More on Pavel's Training: My Personal Views

I received the following comment from a fellow kettlebell enthusiast after my last Pavel post (which was meant to be supportive of Pavel, by the way). It's a good point and I thought I'd take the time to expand upon it a bit. Here's what my friend said:

"I think it’s really easy to say his minimalist programs aren’t “enough”. They aren’t intended for someone looking to maximize strength and size. 

They are designed for someone who has constraints on time and recovery because of a sport or physical job."

Here's some of my additional thoughts on the topic, which support and build upon what my friend said above, in the quoted text:

First off, I totally agree with this point, and I feel the way I do because that (the scenario described in quotes) is not my current situation. For the record, I've pretty much always had physical jobs (former combat arms officer in the Army, home inspector, strength & conditioning coach, and personal trainer – often doing 2 or 3 of these jobs at the same time) and I'm infamous for time efficient workout routines (30-45 minutes, 3-4 days per week), but I still felt like I needed MORE than his minimalist programs offered. 

That doesn't mean they are bad programs, but rather, they were bad programs for my goals.

I did Simple & Sinister for 8 months straight at one point. I lost a lot of muscle, but gained a lot of knowledge, as well. Not all of Pavel's programs are minimalist – but his popular ones seem to be. 

With that said, Pavel now seems to recommend these minimalist (minimal exercise) routines as SUPPLEMENTAL to your main training program – which I think is brilliant. I've used Kettlebell AXE, Simple & Sinister, and some programs from "The Quick & the Dead" very successfully as supplemental training alongside my other training, which is primarily focused around hypertrophy and strength, for now.

Again, Pavel has some brilliant thoughts and ideas around training and is especially brilliant when it comes to gaining strength and strength endurance. His principles can be applied to programs other than his own, but his own programs can be used either on their own or as supplemental training if you have other goals.