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To give you an idea, I implemented greasing the groove for pushups, and went from being able to do only about 35 up to 71 in a matter of 4 weeks. If I don't understand why, I won't do it.
Some people may be disappointed that the book does not cover dozens or hundreds of different exercises. Pavel's book covers only 2 exercises: the one-handed pushup and the one-legged squat.
Pavel's naked warrior is an absolute goldmine of information. I like to know why I'm doing what I'm doing.
However, the other information surrounding it is absolutely golden. I'm a very inquisitive and analytical person.
Pavel tells you WHAT to do, and WHY it works.His idea of greasing the groove alone should be worth triple the price of this book. I implemented greasing the groove with deadlifts, and went from a 1RM of 280 up to 325 in about 6 weeks.I can not say enough good things about this book.
This is a great book which proves you don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment to become physically strong and powerful. The techniques taught in this book can be used with whatever strenth training you want the 2 excercises highlighted in The Naked Warrior are the pistol and one arm press up as well as easier and harder variants of the 2. But i will use the techniques now to help me perform one arm pull ups too.I like Pavels writing style too, it amused me and kept me interested. Buy it, if you follow all his instruction you will not be disappointed.
GTG is the idea that if you do five or less reps of an exercise thoughout the day, you will eventually get to the point where the exercise is effortless. When I purchased this book, I expected a book about working out with just ones bodyweight. This is tied to the idea that strength is a skill and that training to failure is counter productive because it requires a lengthy recovery time. This book is not that at all. Of course, at his point, I can only do pistols from a medium level bench, but believe that I can work them into my regular routine and improve to the point where full pistols are possible. Obviously, if you don't have weights handy, you must do body weight exercises. I, for one, normally use about thirty minutes of calisthenics and thirty minutes of aerobics for my workouts.
When doing bodyweight exercises, one must focus on either making the exercise exceptionally difficult or doing higher and higher repetitions. Therefore this book focuses on two exercises to get a good strength workout in until you find a barbell handy.Having said that, The Naked Warrior delivers on its intended topic. Doing higher and higher repetitions is not strength work, but rather endurance work. However, the discussion of proper form combined with discussion about the tension techniques (staying tight) are well worth the cost of the book.
The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline is not what it seems. However, I hate doing more than thirty reps of anything. Therefore, I intend to work in OAPs and Pistols into my regular workouts. At this point, five pistols to a medium chair is test of my strength, flexibility, and balance.Additionally, this book discusses Greasing the Groove (GTG). Of course you can do easier versions of these exercises, for example pistols to or from a high chair, if your strength and flexibility is not quite where it should be. Nothing in this book is a super secret of Soviet Strongmen. It is a hypothesis that one wants to do some serious strength training, but due to travel, bad timing, or some other circumstance a barbell is not available. Additionally, there are some discussions about using breathing to generate extra strength and how to stay tight during exercises.
To make the exercise more difficult, you must shift your weight between your arms and legs so that one arm or leg is at a disadvantage or so that your arms (or legs) are carrying a higher percentage of your bodyweight.Two of the most extreme examples of this are the one-armed push-up (OAP) or the one-legged squat (pistol). These are the two exercises that are discussed in mind numbing detail in the book. All of these topics are helpful - at least to me - when attempting these two exercises.Bottom line: Nothing in this book is rocket science. My recommendation is to use this book as a handy reference prior to or just after exercising.
Garbage fire with full PPE - EASY. Not making myself stand out, but being a volunteer emt/firefighter, and mountain biking addict, this book is perhaps the biggest, most simple way to increase performance in any sport. The endurance, strength and control that this book teaches you (if you apply it correctly) will turn you into a mutant. Within two months of owning this book, and attempting (sometimes properly completeing) the exercises in this book have made me extremely resilient to the barrage of physical battering i put my body through. Three switchbacks coupled with intense bike climbing, EASY. Goodlooking muscle tone, extraordinary strength, and NO MEAT LOCKER look. ;) I hate gyms :)
The excersizes are tough; but they improve balance, total body tension, and useful strength. This was my first book by Pavel. A chronic shoulder injury is currently retarding my progress in the one armed push up, but the principles in "The Naked Warrior", "Power to the People", and "Relax into Stretch" are helping me with other excersizes that I can do despite my rotator cuff tear. I accidentally happened upon it in a bookstore and bought a copy for a friend. Naturally; I read it first, decided to keep it, and bought a second copy as the gift. I have found the deadlift especially rewarding. There is some overlap in each of these books, but each of them have been undeniably instrumental in my motivation, technique and continued strength gains.
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