Selected quotes from simple and sinister that will make you stronger

This is an overview of my notes from the simple and sinister book from Pavel Tsatsoulin to given you an overview of kettlebell training. These quotes are directly taken from the book which I highly recommend as a read to either build up yur general strength to progress to a barbell or implement kettlebell training as a proper warm up for your heavy lifting.

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
It is vain to do with more what can be done with less William of Occam
There are only two moving parts, the swing and the get up
The get up is the ultimate slow lift; the swing is the ultimate quick lift. The Ying and the Yang, both bases are covered
Your workout is 100 swings total and five get ups per arm, which is a very modest volume
A workout should give you mare than it takes out of you Ivan Ivanov
Train barefoot or wear shoes with a flat, thin sole and room for the toes to spread
In a squat the knees and the hips flex to a similar degree on the way down. In a pull hips do most of the work
The top of the swing is a plank. The bottom is what Dan John calls the "silverback" stance.
You will be literally launching the bell with your body , as opposed to waiting for the to be transmitted through the shoulders
In the swing the arms work on the negative, the hips on the positive
Be explosive, but do not confuse speed with panic
A hard style swing demands maximally explosive individual - not maximum speed.
Rest when the dirt is in the air. The farther you throw it the more rest you get
Do not abuse chalk - a little is good; a lot may make the skin tear
As you get more skilled, you will find more ways to rest the grip in certain phases of the swing, and regrip on the fly.
"Heavy weight is instructive" Gray Cook
"stabilizers are what give you the mechanical advantage to be stronger" Gray cook
This workout is not a circuit; do all sets of swings before moving on to get ups
A single get up rep on one side lasts about 30 seconds
"explore the movement" Dan John
"The talk test is solid. I don't want to rob the next set of intensity by starting out of breath."
Bruce Lee would freeze the kettlebell momentarily on top of each swing to work on focusing the power of his punches.
Cuban coach Alfonso Duran used to tell young weightlifter Geoff Neupert to stop his sets before his reps slowed down
It does not matter if you can do 1.000 punches if none of them can knock out your sister
It is equally important that you not only maintain high speed, but finish each rep with a powerful glute cramp and abdominal brace.
Ballistic events are funny: you will never at your best when you are trying your hardest, Prof. Nikolay Oyolin
Almost universally, experienced fighters hit their hardest at 80% and almost as hard at 50%
Fifty percent of very strong is strong. Fifty percent of weak is irrelevant
When you own your own breath, nobody can steal your peace
What is endurance except continued strength
Out with a workout, in with a recharge
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler
I have met gents who casually took their deadlifts from 400 to 500 pounds in a year on this "easy strength" plan.
The dual goal is building up the weight to the heaviest possibe, 48kg for men, 24 kg for women
I must stress: The quantity may not come at the expense of quality
Take on any physical challenge that will test your spirit without breaking your body

Conclusion

Simsple and sinister is an easy program which anyone can understand and execute. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes to complete denpending on your level of fitness and works the entire body. In the book itself you will find gems on how to execute the swing and the get up correctly and how to think about trainin to get the most out of it.