Pavel Tsatsouline

No nonsense "tough love" tone. Premise is to tense your muscles then release the tension, to help you relax into a stretch. I don't think I'll be able to get it right though without a professional pointing out what I'm doing wrong that could potentially be harmful to my ligaments or knees.

EDIT: I tried the stretch for the saddle split (after 15 to 30 minutes of warming up, of course), where you pretend you're kicking the walls apart with your feet, which tenses you. Then you breathe out and show more let your chest drop closer to the floor. I couldn't believe it but this was the farthest I've gotten in my stretch. I don't know if I was already capable of this before (the book says that you are), but by putting a bit of faith in his theory, I was able to stretch as I never have before. Will have to go over this book one more time.

For anyone interested in the videos he has his own YouTube channel:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuU4E2LhHDw
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB02UYaQ0rE
Paer 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaljiH52D4g show less

If you are looking for a bodybuilding book that will show you how to pump iron you will be disappointed. Pavel does not care for big flashy muscles, his focus is on functional strong muscles and this is reflected in the book. The other surprising thing about this book is its format as it is actually a collection of muscle articles written by Pavel and friends. I ended up looking through it and just picking the exercises I found suitable for what I wanted to achieve.

Great information--I'm glad I discovered kettlebells. I've made more progress in strength and weight loss with kettlebells than anything else I've tried. Here's my problem with this book (and other books from Dragondoor, the publishers: too much white space, too highly priced. If they charged under $20 this would be a super-fabulous buy. At around $35, it's way overpriced. If you can get a used copy or convince your library to try to find it through inter-library loan, it's well worth it. show more The exercises and workout plan are first rate. show less

This book is more accessible than I expected. It's tone is friendlier than most "know-it-all training" books. Its conversational style is less intimidating. Terrific!