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

Gals/guys, I hung from a pullup bar (two arms) with 2 2poods on my ironmind squats belt. The weight on the belt effectively pulled my shoulders and spine to a point of great relaxation. The point of posting this is to ask what you back specialists think. Overhead lifting is a big part of GS(100%) and I haven't been stretching enough. The reason being is that I felt really good after this RKC. Anyways, I will test the pullup bar integrity by adding more weight. Though 4 pood is a lot I've hung on one arm (with a lot of chalk and false grip) with 5 pood in the other hand. two arms with 8 pood would interesting. The hard part would be to stand up with once it was in my belt. The other thing is would my pullup bar rip out of the wall. Marty 

Quick question. When getting in to postion for the DL I pull myself down, chest out shoulders back, grip the bar, get tight and squeeze the bar off the ground. I notice that about hlaf way up my shoulders, although my chest is still out and back arched, tend to come forward a little. Not enough to round my upper back though. Should I focus on keeing the scapula retreacted through out the whole movement? Or is it OK if the shoulder come forward a little. My goal is to get my pull back to where it is college, but with better form, and to add a littel beef to my upper back and traps. Thanks, BJ 

Hi, This is my first post here.I have some questions for Mr.Tsatsouline(or anyone that can help). I read on one of Pavels answers here on the forum(although i can't find it now to quote it exactly) that he recommends fighters perform deadlifts instead of squats because fighters shouldn't want to add leg mass. 1-Do deadlifts stimulate your legs enough?(sorry if you find that a dumb question.I have always done squats) 2-If the PTTP training approach is used,couldn't you squat without adding size? Also,Mr.Tsatsouline recommends a trainee shouldn't stretch everyday.However,i am currently training to grade and train twice per day(running in the A.M,sparring or weights in the P.M). I am currently stretching after each session.Would you say it is ok not to stretch after each session?I am training to improve my flexibility,so don't want to "tighten up" after running. Any help would be appreciated, Gaijin 

Pavel, how is your brother-in-law doing? Also, how is the COC#3 gripper coming along? Is your elbow doing better yet? 

I have been using a 36 lbs. kettle bell for about two years with good results and no back pain. Recently I upgraded to a 53lbs and no after 15 min. of snatches, cleans and jerks I have found that my lower back hurts for the next several days. I have been paying close attention to my form, keeping my back bowed forward and driving from the legs. Any other suggestions? Thanks 

Had 2 major conversations last week, one with Maxwell about how to refine a crossfit style template (circuits mixing strength and endurance)to fit our goals/likes (kettlebells and bodyweight)/experiences (staying injury free) and one with Rob Lawrence about his elegant "just double it" idea. Basically Rob gave a talk at the RKC (as he explained it to me) which distilled the whole grinds v. ballistics/strength v. endurance thing down to this - if 3x5 works for strength and grinds (3-5 sets of 3-5 reps) - then for ballistics/endurance "just double it" (6-10 sets of 6-10 reps) on short rests. Eddie's style of strength endurance fits in with this too (less reps/more weight). Now I've talked to both these guys at least a few times week for years, but for some reason it all clicked and I felt the whole thing coming together. Used the four days at the beach to start working out some new workouts although I have limited stuff there. Ingredients will be simple, KBs and bodyweight mostly (but more 1 arm, weight vest and weighted stuff) - more of a shift in how to skew the work more toward strength while holding onto more then enough fitness/leaness. Of course there is no perfect formula - but all the fun's in the looking/playing /experimenting. Logs updated with my last 4 workouts. Bill  

Let me first say that I am thankful to Pavel for his training insights and expertise - your book "(Power to the People)," has radically changed the way I train. While I have learned much from you Pavel, I was injured before being introduced to your techniques. I developed elbow tendonitis while serving in the US Army (thousands of push-ups!) and have not been able to get past the stabbing pain of elbow tendonitis. What can I do to rehabilitate my elbows? Doctors have told me to get cortisone injections, and to stop working out - stupid quacks, I'm not going to quit training. What should I do Pavel?  

i am interested in doing this as i want to do a push pull in the fall. If a fair amount of people are going i will take the trip to go lift. If there is little interest i can find a meet closer to home. If i go, i will be benching in gear and doing the push pull to PR and win. Is the idea here to pull in just a belt? I can go either way on DLing in a suit or singlet. jmo jack

Meet Entry 

i am interested in doing this as i want to do a push pull in the fall. If a fair amount of people are going i will take the trip to go lift. If there is little interest i can find a meet closer to home. If i go, i will be benching in gear and doing the push pull to PR and win. Is the idea here to pull in just a belt? I can go either way on DLing in a suit or singlet. jmo jack

Meet Entry 

Comrades, I recieved beyond bodybuilding and in the part about pullup ladders Pavel mentions a boy fresh out of high school who he helped earn the navy seal trident. Saying that he had success with the ladder protocol. I was wondering if pavel or anyone else in the know could tell what the boy's training regimen looked like, and how long it took the boy to get to the level where he needed to be to accomplish training. thanks alot 

Stats: 37 years old mother of two BW = 126 DL = 220 http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Picture-00241 

so here's my story. i'm a sailor in the us navy, stationed in california going to class from 8-3:30 mon-fri. i've always considered myself in decent shape, however a recent physical fitness test sort of proved me wrong. i didnt score nearly as well as i though i would, only about 55 pushups in 2 min, 70 situps in 2 min, and a 9:30 mile and a half run (was actually sort of proud of the run). i want to get in better shape, and ive been doing kettlebell workouts with a guy in my class on and off for about a month, but not as much as i would like. i've only got about six more months left in california, and i would like to smoke the next assessment in november. can anyone help me come up with a workout plan that i can follow? im very unknowledgeable about what to do, how much to do, etc. so if anyone knowledgeable about such things can help me out, it would be very VERY much appreciated. thank you. 

This is an excerpt from today's article on Tmag.com Comments Pavel The Science of Specificity — John Garhammer, Loren Chiu, and Brian Schilling • After the sport's skills are learned and athletes have reached a high level, the best adaptations and improvements come from the gym. • Only sport practice is 100% specific. Strength and conditioning exercises don't have to mimic or look like the sport. (Another common theme of this conference.) • Single-leg squats don't transfer well to sports maneuvers such as cutting on the field. • The best balance training device is the barbell. Athletes need to put weight over their heads in exercises like the snatch to develop true core stability. This is better than any stability ball exercise. Are these the best balance training devices ever invented? • Generally speaking, fast training increases strength at fast velocities; slow training increases strength at slow velocities. • "Functional training" is kind of like the Department of Redundancy Department. Hopefully all of your training is functional. Anyone have "non-functional" days? • The vertical jump is a great indicator of performance. In one study, football coaches were asked to rank their players from best to worst. After vertical jumps were tested, the results were compared to the coaches' rankings. Sure enough, the good jumpers were the best players and the bad jumpers were the worst players. • Bodybuilders train muscle. For sports performance, you train the neuromuscular system. • Too much machine training can lead to a loss of coordinatio 

This is an excerpt from today's article on Tmag.com Comments Pavel The Science of Specificity — John Garhammer, Loren Chiu, and Brian Schilling • After the sport's skills are learned and athletes have reached a high level, the best adaptations and improvements come from the gym. • Only sport practice is 100% specific. Strength and conditioning exercises don't have to mimic or look like the sport. (Another common theme of this conference.) • Single-leg squats don't transfer well to sports maneuvers such as cutting on the field. • The best balance training device is the barbell. Athletes need to put weight over their heads in exercises like the snatch to develop true core stability. This is better than any stability ball exercise. Are these the best balance training devices ever invented? • Generally speaking, fast training increases strength at fast velocities; slow training increases strength at slow velocities. • "Functional training" is kind of like the Department of Redundancy Department. Hopefully all of your training is functional. Anyone have "non-functional" days? • The vertical jump is a great indicator of performance. In one study, football coaches were asked to rank their players from best to worst. After vertical jumps were tested, the results were compared to the coaches' rankings. Sure enough, the good jumpers were the best players and the bad jumpers were the worst players. • Bodybuilders train muscle. For sports performance, you train the neuromuscular system. • Too much machine training can lead to a loss of coordinatio 

I'm sure you get this question about a hundred times a day, but what does your training routine look like??? Personally, I like to just do the stuff on your RKC Ballistics/Grinds, with the occasional routine from Maxwells, Mahler, or Martone. Anyways I was just curiuos to see whether you mostly do a combination of different styles of training or if you favored any particular style (PTP, RKC, GTG). The reason why I ask is because even though you seem very thin your strength and endurance sometimes seems almost superhuman. Do you train more than four days a week??? Sorry for all the questions I know that you’re a busy guy. Frank Nunez 

I have been doing power to the people since Dec. 2003. I started my deadlift at 90lbs and have been following the structured wave cycle. I did the same for the side press starting at 15 lbs. I usually lifted two days in a row, 1 day of rest, and 2 more days in a row. I did cardio on my off days. I did 2 sets, 5 reps each. In February of 2005, I started working out with a 16 kg kettlebell. I have since been working out every other day for 6 days with one day of rest. I dropped the number of reps per set for the deadlift to 3 each in March of 2005 when I started noticing I was having trouble doing 5 reps. I deadlift 3 days a week and do a kettlebell pressing exercise on those days. The other days are ballistic kettlebell workouts. Just this week, I hit a plateau with the deadlift, where I couldn't do the 3 reps. My peak lift is 315 lbs. My question to the group is am I deadlifting enough per week? I think I have been following the structured wave cycle for too long and am thinking about following a step cycle. Any suggestions as to how to break the plateau, and how to work in the kettlebell routines with the deadlift?