Pavels books on kettlebell training

[HUNTER13]

Are Pavels books on kettlebell training any good/worth it? If so which ones would you recomend?

[Parisrose]

I'm interested in knowing that answer as well.  He has two or three I'd like to have. 

[Rockhead]

This is kind of tough to answer on several levels. The easy answer is "From Russia with Tough Love" for the ladies and "Enter the Kettlebell" for the guys. Both are very good resources. But, and here's the sticky part... if you're not used to his books, you may be disappointed. I originally ordered Naked Warrior a while ago and when I received it I thought I'd been ripped-off.. $35.00 for this? It looked as though it could have been written in 10 pages, regular font and no ads. That being said, after numerous readings, I felt better about it due to all of the information that you kind of have to "look for". None of his books have a "Daily Workout" format that you may be used to seeing in other "exercise" books.
It's similar to Ori's CFT in the original WD book....kindo of hard to decipher how many sets of what at how many reps each day...
When i got into kettlebells, I bought ETK and a book and DVD from Lisa Schaffer at No Fear Fitness as well. To be honest, my wife really liked Lisa's book better (I bought From Russia with Tough Love soon thereafter), and I was able to put together some more varied routines from Lisa's book rather than Pavel's.
Pavel's books are great, but they really concentrate on the basics (which is not a bad thing). He REALLY stresses form, technique and practice, which is all very important.
You will not go wrong with his books in any way, but, there are other great resources as well, so don't limit yourself.
Bottom line- find a Certified KB instructor first, then if money is an issue get....uh, well, I'd have to say (please keep this to yourself) Lisa's book simply because it has more exercises, an easier format to follow and I recall that it was less expensive.

[charleslong]

I would start with Enter the Kettlebell. It's a good book.

Charles

[chico]

I recommend his books. They focus greatly on the basics.

[HUNTER13]

I was able to get 5 of his books and the DVD for 50$ plus shipping (62.72$) just waiting the books to get here, should be around Tuesday. Awesome, cant wait.

[Parisrose]

Hunter - after you've had a chance to go through the books and DVD, let us know what you think about them and which ones you think, personally, would be good for a female who is new to kettlebell training, but not new to training.  I'm going back and forth between Pavel and Lisa Schaffer.  I'm thinking that Lisa may be more focused towards women??  Maybe I'll just her's and one of Pavel's DVDs/books.  Thanks!

[albacore]

I have both ETK and From Russia, and I am finding both useful.

Both books go into a great deal of detail about form, which I think is essential if you can't get any class or private tuition. ETK is better in this respect, giving a set of progressions for each exercise (e.g. for the clean, first you learn to hold, then to rack, then to drop, then to clean.... you get the idea).

From Russia has much more in the way of preparation. It is structured as two four-week workout programs - you don't really do the classic KB exercises (swing, clean etc.) until the second program. In the first program it has things like the single legged deadlift which aren't in ETK (although they are in the online supplements available from Dragon Door).

So FR is more rounded, ETK is more direct KB material.

The Art Of Strength KB workbook is also useful if you want a bit more structure to the ETK workouts. (The From Russia workouts are already very prescriptive.)

All the best,

Matt

[Honkey]

I have to agree. If you are looking into kettlebells the best combo would be Enter the Kettlebell and From Russia with Tough love.  Get the DVDs that acompany them.

ALSO... I love dragoon door and their products but you can save a good bit of $$$ if you buy the books from Amazon.com instead of dragon door directly.

I just picked up the Exteme Cardio kettlebell Workout by Keith Webber from Dragon Door.  At $29 it is a great value for the money.