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

There seems to be a strong consensus on this board especially among the trainers that specificity rules and there is little if any carry over from one activity to another. Cross Fit style workouts are basically deemed as not effective for much and it's repeated over and over to be a specialist if you want to be good at something, otherwise you won't be good at anything. In a post a few pages back it was said that the WTH effect may just be ballyho used to sell kettlebells and that there is such little carryover between activities that practicing to walk on a tightrope won't help you at all for walking on a balance beam. But then you look at the advertising for kettlebells and the WTH effect is touted as a major reason to use them. According to the studies kettlebells will make you better at such dis-similar activites such as pull-ups, the powerlifts, running (sprints & medium distance), and broad jumps. So what is it? Is there carry over or not? I suspect it's like anything, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Obviously running marathons won't prepare you for a powerlifting meet and vice versa but to go so far as to say squats won't help you in jiu-jitsu and tight rope walking won't help you on the balance beam seem to be arguments a little to far in the other direction. For the less than 1% at the world level of competion maybe, but for the other 99% + of us that are regular Joes, there seems to be quite a bit of carryover between various athletic activites. I'm not here to get anyones panties in a bunch, I'm just trying to see how far we need to split this hair. Just my observations, let 'er rip.  

I would be interested to know how Pavel's training diary looks or if anyone knows how any other prominent fitness figures such as Chek, Gray, John etc. actually organise their workouts. Just curious... 

Just wondering if any heavier kettlebells are going to be sold by dragon door possibly upto some of the ranges that Max kettlebells sell, maybe a 56k bell ? 

i asked this question about a week ago, but it was a friday night and got buried. but im curious, how far has someone taken PTP? does someone walk into the gym pulling 600x5,or 700x5 plus thier 90% strict PTP style? i can see 500x5 in my grasp probaly this year, but i figure a lot of people can probaly do that, even if not on PTP. id love to hear some stories! -Neil 

This is a repost; I posted it over the weekend but I think it got buried. I shortened it a little. I also had a bunch of other stuff I wrote before this part; if you care to see it is here: http://forum.dragondoor.com/training/message/386752/ 1. What are the girevoy sport guidelines for reps of various exercises in what time limits? (I.e. how many snatches in how many minutes, etc). I'd like to test myself once in a while. 2. What are numbers to work up to for "respectable" volume limit? Is there an absolute ceiling on acceptable volume? When do you start seeing diminishing returns (and how can you help avoid it)? 3. If you are forced to train on less sleep and poorer food intake, what are some recommendations for scaling back to try and progress (or at least maintain) without overtraining? Take into account limited free time. I.e. 15-16 hour workdays, leaving the rest of the time for traveling to and from work (hopefully I will live locally next year) eating at least one meal outside of work, studying, and sleeping at least a few hours a night. That is probably about the worst it will get. (I will either get off on some weekends, or the next day off after a 24-hour shift). Other months the workdays are shorter, maybe 13-14 hours). In a rough spot, what are some good ways to get a workout in 10 minutes or so without overdoing it, but still making some improvements over time? 4. What are some other good ways to stick to mostly ballistic drills for a while, but manage to vary it (by varying the drills, sets, or variations of drills)? 5. What are the best loosening drills for your hamstrings and lower and upper back/neck after a session? (Loaded and unloaded stretching ideas welcome) 6. What is the best "active recovery" for KB/conditioning workouts vs. PTP/BB-type workouts? Thanks everyone! Com. Joey NYC 

Hi Everyone, After 2+ years of gains with RKC, I decided to try a few months of dedicated PTP lifting. Taking my program directly from the book ~ 14 day cycle, 5 days a week, etc. I focused on deadlift and bench with PTP and then some secondary exercises each day like windmills or renegade rows. I completed 4 strict cycles and saw steady gains. Here are some questions as I look to plan my next phase: 1. How many cycles of PTP on the same exercise are realistic before getting stale? 2. I was considering my next phase to be the 6 week Fast 10s. Will the various swing movements of Fast 10s maintain my deadlift gains? 3. Fast tens is a M,W,F program. Any recommendations of T,TH or just active recovery / RIS? 4. Moving back and forth between RKC and PTP how long should one focus on each. Back and forth: month to month, every 2 weeks -longer, or shorter? Thanks for any feedback!