighed 180 lbs. could Bench Press 500 lbs. Does that mean he could bench press 100 lbs. all day? I know their is some correlation, because if someone can't squat their bodyweight (for example), then they probably could not jog for an hour. If I can squat two times my body weight, chances are that I could jog for an hour. Higher max strength seems to equal higher muscular endurance. I'm sure you have heard of Kenyan endurance athletes that can run 4:00 min. miles. From a brief look at their training, they run 4:50 min. miles for 3 to 6 miles regularly. From this, people say that endurance breeds strength. These runners can perform at (compared to the average person) extremely high speeds for long periods of time with very little effort because of the intensity is much lower than their PR. Does strength have an answer? Can a strength athlete perform at some endurance level that is low intensity compared to their max, and not gain muscle size? (muscular endurance) This ties in to the second part of the question-CAN A SMALL MUSCLE BEAT A BIGGER MUSCLE IN MUSCULAR ENDURANCE? If the smaller muscle has max strength of 600 lbs. but doesn't perform endurance training (strength/powerlifter), and the larger muscle doesn't perform much strength training but lots of muscular endurance training (weightlifters) and has a max of say 300 lbs. and reps 50% (150 lbs.) of its max normally in training, would the bigger, weaker muscle perform more reps because of muscular endurance, or would the smaller, stronger muscle perform more reps because its operating at a lower fraction of max strength? 

My Dear Comrades, I am posting this message as a back up to my last one. I have taken the advice that many of you have so wonderfully offered. My aim is to increase my flexibility to a Mutants!!! I will give some history first. I grew up in a boxing family but at 16 I began Thai Boxing. I had never had a high level of flexibility although good enough to aid my competition standard. I retired from fighting in 1988 to spend more time with raising my children and adding focus into my life other than fighting. During those years my gym (and other gyms where I trained) did basic, uneducated forms of flexibility training. Me, I tried everything from buying stretching poles “like the ones at every martial art supply shop” and even one year spent a lot of money on a seated stretching machine. It seemed that neither was working well enough so I searched book stores for advice. I purchased Bill Wallace, Jean Frenetes, Chung Lee books and a few others. I also ordered on three different “desperate” occasions, the works by “Tom Kurtz”, including a video in 1992, a book in 1994, a DVD in 2002 and another book in 2003. Still, I was trapped and could not master full flexibility, or even close enough to be proud of. Then midway of year I decided to try again. I searched around and came across Dragon Door and purchased “(Relax into Stretch)”. This has by far been the best of all. It showed straight forward advice with enough different ways to overcome my “this is rubbish” negative theories. I did what the book said and within two months I was in full front splits and about one foot from a full side split. Then I lost motivation due to things not improving and staying at the same level. My muscles and motivation became depressed once again leaving me sad and nothing more than a desperate failure… again. A short while ago I posted a request here in the forum and got a reply suggesting I purchase “(Super Joints)” also. I have now done that but am not sure where or how to begin. What I am asking is if Pavel or any of the other Comrades here can assist me, I would be forever in your debt. I am not a quitter nor have I ever been. If this will not work I could see myself at 100 years old… still trying to mutate my body into full splits. Well, there is a novel! I am 31 (almost 32, but shhhhhh) and I stand at 6ft 1inchs. I am lean ectomorph body type however I am not a bag of bones. I am above average physical fitness and always play sport or workout recreational. I am healthy and do not drink nor smoke. My problem is I need a specific programme to follow as my head has been overflowed. What exercises, what sets, reps. ECT. You can just quote the exercise names in an order that can assist me. Please, I am on my knees begging but I believe this is it!!! I have spent 15 years “on and off” aiming for one goal. That’s one big journey, I want to end it or at least begin a new one. You can come with me and be my guide to the summit. Re post here or email me personally Kindest (but desperate) Regards Damian Aimers daimers@go.com  

I have no desire to scale rock faces but I would like to investigate using a harness and a counterweight to help me work up to one-arm pullups. Right now I'm making decent progress with the towel-assist method but I can already sense where this method comes up short. Bands are OK but the assistance drops off too much near the top -- makes it tough to work the top position. So, can anyone suggest: (a) cheap but good-enough harness (with sizing advice if that matters), (b) right kind of rope/cord to use with it, and possibly (c) portable pulley or something I could pop on/off a chinup bar? I am going to try a plain old weight belt first but if that is too awkward, I'll give a harness some consideration. Rob 

Hi Comrades. I´m needing some urgent advice from The Party. Here is my problem... In 45 days i´ll have to do a PT for my admission test for a federal law enforcement job and one of the events will be chinups, and i must do at least 10 full reps. Now... my problem is that i´m with "tennis elbow", which give me a boring pain in my left elbow all day long... i put ice on it for multiple sessions all day long to help a little bit. I´ve been doing one daily set of 10 chin ups, even with my elbow condition.... so here is my question: how can i maintain my training for that particular event with this problem of mine? What´s the best (or better) approach? Multiple small reps GTG chins thru the day? One daily set? Weighted? Or other approach would be better? I´ll do everything the Party, in all it´s wisdom, order me to do. Thanks ! Rod 

Okay, its polling time. In (Power to the People), as well as every strongman meet I've ever seen or heard about, the king lift - the Tsar of Lifts - is the deadlift, and it makes sense. Stoop down, grab something heavy, and pick it up. What could be more simple? Then I watched a strongman contest yesterday on TV, and they're doing squats. The most weight ever lifted by a human being was in a squat lift, and the poundages of powerlifters are always higher in the squat than the deadlift. Fred Hatfield boosted up a thousand pounds in the squat, but Mark Philipi only deadlifted 991 pounds. My own experience says that more weight can be lifted in the deadlift than the squat, and the deadlift is easier on your back, too. So what gives? Why are squat numbers higher than deadlift numbers? Do the beautiful people down at the gym simply prefer squats, and once the message spreads further, they'll soon switch over to deadlifts? Is there some biomechanical trick to squats which allows such fantastic numbers to be put up? If you're doing plenty of quality deadlifts, such as in the bear program, should you even look at the squat rack? I PREFER deadlifting, but I can be dogmatic and close-minded, so I thought I should ask around, so that I give the squat its due.  

With some help of the DD people I knwo that the (Strength Stretching) DVD is not for me. It is meant for the powerlifting specialist only. Or at least that is what was implied. So now I need to know what's the difference between "(Loaded Stretching)" and "Fast and Loose" Both seem to be for dynamic activites. So what's the difference? Is loaded Stretching just a shorter version of Fast and Loose? Any help would be appreciated. Sincerely Chris