Customer Reviews

The Naked Warrior

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

What can I say? Pavel is always a blend of the best and the worst in the fitness genre. He has some of the most intriguing, refreshing, hard-to-find, scientifically proven information out there. Like him or hate him, one cannot deny his genius and authority. At the same time, he is a salesman without peer. I'm glad to see him enjoying the benefits of free-market capitalism, but he could do without adding so much fluff and hyperbole to his books. His rhetoric can leave the uninitiated distrusting numerous other exercise methodologies, many of which are legitimate. Yes, as Pavel says there has been a softening of the fitness industry in america, but one does not have do subscribe to his version of "hardcore" fitness to see results.
The book itself is a tomb of information on how to build maximum strength using just your body and some floor space. Pavel covers only two exercises - the one-arm pushup and the one-leg squat (he calls it "the pistol" not a bad marketing techqnique). Despite this, as with most of Pavel's books, one can apply the techniques to a number of different exercises. Some of his techniques (such as body-tension, etc.) can be applied to traditional weight-lifting exercises, and are even covered in his book Power to the People. That's the reason this book receives 3 stars. It is packed with useful information.
The problems with this book are typical of all of Pavel's works. He argues that his is THE WAY to build muscle and strength. This is simply not so. Stuart McRobert, Mejia and Berardi, Zatsiorsky, etc. all have ideologies that disagree with Pavel on certain issues, and all of them work.
Pavel also charges too much for his books. He could easily meld this, Power to the People, and Russian Kettlebell Challenge into one book. The raw "lifting methodologies" are not so different between the two. Indeed much of the same information is covered in all three. The difference is in the implement used for exercise. With the few exercises Pavel includes in each (body-weight, barbell, and kettlebell) he could easily throw it all into one book for $34.95 and that would be worthwhile.
Last, Pavel has this annoying habit of throwing in product ads and intentionally leaving certain segments incomplete. He keeps selling future books by leaving certain chapters incomplete, and he pushes his "Ab Pavelizer" to no end. All in all this is fine, but it makes me question his commitment to true fitness versus his commitment to his wallet.
My recommendation? Buy it if you have a general background in lifting methodology and you can find it for less than list price. If you can't satisfy both of those requirements this book isn't worth your time.

I bought this book along with John Petersons Pushing Yourself To Power. I have to say I greatly prefer PYTP.

The Good
An excellent section on muscle control, breathing, "the corkscrew" zipping up.
I found the desrciptions helpful in guiding my muscles. They work.
The Bad
The book is full of annoying repetition of statements and huge type! I absolutely hate the number of times something is written in a paragraph, blown up into an enormous title/caption on the next page and then summarized all in about 2 pages. This book could of easily been half the number of pages it is.
The one arm pushup and the pistol are not for beginners! You really need to already be in decent shape before you start on the path to doing these exercises.

I plan on returning to this book in the future when my body is in better shape (I am about 35 lbs overweight- Currently 5' 6" 180 lbs.) I want to make it clear that I have no doubt that these exercises are effective, just don't get the book and plan on being able to do them the next day.

In conclusion- good info, bad book layout. Pushing yourself to power is much better for bodyweight exercises in my opinion.

Yes Pavel has some good ideas for increasing one's demonstrable strength, and yes, one-armed pushups, and one-legged squats are perfect, no-equipment-needed ways to take one through the full range of difficulty in the major muscle groups, BUT why must he be so frugal with his information!. The principles are the same espoused in previous Pavel books and tapes, with two different movements. Every three of his books, (at least), could, and should, be condensed into one, with smaller print, less salesmanship, and a touch of intellectual generosity. I love way his proponents make the sparse number of movements seem like a virtue. It's not, not at $39.95, and not when I KNOW he'll be coming out with another product that reveals some 'secret'; that he's held back until all of the possible income has been derived from this one.

Along with Power to the People, this is THE "how to" manual for getting stronger. The workout Pavel recommends contains only two exercises, the one-armed push-up and the pistol, a one-legged squat. But these exercises are not merely prescribed as a routine. Pavel uses them to teach you how to gain total body strength via the mastery of muscle tension. Really, the exercises are just vehicles for you to learn the skill of intense, total-body muscle contraction, although performing them will obviously make you exceptionally strong in those movements. In other words, this books teaches you how to be strong in all movements through the mastery of two basic exercises. For those of you put off by the difficulty of the exercises, Pavel demonstrates how to work up to those movements via easier variations of the exercises. Definately worth every penny.

Pavel is pretty hyped up in the Strength & Conditioning world. He's got good credentials and, more importantly, a great gimmick. The whole Evil Russian thing gets them in by the truckload. I, for one, am happy enough to see Pavel enjoying the fruits of capitalism.

Aside from all the marketing drivel, Pavel's onto something with this book. It's all about the one armed pushup and one legged squat. Two great exercises which are very hard to master, but fantastically useful in your program.

What I like most about this book is the details on how to progress to the point where you can perform the exercises. This is a subject that I haven't seen adequately covered before.

From here, Pavel shows variations which he contends make for a whole body workout. I don't know about the WHOLE body, but he comes close. He also makes good points about the use of tension and how relatively ineffective calithenic exercises with high reps are.

This is a good book, but loses points due to high price and incessant marketing drivel.

Pavel is controversial. Some people love him and some hate him. Pavel's book really delivers results that other books don't! I have experienced gains in strength and flexiblity. If you can do a one legged squat while holding a 20-40lbs weight on your chest, then don't buy this book. If you want to be truly strong not just look strong BUY THIS BOOK!

One reviewer suggested that you look up the 2 exercises on the net and start doing them. Well, if it were only that easy!!

What Pavel offers is.....1# SERIOUS TIPS starting from couch potato strength to being able to do these very hard exercises. I go to a gym and the pro's(with exercise science degrees)there can't even do them. These exercises are tough really tough. My advice is stick with it, don't rush be patient, it will take a few months or maybe longer. Use the props like a box or bench to assist strength development.

2# He is able to communicate deep internal muscular control without sounding new agey. That alone makes this book very valuable, especially for the martial artist. For a martial artist doing Sanchin kata, T'ai Chi or Yoga ,you will be taken to a level that most teachers don't teach or don't know.

3# He also imparts many exercise science concepts into plain English. Which again is amazing since he is Russian. I have learned many concepts like proprioception, antagonist muscles and many others. Not only do you learn these terms but he teaches you how to directly apply them to your training. I have no time to sift through a scientific textbook to pull out these concepts.

Maybe I am a slow learner but The large print and repetitive bullit points really help beat these concepts into your head.
So I love the format of the book. One reason I decided to review this book was after 6 months of owning it I kept coming to reread it and marking it up with my pen.

Pavel's whole philosophy towards exercise is NOT mindless repetitions of any exercise it is about increasing your sensitivity of learning. Getting stronger through Building skill. He does use his concepts over in other videos and book. His philosophy is widely applicable to many types of training thus extremely effective and efficient.

Good Luck

This book is the antithesis of books that recommend high rep calisthenics. Those are fine for conditioning, but do not build much strength.

Naked Warrior is all about building limit strength throughout your entire body with high tension bodyweight drills, specifically multiple variations of the pistol and the one armed pushup.

Not only will following the program enable you to do those two terrific exercises, but the high tension techniques will be useful for any other strength pursuit you choose.

I was able to start doing one armed pushups in about a week using the principles from the book, and should be able to do the pistols soon.

The exercises can be done anywhere, and take very little time during the day. A few pistols and one armed pushups a day will do far more for you than cranking out endless Hindu squats, crunches and two handed pushups and take nowhere near as much time.

Pavel's latest is really an elaboration on earlier principles explored in his other books, but applied here to only two body weight exercises. Principles that were introduced in ptp such as body tension and power breathing are explored more indepth here. The book isn't long, but you wouldn't want anymore info to digest, because what it talks about is very focused and complex. What's here is more than worth the measley 40 bucks. I've done matt furey's combat conditioning hindu squats/pushups and gotten good results, but eventually my joints started to click in ways that I wasn't going to be able to work through, and I was never able to perform the 1 leg squat, even though I could do a couple hundred reps straight. After applying the nw principles I was able to fire off five full pistons (1 leg squats) after a couple of days. Don't make the mistake of assuming that since you know the two exercises revealed in the book that it would pointless to buy it. The exercises really only serve as a teaching device for the principles.

As with most reviews below, Pavel is more of a salesman than author. Overpriced books that have more ad text than information.

There is a line between being a "positive" coach and a coach with an ego. Pavel travels way past that line, so much that you get mad at him (and yourself for spending too much money).

VERY LITTLE worthwhile infomation but try to buy it used or way below cost.

Just one of the things I love about Pavels book, The Naked Warrior, besides the title, is it's simplicity and focus on profound concepts that can only come from a true expert, grounded in experience. And I mean profound, not only in terms of their application to strength, conditioning and development but also to lifestyle. For example, not training to fatigue and depletion, leaves you in a position where you can intensely train your muscles to adapt in size and strength while still having capacity left over, and, avoid the need to go into the typical 48 hours of recovery and healing (like body builders do) before being capable of training a particular muscle set again. This has huge implications for the person that has huge demands on their time and personal capacity and doesn't have the capability to go into 48 hours of healing from a grueling workout taken to fatigue. You can workout in short but powerful stints and get on with your life and still get great results in size and strength. This reminder and adjustment makes this book priceless for me... I feel better, have more control over the use of my time and I'm never really fatigued or walk around like a piece of macaroni waiting to recover. I am doing this now in almost all of my excercise forms including my biking - Short, intense, adaptive, short-of-fatigue workouts - thanks Pavel! A raving fan - John Allen, Founder of www.MyTrainer.com