Customer Reviews

Super Joints: Russian Longevity Secrets for Pain-Free Movement, Maximum Mobility & Flexible Strength

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Pavel is an accomplished guy with some impressive physical ability. I respect that, so I got a few of his books and borrowed some of his tapes to see what he recommends.

"Super Joints" is a quick, easy-to-follow handbook that anyone can use for basic guidelines on how to regain or improve overall joint mobility and flexibility.

Many of the movements presented will be familiar, but some of his ideas of how to combine them may not be. I would have liked to see more detailed descriptions, including variations and more photos of some movements.

After a 6-month break from nearly all physical activity, I started to get back into working out by incorporating a number of the movements and principles in this book. Overall, I am pleased with the results, and I feel this justifies a portion of the advertised price.

Aside from the joint mobility movements and principles, Pavel does talk about the use of calisthenics that will progressively increase joint mobility as well. While it doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, I have combined what he did present with my existing knowledge of basic and advanced calisthenics and gotten good results that way too. If I didn't have some experience with this, I don't know if I could have had the same success based solely on what the book contains.

Pavel also touches on the stretching principles outlined in some of his other books, which are predominantly based on PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching doctrines. He definitely intends for you to combine this with his other works in order to realize the full benefits, but most people can certainly have some good success with the material he presents here.

This book's biggest failures are the oversimplified presentation and lack of variations, and the mediocre editing job which leaves some odd printing and writing errors to contend with. I am glad I have a copy, and I am really glad I got it for half price, which is about right.

I highly recommend looking at Kit Laughlin's "Stretching & Flexibility" and "Overcoming Neck & Back Pain" for a better presentation on regaining mobility through PNF stretching, and Scott Sonnon's "Bodyflow" is a fascinating and extremely detailed approach to improving overall mobility through coordinated movement.

No doubt Pavel Tsatsouline is in incredible shape....but for $34.95....the book had what seemed like 20 pages of cheesy advertising...!!! Check out Kit Laughlins' Stretching and FLexibility before buying any of Pavels books.....its half the price and twice the book in all ways!!!

Overpriced and short on substance. Insulting, unclear and sloppy. I can hardly express the disapointment and anger I felt at paying a very premium price-$...- for a book that was obviously thrown together over a weekend. Pavel Tsatsouline is one of many thousands of trainers who have had access to and teach these methods. What sets Pavel apart is his ability to market himself and gimmicks like the "evil Russian" and calling everyone "Comrade",. He has built a small cult following of people who praise his every move. All that would be fun and amusing if it weren't for the poor quality of his books and tapes.

For $... you get a thin book with some large, well spaced out type that takes up 130 or so pages. Actually, it shouldn't take more than 50. Annoyingly, the author doesn't believe in spell-check or proof reading and the reader will be hit by numerous misspellings, grammatical errors and out and inexcusable mistakes. Paragraphs are repeated for no reason and pictures are mistakenly(?) doubled as well.

The exercises, while valuable, are not radically different from what most people have done in gym class. They are also not clearly explained at all! Many exercises aren't even illustrated, leaving the reader to fend with ambiguous written descriptions! For $...!!! I am familiar with the material shown and can tell you that Pavel only shows you half the exercise in many cases. For the price of this book I expect the beginning and advanced versions.

The author must think his readers to be low IQ types and refuses in many cases to lay out the anatomical or physiological basis for his claims. Are deep squats bad? No, says Pavel. Why? 'Cause I said so, comrade! Again, for $...., I'll decide if its too complex for me to understand!

Slick marketing, tasteless advertising hype and a cult following aren't enough to justify this waste of paper. One of the author's favorite slogans is "Get Pavelized!" I now know what that means: to be financially sodomized and brainwashed into liking it. Go with Kurz's Stretching Scientifically or any decent Yoga or Chi Kung book or tape for three times the info, done better for half the price!

I am ~extremely~ suspicious of other reviewers here, who have posted in response to my earlier review that only gave 1 star.

I think many of the reviews here were written by Pavel or agents for Pavel, friends, family, business associates - whatever.

I suspect it is very, very much his way of doing things. He is a very aggressive marketer - and successful at making a name for himself - and I would not be at all surprised if he deliberately spammed amazon + other sites with positive recommendations for his books.

There is no justification for many of the positive reviews seen here. Quite a few of them refer to things that the book simply does not contain.

I have nothing against Pavel and I think some of his other works are very good, for example, the Kettlebell book. It is not the best it can be, far from it, it is very incomplete, but overall the Kettlebell book is a good read, has good exercises, Pavel has quite a bit of eccentric charm.

HOWEVER I think this book is a bit light, nothing special, and I think most if not all the positive reviews here are covert advertising - so anyone reading these, take note of what I am saying, take them with a grain of salt AND LOOK AT THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF before you buy it, make up your own mind.

I am not denying that the book has some worth nor that the exercises won't help you out, however the price is high, the content sparse and the advertising thick and in your face.

MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.

Oh, and Pavel (+friends), please don't come back posting a review along the lines of "well I was put off by the negative review then I had a look in the bookstore and it was fantastic" you've already done a few of those. I say to genuine readers - go and LOOK at the book first (then order from amazon if you like it). DON'T trust these reviews.

Pavel has some good material in his various texts but really, he has only written one book: then split it up into many books, charged a fortune for each, filled them with blank space huge text and repetitive photos.

I won't deny the soviets have some great research, you won't find it here.

You could prob. skip all his books just reading his articles in Muscle Media magazine.

There is absolutely no excuse putting together something like this and charging so much.

All his works should be one giant book well illustrated well explained and edited for a change, perhaps still selling for $40 or so but good value at least.

Take a look at the book in person, in a bookstore, before purchasing.

I remember when I first bought Super Joints, I thought: "Well, that's nice, but I'm already flexible, and I don't like long warm-ups."

Boy, was I wrong.

After enduring Steve Maxwell's warmups for two days at the RKC (Pavel's Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor Course), I realized I had to take a pretty hard look at Super Joints--there were definitely ranges of motion where I had no strength-flexibility. Since then (for about a month), I've been warming up daily with Super Joints drills 1-17 with Steve's admonishment in mind: "don't skip the hard ones, those are the ones you need the most."

In that short period, I already feel "younger" (I'm only 23, and now I finally feel like it). I still wake up stiff and sore some days, but Super Joints is like a tonic for those days, it works great. I'm also noticing an ability to better withstand rolling in Jiu Jitsu class--I don't have to tap quite as often, even in bad positions.

My Aikido instructor used to say that joint locks had some sort of endorphin release attached to them. To that end, when I was stressed, I would gently stretch my wrists in various directions. It always worked like a charm. Super Joints takes that and applies it to your whole body. If joint locks produce endorphins (and they certainly do something that makes me feel good), I get high on my own supply every morning.

Super Joints is a fantastic, fantastic book. I think that everyone should do the drills. If you already have a copy, loan it to an older relative with Steve's admonishment (the hard ones are the ones you need) and the instructions to start slowly, and I think it could be a new lease on life for them. When they come by in six weeks like a new person, hand 'em a copy of PTP (Pavel's "Power to the People: Strength Training Secrets for all Americans" book), head off to the gym and show 'em the exercises, and they'll transform again. When they come back in another six weeks, hand 'em a kettlebell. The transformation will be complete and they will be completely new people.

Super Joints is a fantastic book that I seriously underestimated when I first read it. Don't underestimate the power of Super Joints. It's a great way to start getting back into shape, or to make yourself more youthful, graceful, and atheletic. You can transform, too!

I was absolutely sick at how sloppy and uninformative this book was while at the same time so very expensive. There are so many misspellings and misprints it is really hard to read sometimes. Of course there isn't much to read as most of the text is in big print and spaced out as much as it can be. There are probably no more than 20 or so pages of information stretched out over 100 pages. Many blocks of text and photos are repeated two or three times! Was this a misprint or just filler? Either way, its not good.

Worse than that, the information is flat out wrong in many cases. Does the author know the difference between a kyphosis and a lordosis? Not judging by the drawings! Does he understand posture? Probably not, or at least he doesn't bother to clearly explain the concepts. The author displays a condescending attitude toward his readers, simplifying everything to the point where he conveys nothing. I wonder how much he really knows himself. Nothing in here can be attributed to the author. All the exercises and routines are taken from some other source. No evidence of Pavel's genius as proclaimed by his loyal followers

Many of the exercises and the joint mobility tests are not even illustrated! No excuse for this in a 35.00 book! The written descriptions aren't all that clear either. I have also seen versions of these exercises that were far more complete than what the author presents here.

So, what the reader is left with is a few grainy black and white photos of exercises taught in every elementary school gym class. I am a big believer in joint mobility training, but this book isn't worth half the price.

Pavel Tsatsouline has gotten himself a lot of publicity. He is a great marketer and self promoter. His skill as an author and his knowledge as a trainer must be called into question. If you like to be conned get this book. Otherwise, look elsewhere. This is really a shameful effort on his part.

Pavels got -three- 120 page books on stretching, Do new ideas keep coming to him after the last book is already out? I don't think so. Big print, lots of unused page space, and much attitude take up what could easily fit into one book,(one cheaper book).

This book is about functional mobility and how to retain or restore it. The information it contains is fundamental to any exercise program. Range of motion translates into safety and effectiveness in exercise.
As the owner of a sixty-four year old body and as the practitioner of a sedentary job, I have lost some range of motion. The movements in this book have helped me in several ways:
1) Improved the range of rotation of my head making it easier to look back over my shoulder while driving; a vital skill in Southern California's kamikaze traffic.
2) Improved the movement and reduced the pain in the right shoulder injured several years ago doing heavy negatives on the bench.
3) Improved body awareness and helped alleviate tension in the neck and traps where I tend to carry stress.
4) Improved my posture helping me look less like a wizened old man.
Use or lose it may seem a trite expression, but it contains a seed of truth. This book will help regain what you may have lost.

Regardless of how Pavel markets his stuff, Super Joints is a lesson in smooth easy motion that will relieve joint pain and inflexibility. Pavel, a strength and conditioning guru, explains the secrets of flexible and pain free joints in this exercise workbook. Perfect for anyone with knee, back, shoulder, and neck pain.

Pavel, a world renowned strength and conditioning guru, uses the principles of "joint mobility" to increase range of motion and ease pain in the joints. Instead of stretching muscle to increase flexibility, Pavel promotes a system of creating room in the joints through strength and motion.

The technique is an old world practice that combines exercises that you will recognize from yoga, martial arts and different eastern philosophies. I was first introduced to joint mobility by another guru named Steve Maxwell. I meet him at a seminar and he demonstrated a 20 minute routine that was dynamite and I immediately saw the value of it for my clients and their different aches and pains, because I felt fantastic afterwards.

Annmarie and I then took a one-on-one session with Steve to pick his brain some more and get all the info we needed to start practicing joint mobility with our clients. He mentioned Pavel as a way to learn more.

When I received Pavel's book, I got exactly what I was looking for and was able to easily incorporate his techniques into my client programs. They love the ease of the motion and what they love even more is how it makes them feel!

This is perfect for someone who's suffering from joint pain and has tried other things to no avail.

Kevin Gianni, NCSF-CPT
Author and Personal Trainer