Customer Reviews

Bullet-Proof Abs: 2nd Edition of Beyond Crunches

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Before purchasing this book, I carefully considered the negative comments registered about it here on Amazon.com. The negative comments claim that it's an "infomercial marketing the Pavelizer.
Nonetheless, the positive statements finally won me over and I ordered it.

Now let's see how many pages are devoted to marketing. The body of the book (ending with part 5) totals 113 pages. The advertisements for his other books come after that 113 pages. Of that 113 pages, 8 pages are devoted to pictures and text that focus on the pavelizer. That's around seven percent of the book.
Keep in mind that, he does show you how to do the Janda situps without the machine but with assistance from a partner. The pavelizer is for those people who dont have a training partner. Fair enough.

Even if we skipped the Janda situps altogether, we would still be left with 80-85 pages of other exercises which do not rely on the pavelizer. Some of these exercises are very innovative and the ones I have tried so far are winners.

I do not have the background in physiology to argue one way or the other regarding Pavel's low opinions of crunches. But I am sick of crunches and dont want to do them anyway, so it's a moot question for me!

On the other hand, it is fair to say that such a short book should not be so expensive: $34.95 is too much for a book this short. I bought a used copy for about $20 bucks. The information in the book is worth 5 stars, but because of the expense, I lower the rating to 4 stars.

Like Pavel's other books, this one is short, easy to read, and straight to the point. The value of the information far exceeds the price; I've read many other books on abdominal training, none of which has information of comparable value. The most effective exercises for the abdominals, obliques, and other muscles of the torso have been collected here and explained, along with the principles of effective ab training. He explains why "going for the burn" with endless sets of ineffective crunches is a waste of time, and what works better. I thought my abs were in pretty good shape from doing some other well-regarded programs, such as Health for Life's Legendary Abs, but Pavel's program is more effective.

Many of these exercises are not covered in other sources in much detail; you'll have to dig pretty deep to find much on Full Contact Twists, Janda situps, why squeezing an object between your knees magnifies the effectiveness of abdominal training, and a number of other gems. The breathing exercises are rarely covered in most ab training books, despite their usefulness.

The author does not "make" you buy his device, either; he simply explains why it is an effective way to do Janda situps, an amazingly demanding and effective exercise that truly isolates the abs, which crunches purport to do but can't. Having done Janda situps with a partner and with a Pavelizer, I can say that the Pavelizer is more effective; it doesn't try to help you, as a partner often does.

Elite powerlifters and other strength athletes have high praise for Pavel's program, because it works. Ignore the whiners and buy it if you want to learn real ab training.

I won't waste your time with bull.

You want abdominals? Those showy, model abdominals?

Well, those are made in the kitchen. Sorry. Buy "The Metabolic Diet" by Mauro Di Pasquale and lose that spare tire. Also, take a look at "The Russian Kettlebell Challenge" (also by Pavel Tsatsouline) to lose fat and put on muscle at the same time.

You're still here? Oh, I see. You want ABDOMINALS. Not JUST showy, model abdominals, but abs that can stabilize your core with no belt when you're deadlifting 500+ pounds, abs that can take that ham-fisted brawler's hand and laugh it off, abs that are good enough to do circus tricks with, abs that you can build in your basement with less than ten bucks worth of equipment? (Or no equipment at all?)

Pavel's the man that you want for that job, and in this book he tells you how to build a world class midsection capable of these feats and more.

He explains where the conventional thinking on abdominal training in the US went wrong, and why training his way is better. He'll teach you how to make your abs and obliques into "team players" so you can throw farther, punch harder, and drive that golf ball like you've never done before. Moreover, he teaches you "forgotten" midsection breathing techniques and high tension techniques from martial arts that will make all the difference in your abdominal training.

The one thing--the ONLY thing--I don't like about this book is the eight pages he spends hawking his "Ab Pavelizer". I wouldn't mind it so much if he showed you how to correctly perform the Janda situp with a partner, as well, but he doesn't.

The upside of this issue is the website featured in the book. Pavel (or one of the other "comrades") will be happy to tell you how to perfrom the Janda situp correctly. The "tech support" for all of his products is awesome.

I give this product five stars because, if you're like me, you know all of the conventional theories on ab training, you've tried them, and you haven't gotten anywhere. (Or at least not as far as you've wanted to go.) Pavel shows you how to break through that barrier, and he turns all of your previous knowledge on the subject into "superknowledge"--because you can combine many of his techniques with other things that you already know.

Pavel's training is on an entirely different level than 90% of the training literature out there. I can't reccomend his books highly enough.

The downside to buying Pavel's books is that they're expensive ... for such small books, and he always spends a few pages plugging his other books and/or products.
The upside is that he writes the best books on the market. "Bulletproof Abs" teaches you the best exercises you can do to increase the functional strength of your abdominals, and get that sexy "six-pack" if that's what you're after. Most of the exercises can be done at home, using no equipemnt (or cheap equipment). Those angry reviewers who insist this is an info-mertial for his ab-machine (which he admittedly does advertise in the book) seem to overlook that he demonstrates how a partner can take the place of the "Pavelizer". The other exercises can be done alone. Pavel is the leading ab guru among the serious iron-lifters for a reason: his stuff works.

A popular, (and successful), philosophy among strength trainers is to train harder and briefer. This theme hasn't been applied to the abdominal muscles,(check all the high rep, low resistance 'tools' on TV ads), UNTIL NOW. Pavel uses the the latest knowledge to TRULY isolate, (crunches won't do it), the abs for the first time. What this means is brief sets like never before, ( those ' 6 minutes workouts' for the abs are NOT brief, just trying doing six minutes of crunches). Imagine doing a set of revised situps that stress the abs so well that you've had your best ab workout ever in less than ONE minute! No comparison; the only ab book worth getting.

This review will discuss the book and online debate about Mr. Tsatsouline and his methods.

The obvious:

Cons - Short book for an unproportional amount of money.

Pros - Short book, to the point, worth the money!

The total book will be a quick read and initially you may think that he charges too much for too little. Obviously, you have not read the book or tried the methods therein. I too was aprehensive of the book at the set price, but I followed my intuition and dove right in.

The book presents a myriad of exercises devoted to strengthening your core muscles. Will you slim down? Maybe, but how does your diet look? Will you get a six-pack? Maybe, but again how is your diet and what are genes doing phenotypically? This book is directed at building power, effectively, for tactical, martial and practical purposes.

Yes, he markets his Ab Pavelizer, along with all his other products and some select Dragon Door products. Yes, he charges $35 for his book. Look at it this way. He comes from Russia, knows the hardships of Communism and the aftermath of it. He says himself how he has turned in to a "Capitalist Dog." You must have a sense of humor and laugh at jokes. Or be completely analytical and criticize he efforts to: make you smile and himself laugh. I can smile at his humor, read his book with ease and benefit form his teachings.

With that point made, his book is very user friendly! You need no degrees or special formulas to understand his writing. In that his book can be for almost anyone.

Since it is short, it must be concise for the reader to get a good understanding of the exercises to undertake it themselves.
As well, there are enough exercises, with variations for beginners to advanced athletes to design a proper program based on their needs and wants (to a point!).

Contained in the book is a Q & A section with some commonly asked questions or already asked questions (I assume). Also, if you do decide to buy a Pavelizer, contained is a nice little section devoted to training with it. But thanks to Mike Mahler, I learned how to do it solo, with two KBs or anything else you can find and let your imagination create a way.

Pavel, cites his sources when necessary, so question scientific evidence and hard-earned experience if you must. Or experiment yourself and find out first hand if the claims are true.

The book presents fundamental principles on various subjects, a brief touch of :
-basic biomechanics
-basic lifting protocol
-basic physiology
-basic anatomy
-basic breathing protocol (Power Breathing)

When I say "basic" I mean basic. This book in no way implies it contains exhaustive explanations of any of the above. It does though, detail the performance of each exercise with suitable pictures. I have not viewd the complimenting videos / DVDs but I am sure they would be of great value to those visual learners out there. But if you have a good imagination, some experience with movement, and a good understanding of what he wrote, you can manage splendidly.

I feel this book is of value to martial artists (in Traditional / Classical arts - Karate, Muay Thai, MMA, TKD, Boxing, etc.), tactical operators (SWAT, LEO, Special Ops, etc.), athletes (football, track, soccer, baseball, etc.), and everyday Americans. This book is valid for building pure, raw strength.

I took this as a stepping stone / supplemental / simple way to enhance my own personal training. For further studies I suggest more of Pavel Tsatsouline's products for those who like simple solutions to simple goals at DRAGONDOOR.COM. For more sophisticated actions and exhaustive explanations, I suggest Scott Sonnon's materials at RMAX.TV.

The book contains a lot of useful, relevant information. Contained within this black and white book are instructions with simple photographs on how to perform various types of situp (situps on a bench, leg raises, jacknife (wheel) pushups, Bruce Lee's famous "flags" etc.), most of them designed to minimize back stress and to isolate the abdominal muscles.

However, amongst this information is a lot of babble. Tsatsouline does, as many reviewers have said, use every opportunity to make known his treasured "Ab Pavelizer", an expensive metal piece of apparatus designed to allow its users to perform the "Janda" situp without the assistance of a partner (the "Janda" situp is basically the standard bent knee situp peformed while a partner - or the great "Ab Pavelizer" - supports the calves, eliminating back stress and isolating the abdominal muscles). The constant advertisements thrown in do get annoying, not to mention the 24 sides at the back of pure adverts for Tsatsouline's other products.
The book could be better organised too and the mistakes eliminated (for example, there are incorrect references to figures and at one point the great "Ab Pavelizer" is even spelt incorrectly). The book could have been about half the size and half the price.

Overall, the book is worth a look at, as it does have some interesting techniques, but perhaps not worth paying [dollar amount]for.

I have actively searched for abdominal training information for the last 20 years. I always felt that there were more effective exercises than the ones that are commonly seen in the gym and in other books. My search ended when I found Bullet-Proof Abs. Pavel reveals many effective exercises that most fitness enthusiasts have never been exposed to. Two of the exercises that Pavel recommends were my exercises of choice as a competitive college gymnast. The world's most difficult sit-up and Bruce Lee's favorite abdominal exercises are two of the many movements that Pavel introduces.

You will first learn how to isolate the abdominal muscles with a new type of sit-up. Once that you have mastered this exercise, you will teach your abdominal muscles to cooperate with other muscles of the body in order to accomplish movement and protect the lower back. This is real world abdominal training and will heve tremendous carryover to your normal every day activities whether they be competitive gymnastics, martial arts, or digging a whole.

If you want the most effective abdominal training book that I have ever come across, this is the book to buy!

I used to do incline bench situps with 30 pounds on my chest, and stop because I was bored, not tired. Pavel Tsatsouline comes with a book applying his favorite fitness tool, neurology, to abdominal training, and I find exercises that have me shake and collapse before the end of the first rep. If you want strong abdominals, you will get them if you do these exercises, if you want them to look good, he has a few tricks for that too. You will hear from some experts that since the abs mostly stabilise the torso, you need high rep workouts to train them as stabilisers, I don't know about you, but I used to carry 70 pounds of equipment on my shoulders in the army, and my abs never gave out as stabilisers, but they did give out when they had to assist maximum efforts. The book is full of exercises that require no equipment, those that do are well worth the investment.

This book gets to the core of what an abdominal exercise should be based on, and that is function. A very good book of no doubt the most effective abdominal exercises. The only thing aggravating is the author's peddling of his "pavel-izer", this is probably a very effective abdominal tool, as I have full faith in Pavel's methods, but it does seem to be a bit hypocritical to knock all the infomercial crap and then put your own in a book like this. I am a very big fan of Pavel and his books, he is definately a leader in intelligent and effective strength training methods...however if it werent't for that I probably would have put the book down as soon as he started the sales pitch. A very good book however, if you look past the first chapter of my aforementioned subject. For those of you looking for something effective and to the point here you go, but also note that many of the exercises are best performed with a training partner, and most take some practice.