Reddit reviews Power to the People!: Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American
We found 9 Reddit comments about Power to the People!: Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
For those who don't know, this guy is Pavel Tsatsouline. He's a pillar of the kettlebell community in the US. His book 'Enter The Kettlebell' is treated with reverence over at /r/kettlebell
This video, Power To The People, is based on a book of same name which teaches deadlifts and presses; it is also fantastic.
I've read so many books that I honestly cannot say that any particular one is the most important. However, here's a list of really good ones:
I've read so many more books than that. Since these are the only ones that I can think of off the top of my head, I'd say that they are the ones that have made the biggest impression from reading them.
I seem to get the best results from running, especially in the moderately strenuous range. Also, I usually need to do at least 20 minutes.
But I get really bored doing steady pace aerobic so I usually do some kind of interval training--for example, 5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 5 x (1 min. run, 1 min. walk), 5 min. jog, 5 min. walk. I'll vary the interval times from 30 sec. to 3 min. and occasionally do all out 10 sec. sprints. Interval workouts give me the same mood boost as, say, running 20-30 min. but with less boredom and fewer nagging injuries. I try to run about 3 days per week.
I also lift 2 or 3 times a week, hardly ever on the same day I run. Lately, I mostly do a pretty minimal program focused on dead lifts and presses. I've just started the Power to the People program, which I like so far, but it's still early days. I have found when I do high volume lifting (by which I mean 5+ sets of 5 on 2 or 3 big lifts per workout) several times a week, it doesn't do much for my mood. You need a lot of rest to recover from those types of workouts and I always ended up feeling like I was dragging the bar around every waking moment.
So far, the PttP program, with it's emphasis on "practice" over training, hasn't left me feeling so destroyed. But overall, lifting doesn't do nearly as much for my mood as running (and to a lesser extent, biking). I think of it as a support activity, to make the running easier and reduce injuries. I know some people say lifting works well for them, but I tend to overdo it and end up feeling exhausted and terrible, which is the opposite of what I want.
tl;dr: Moderate to high intensity interval training for at least 20 minutes about 3 times a week works best for me.
Understand your concern...having said that:
It is effective.
(I and many others have used it to accumulate volume in a sustainable way....and also in a way that one can easily incorporate into everyday busy lives)
It is tested.
(utilised in many countries basic training programs for military)
It works.
(see above)
Its called the grease the groove method... there is lots of testimony around it... utilised in many countries basic training programs..
For more google it or:
book
EDIT: haha, I made bold headings! how the fuck did I do that!!? ...soz, it now looks like Im shouting at you.
N=1, lower intensity, higher reps, short rest. Submaximal training.
My "go to" rep set scheme that I found is the best of strength and hypertrophy in the shortest amount of time and easiest to implement was Pavels "Power to the People" (Strength=1x5 heavy set, 1x5 90% of first set)(Hypertrophy= 80% of first set, multiple sets of 5 until you lose form. short rest.) Sometimes I do the 80% at higher rep ranges. I like this better for volume than 3-4 sets of 10.
One of the problems is that low-quality shoes generally take a while to reveal their crumminess. You might have to walk a couple days in them to really see how bad they are. In the case of my Skechers (see other response in this thread), it took a while before I noticed that half of my middle toe was numb 24/7 (not front or back half, the whole right half!). Then I noticed that I was losing feeling in other toes, too - not to mention the nice scabs I had from where the toe cup cut back onto the top of my foot. I was in a job where I had to walk all over a very large restaurant for long hours several days a week.
The $30 I paid for the Chinese ones I bought in Japan was a bad choice, but I was broke. The Skechers were like $60 or something - though I did get refund for them. I concede that price may not be an indicator of "quality." The Chinese shoes caused my ankles to tighten up significantly, because, as I discovered, the flex point in the sole was too far forward, causing my lower leg muscles to contract with each stop (to hold the ankle in place). That combined with the heel being a tad too thick caused my ankles to get all sorts of tight. (EDIT: I think that Converse All-Stars are "good shoes" because they let your feet be your feet and don't try and control where they flex - so price is not necessarily an indicator of whether a shoe will screw up your feet.)
Regarding quality, I believe that most people don't know how to evaluate shoes because they don't know how their feet are connected to their knee stabilizing muscles. Essentially, people blame pains they have on their knees or ankles when they should really blame their shoes. The problem is that the shoes have too much cushioning in the sole. When the sole provides too much cushioning then the nerves in the feet are incapable of sending quantity-of-force and direction-of-force nervous signals to supporting muscles around the knee. This is because the sole's softness dissipates the forces coming into the foot, providing a confusing signal for the nerves in the feet. So, the leg muscles do not properly stabilize the knees because they don't know how to do so (the muscles don't get the correct information about the directions of force they would protect against). Ironically, people are convinced that shoes with "more support" are somehow better for them. This can't be true.
If you want to fix your knees walk barefoot on hard surfaces at least part of the time everyday. You will learn, by use, how to place your foot on the ground, because mistaken use is painful. This will help to retrain your leg muscles at stabilizing your knees - though there are exercises which are even better, which I don't know that I could describe in textual form. The foot should be placed heel, ball, toe and in a direct straight line where the ankle lies under the knee lies under the hip. If you need exercises to correct that (it's safe to assume that yes, you do) see Pete Egoscue's book Health Through Motion. Regarding the nerves firing to your stabilizing muscles, Pavel Tsatsouline's book Power to the People discusses this in the context of why you should not lift weights with gloves on - for safety. This last is because, like the feet, the hands have nerves in them which perform the same function (stabilizing elbow and shoulder by providing direction-of-force and quantity-of-force data to supporting muscles).
Sounds a lot like "Greasing the Groove" Some dude named Pavel came up with it in a book called Power to the People
Some people swear by it for increasing reps on bodyweight exercises. There are plenty of threads in Bodyweight Fitness discussing the same technique and similar variations.
If you want to be able to do more pushups, do more pushups. That makes sense.
How do you (meaning all of r/fitness) view Pavel Tsatsouline? A friend of mine let me borrow his book, and I wanted to know if he is generally considered a reputable authority on fitness/strength training, or if I would be better off looking elsewhere?
Some ideas... not really endorsements:
Stretching Scientifically
Power to the People
Naked Warrior
Infinite Intensity or Never Gymless