REVIEW: Staley/Pavel Strength seminar

This is a seminar from 2006, but I only got the chance to see it recently. It's a pretty expensive buy from the US, but a friend found a cheap copy in Oz & so I finally had a chance to see this 2 DVD set.

If you've got any interest in training & are vegan or veggie you may not like Charles Staley's nutritional view. When he was with Iron radio he was a member of PETA (Please Eat The Animals, not the other one) & some of his more controversial out bursts may have tainted your view on him. That being said, I'd suggest you open your mind his training views.  His 'big idea' EDT (escalating density training) is a very useful way to train many clients (or yourself) if you are looking for physique changes. The basic premise is pretty simple, so as an example lets take a kettlebell snatch (as that was used in the seminar), you do sets of 5 for fifteen minutes, once you can no longer do sets of 5, drop to sets of 4, then set of 3 when you can no longer do 4, down to sets of 1 rep if you have to. You rest as much as you need between sets, but stop at 15 minutes. The idea is to do more reps each time you repeat that 15 minute workout over the weeks. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but that is the framework. You must keep the form tight, but that's really it, doing more in a set time frame. He also teaches Olympic lifting (I will be reviewing another Staley seminar, this time on Olympic lifting quite soon). Staley is a clear speaker & has quite a few training ideas you might find useful...I just wouldn't ask him any nutritional advice or he might annoy you a bit!

Pavel Tsatsouline (generally just called Pavel) is someone who knows movement. He's best known for kettlebells, but he's worked with powerlifters, sports people, fighters etc., basically everyone out there. He does have 'his style' which is stories about Russia & thankfully doesn't use the whole 'comrade' term as much as he used to (I find it a little off-putting). He has some very insightful thoughts on training & fixing training issues (I wish I was as fast, for me I often have to sit down & think about things before an answer comes to me). Some of the ideas like "Same but different", that is instead of doing a whole pile of different exercises find a few & try variation. So, using deadlift as an example, you could do conventional deadlift, sumo, rack pulls, standing on blocks, using bands or chains, using a trap bar, using a Jefferson lift or hack deadlift (I didn't even think of the last 2 myself & I've thought about deadlift a little!) can improve your lift, as they work the same motor pathways, but are different, so SAME motor patheways, DIFFERENT exact movement, so you will continue to improve, without risking overuse & not risk boredom either, the important point is not to pick just any movement, but one that works a weak point in your lift. Even hand position (for example a snatch grip), or foot position (sumo, conventional, close stance) also can be used just to make things a little different & so you can reap rewards.

There was a lot in this seminar. I will be watching it again I suspect as it was an information dense product. I enjoyed it quite a lot & learnt quite a few things I can put into practice in the near future.

You can get hold of the seminar at Dragon door (or you can do like mate & search about for a cheaper copy as they are out there).