Table of Contents
The Whys
Moscow trusts no tears
A respectful appeal to your intelligence…the Russian kettlebell workout: science, common sense, and a track record.
What is a kettlebell?
A cannonball with a handle…aka kettlebell…aka girya. Changing stubborn flabbiness into graceful strength.
What makes the kettlebell special? What is it going to do for me?
At last: No compromise total fitness!…how the Russian kettlebell lets you have it all: strength, speed, endurance, and flexibility.
All-around fitness with kettlebells
How Soviet science discovered kettlebell lifting to be one of the best tools for all-around physical development…the greater challenge of K-bells…suitable for men and women, young and old …outstanding grip developers…promoting shoulder and hip flexibility…a highly effective tool for strengthening the connective tissues, especially in the back…how kettlebells set your fat on fire like no other form of exercise...cheap, indestructible and easy to store…how only K-bells deliver strength, explosiveness, flexibility, endurance, and fat loss in one tight package.
What makes the kettlebell workout unique?
Strengthening and utilizing the deeper, harder-to-work, stabilizing and supporting muscles.…more range of motion, realistic ballistic movement... gaining greater daily functional strength…the importance of strong stabilizers…why weekend warriors get hurt…better burning of bodyfat, better muscle definition…stronger tendons and ligaments.
How different is From Russia with Tough Love from your kettlebell program for men?
The greater variety of leg drills... streamlined arms and chest menus…and cool new moves.
Do I need to warm up and stretch before my kettlebell workout?
Why static stretching before exercise is a bad idea… why a warmup is a waste of time …the power of common sense.
Training to failure—or to success?
Why training to muscle failure is not only unnecessary but counterproductive…how to train for success.
Do not be a slave to numbers!
Avoid the road to injury, no gains, and frustration…why you can’t improve in every workout and how to plan for uneven gains…why bouncing and cheating sets you up to lose…choose form and substance over numbers.
Consistency over intensity
The vital process of synaptic facilitation…how to get more juice of your muscles…succeeding with daily submaximal training…the powerful Russian concept of continuity of the training process….why more often translates to extra strength and greater definition…the speed lane to fat loss…how to get rid of unwanted soreness.
Delayed adaptation: taking it easy for greater gains
The giraffe syndrome… the delayed training effect…the power of the adaptation lag… intelligent short-term overtraining… Leonid Ostapenko’s no-brainer cycling procedure.
How to get very strong without bulking up
The mind-muscle link as key to strength…the structural approach to strength training vs. the functional approach… revving up recruitment and firing rate to build strength without adding muscle…acquiring the skill to generate more tension…conscious practice vs. the mindless workout… the skill of staying tight for greater safety and performance.
What is muscle tone, and how do I get it?
The real secret to great muscle tone.
Is it bad to hold your breath?
The scientific pros and cons of breath-holding when exerting yourself.
Lifting the weight vs. feeling the muscle vs. feeling the muscleS
External and internal resistance training…the impracticality of isolation exercises…the importance of integration…using full-body tension for your primary muscles…how to make heavy metal your best friend.
Protect your back with a virtual belt
How to master the secret of intra-abdominal pressure for greater and safer lifting power…the miraculous effects of Virtual Power Breathing.
Get younger and healthier with kettlebells
Success stories: curing a host of maladies with KB’s…rehabilitating hopeless back injuries…from wheelchair to national ranking…for better joint health…the key to a powerful kettlebell swing.
KIAI! your way to super strength
The power of mental focus…special breathing techniques for greater strength.
Kettlebells take so much control. Should I start on the machines?
From mobility to stability…why to start with free weights…the most-excellent lesson of the balloon toss game…protecting your elbows.
Anti-isolation for power and safety
Isolation as a key cause of injury in the gym…the muscle software of irradiation…maximizing tension with the secret of bracing …the grip experiment…what differentiates the great arm-wrestler from the good and the amateur…the pushup experiment…using Starling’s law and the obtyazhka maneuver to get stronger in your press.
Build muscle where it counts
Think yourself strong
The power of thought to make you harder…the Russian sports science concept of skill strength…the dating game iron-style: why’s it all about lessons and practice…feelings of precise control.
Say no to fat and aerobics!
Dr. Schwartz and the training effects of PanaerobicÒ exercise…the fat loss power of the kettlebell explained.
Why doesn’t From Russia with Tough Love offer diet advice?
The kettlebell snatch—safer and more foolproof than most
Surprising discoveries about the safety of ballistic exercise.
Supercharge your heart and lungs without aerobics
Dr. Len Schwartz on the powerful effects of combined exercise.
Treat your kettlebell practice as yoga
Focusing on the mind, muscle, and breathing connection… dispensing with mindless, endless reps.
Strengthen and harden, don’t build
Molding hard obliques… the unexpected benefits of low reps.
Match your breath with the force
Breathing for optimal performance under different circumstances.
Overtraining: Take a lemon and make lemonade
When controlled overtraining or overreaching beats out total recovery training…warning signs to pay heed to…the logging analogy…building up your adaptation reserves for greater gains.
The Hows
How to use this book
From Russia with Tough Love
Basic Training: Weeks 1–4
Learn the perfect squat form and unlock the power of your hips with the BOX SQUAT
The importance of a correct squat and hip thrust…the properly performed standing vertical jump…the crucial distinction between a straight back and an upright back…tackling the box squat—to improve squatting depth, flexibility, technique, and power.
The Workouts: Weeks 1–4
Box squats: SAMPLE 4-week workout
Stretch and strengthen your glutes and hamstrings with the GOOD MORNING STRETCH
Blast your glutes, hams, inner and outer thighs —and even abs! —with the ONE LEGGED DEADLIFT
Strengthen and harden your whole body and especially your obliques with the ONE ARM DEADLIFT
Firm and shrink your waist, boost your overall strength, and protect your back with the POWER BREATHING CRUNCH
Why the conventional crunch is a waste of time and effort…how to avoid neck problems…the mechanism of reciprocal inhibition…the foolishness of high-rep ab training…how to perform Power Breathing for harder abs and a slimmer waist.
Body hardening for teaching tightness
Controlled striking to generate stronger tension.
Learn a better contraction with a partner
Improve your crunch with a little help from your friend.
Get better results in fewer reps with a hot new technique
How to get a stronger workout in fewer reps with certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor Steve Maxwell’s forced rep reduction technique.
From Russia with Tough Love
Advanced Training: Weeks 5-8
The Advanced Training Workouts: Weeks 5–8
Get super flexible and work your hips and thighs even harder with the DECK SQUAT
Melt fat without the dishonor of doing aerobics and blast your hips and inner thighs with the SWING
Get ready to do a lot of cool drills with the CLEAN
Add power and definition to your hips, thighs, and even abs with the FRONT SQUAT
Strengthen and firm your arms and shoulders with the MILITARY PRESS
What if I want to work my pecs more?
The unique kettlebell floor press.
A stable platform to push from
Little-known secrets that help you grade-out higher on the press…how to optimize strength by manipulating the extensor reflex…why locking out your joints is A-Okay.
Safer and more effective high rep presses
How to avoid mediocre presses and back injuries…when, how and why to be very "uptight" when you press…the cardio and fat-burning powers of the clean-and-press…why you want to squeeze your thighs together.
Strengthen your legs and open your shoulders with the OVERHEAD SQUAT
An advanced challenge
Exercising blind for greater strength.
Mold a graceful and athletic body with the TURKISH GETUP
To work your abs more
A masters’ level situp—for those who can hack it.
Comrade Andrea’s Tough Love Diet Plan
Comrade D.C. Maxwell’s training regimen
Shed cellulite, get a hard butt, and enjoy the cardio workout of a lifetime with the SNATCH
Make your fat go into a nuclear meltdown!
Certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor Bill Cullen’s evil routine for maximal fat loss.
Combination exercises
How to concoct cool combination exercises that deliver an unbelievable muscular and cardiovascular workout in a very short period.
Just like yoga with the WINDMILL
An unreal drill for a powerful and flexible waist, back, and hip.
Forge iron wrists and grip and firm up your waist with the BOTTOMS-UP CLEAN-AND-PRESS
Working wonders on your grip, wrists and waist…to improve your striking power in martial arts, tennis and golf.
Get an even harder stomach and tie your upper and lower body into a strong unit with the ROLLING SITUP
Cut up your legs and burn calories with the DRAGON WALK
An evil alternative to the lunge.
The infinity of kettlebell drills
Additional kettlebell resources.
From Russia with Tough Love freestyle kettlebell training
The tremendous versatility of KB’s…using your judgment and listening to your body…caveat exerciser—why KB’s are NOT for brainless, senseless sissies…warnings to take to heart and head…the first commandment of kettlebell training…fragmentation of the training volume for more effective strength adaptation…the secret power of multiple mini-sessions…why fresh and frequent rules…variation cycling for quicker progress…workout length…
relative intensity…sets and reps…rest periods between sets and high motor density…using tempo changes to your advantage…exercise order…shuffling things up…when best to practice what…when to address a private weakness…circuit training and the phenomenon of fatigue specificity…interval circuit training…why smorgasbord can be the way to go…using the right-sized weight.
Another way to cycle your workouts
Two great alternatives to straight sets
Interval training…the ladder, a Russian Special Forces favorite.
Comrades speak out on the dragondoor.com forum
The kettlebell advantage
Naming your kettlebells
Can I use a dumbbell instead?
The power of kettlebells
Protect your back with tight abs
Kettlebells deliver usable strength
Shrink your waist with Power Breathing
Excel at sports with kettlebells
Kettlebells raise hell at a health club
Simplify with kettlebells
A pleasant surprise
The magic of kettlebells of different weights
Squat deeper and safer
Fill out in all the right places
Burn fat without the dishonor of dieting and aerobics!
Try this fat burner if you dare!
Snatch and nothing but the snatch
Beyond aerobics
Russian yoga
The art of kettlebelling
Comrades saying goodbye to their glass backs
The bottoms-up press rocks!
Comrade D. C. reports on her freestyle KB workout
The no-hassle workout
The Party says: "Kettlebells rule!"
"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
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