Kettlebell Simple & Sinister Quotes

“If you think you are only strong if you can lift a certain number, whatever that number is, you will feel pretty weak most of the time. Strength is not a data point; it’s not a number. It’s an attitude.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“the swing, the arms work on the negative, the hips on the positive.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Week Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 2 When we count swing reps, we add the number of times the kettlebell has gone up and pay no attention to what the arms do. So, on one-arm swing days, do 10L—rest—10R—rest x 5. On two-arm swing days, it is 10T x 10. You must have guessed that “L,” “R,” and “T” stand for, respectively, “left,” “right,” “two-arm.” Set Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 One-arm swing day 10L 10R 10L 10R 10L 10R 10L 10R 10L 10R Two-arm swing day 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T 10T”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“I’m not as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Experience and science agree that kettlebell training develops a wide range of attributes: strength and power, various types of endurance, muscle hypertrophy, fat loss, health, and more. The kettlebell swing has been known to improve the deadlift of elite powerlifters—and the running times of high-level long distance runners. This is what gireviks call “the What the Hell Effect.” The kettlebell defies the laws of specificity.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Since I introduced the Russian kettlebell to the West in 1998, it has become a mainstay in the training of champions in sports ranging from powerlifting to MMA to triathlon. Elite special operations units have made the kettlebell an integral part of their training. They have discovered that kettlebells deliver extreme all-around fitness—and no single other tool does it better.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Kettlebells are compact, inexpensive, virtually indestructible, and can be used anywhere. The unique nature of kettlebell lifts provides a powerful training effect with a relatively light weight, and you can replace an entire gym with a couple of kettlebells. Dan John, Master SFG[1] and a highly accomplished power athlete, famously quipped, “With this kettlebell in my bedroom I can prepare myself for the Nationals.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Not a single sport develops our muscular strength and bodies as well as kettlebell athletics,” reported Russian magazine Hercules in 1913.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Called girya in Russian, this cannonball with a handle has been making better men and women for over 300 years. In imperial Russia, “kettlebell” was synonymous with “strength.” A strongman or weightlifter was called a girevik or a “kettlebell man.” Strong ladies were girevichkas or “kettlebell women.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“If a kettlebell were a person, it would be the type of a guy you would want [on your side] in an alley fight. —Glenn Buechlein, powerlifter”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Never contest for space with a kettlebell.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“The bike is efficient—and fat people can ride it forever.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“You are to do nothing else during this practice—only lift the kettlebell and move for active recovery. There is no chatting, looking at members of the opposite sex, watching TV, fooling around with your phone (absolutely no phone), taking a drink of water, or going to the bathroom. Just training. Your session is barely half an hour long; stay focused.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“We do not tolerate weakness at StrongFirst. You do not have a weak arm and a strong arm—but a strong and a stronger one.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“This is how powerlifting world champion Donnie Thompson swings. This is kime. Thompson took his deadlift from 766 to 832, and added 100 pounds to his bench press in nine months with hard style kettlebell training.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“The kettlebell is an ancient Russian weapon against weakness.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“Every two weeks take a kettlebell one or more sizes lighter than the one you are currently swinging. Pick a swing variation—two-arm, one-arm, hand-to-hand, mixed—and enjoy the pain.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister

“It does not matter if you can do 1,000 punches if none of them can knock out your little sister.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Kettlebell Simple & Sinister