The Quick and the Dead

This system requires up to three weekly sessions of power push-ups and kettlebell swings. Each session lasts between 12-24 minutes depending on the number of intervals you do. The intervals work like this: Set a timer for 12 minutes in intervals of 1 minute, then 2 minutes, and repeat four times. Each time the timer beeps you’ll do ten reps of either push-ups or swings. The timer will beep eight times in 12 minutes, giving you 40 push-ups and 40 swings. You increase difficulty in three primary paths: 1. Push or swing harder. When you start out you will lack the crisp, sharp motion required to really juice the movement. Improve this first. 2. Add intervals. Go from 12 minutes to 18 and then 24. The book advocates 24 as an upper limit. 3. Add weight. Do this last. Get the most out of what you’re already doing (by going harder or adding reps) before you change your kettlebell size. This is from my own experience but it was a wise choice. Regarding kettlebell sizes, I started with a 35 lb and worked up to 50. I don’t plan to go heavier as larger muscle mass is not my objective. As this routine takes three days, I do Turkish Get Ups on the other four. Enter the Kettlebell or Simple and Sinister (by the same author) have good instructions on this. I started with 10 and worked up to 20 lbs; I can transition to 35 next but again I’m in this for different reasons than mass build-up. Enter the Kettlebell is also an excellent resource for learning swings. Q&D (this book) does not offer advice on how to learn swings or how to incrementally add weight. It proclaims to be “advanced” meaning you need to seek basic advice elsewhere and follow that while executing this program. The result... it works. I have better tone, higher energy, no loss of motion due to atrophy and abuse in day to day living, etc. You can definitely see and feel the difference, especially when you add weight. The Q&D/TGU alternating combo is effective and easy to implement with limited time and tools. No gym membership required.

First thing first. It has been written again and again, but it is good to repeat: this is not a book for for beginners. You need to be strong enough to benefit from Q&D. Sure, it is possible to do the exercises and follow the program even without a good strength baseline, but if you cannot high express power at every rep, it is useless. If you are not there yet, get Strong First. (kind of strong is enough, no need to be a powerlifter either). For those who are there, this is a great way to train power, with minimal time and minimum equipment. I followed the snatch program (under his former name Plan 044C) while I was staying at a hotel every week. I only needed a 24kg kettlebell and less than 20 minutes per session. I was able to keep training strength on other days. The result: an easy snatch test (100 reps in little more than 4 minutes, with a 20kg kettlebell, at 65kg bodyweight). Talk about an effective AND efficient program! The book is very well organized to provide the why, what and how. The science is digestible and references are provided for those who want to dig more. A great masterpiece from Pavel.

Pavel's books tend to boil down to some very simple take-home points, so a lot of people question whether the book as a whole is worth the purchase. Personally, I love all the research and thought that went into this book so I'm happy supporting Pavel. The point of this book is to analyze workouts and determine an 80/20 or "80% of the gains for 20% of the effort" to maximize gains. The inspiration comes from looking at predator animals, who work in bursts of energy to surprise their prey. An athlete who can build their ability to work in strong bursts without injury is a superior athlete - from a sprinter pushing off the line to a regular person lifting a television when they clean their house. Pavel therefore encourages you to find roughly 80% of your max weight range, and work in short bursts with plenty of rest. He backs this up with a ton of science and personal observation, positing that this program allows for maximum possible gains for the average athlete, with minimal risk. Shall I spoil the workouts? There are only 2. Kettlebell swings - a Pavel staple - and pushups. If spending this money to hear that you should do swings and pushups seems like a waste to you, feel free to move on. But for the rest of us, there's a lot of sense here. Pavel's plan has turned out to be even more right with time. In today's gyms you see more and more people picking up kettlebells (or other nontraditional weights, such as maces). Kettlebells are a smart choice, and the swing is a great compound movement with many variations. You also see people doing planking or "chaturanga" to get the same workout as pushups across many gyms. The kettlebell swing and pushup combine into a full-body push-pull workout, engaging multiple muscles and encouraging balanced strength from your core to your limbs. These workouts allow for many variations, such as using resistance bands for harder pushups or different weights for swings. These exercises cater to almost all skill levels. Does spoiling the surprise ruin the book? Absolutely not. There's a lot of wisdom in here, so even if you want to use other workouts such as deadlifts and squats, you can apply the same techniques to maximize your gains. Pavel goes into a lot of detail for why you should - or should not - add other programs such as cardio and additional movements to your workouts. If you're thinking that Pavel should let you do some cardio, at least on your "off" days from lifting, that's exactly what you'll find discussed in the book. Overall I love this book. I wish it was made more clear that the purpose of the book is to deliver you a "minimum effective dose" for a workout plan anyone can adhere to. This is a great book that anyone should have on their shelf, particularly if you're just a regular person who wants to be fit. This book is actually best for the moms and dads of the world who just want to lose a few pounds or get back into shape, but it does work for anyone who wants to be fit. Buy a kettlebell (Pavel helps you determine which one inside) and join us.

Good stuff, but it can be a hard read. I'd have liked to have more of the science than the padding-out that seems to have happened. The workout does work, I haven't even done a lot of it & it had a noticeable effect. I had more energy & it build strength (might have been an increase in that because I wasn't doing much beforehand).

I’ve been following the Q&D Protocol to the letter, 3 x per week, and have been doing this programme for 6 weeks now. I’m experienced in training and am a Professional Boxing & Kickboxing Coach, and have been a Full-Time Gym Owner for the past 30 years. This year I wanted a minimalist training schedule for myself, so after a few weeks of research and studying Pavel Tsatsouline methods in this book, I knew that this would be a good fit for me. I originally brought Pavel’s first book ‘Enter the Kettlebell’ back in 2004, so knew about him and his straight forward methods. What I really like is his no nonsense approach to training, because the fitness industry is full of fads & gadgets which promise a lot, but the Q&D book has a lot of interesting data which is backed up by results. This book isn’t for someone who is constantly looking for that next fad or trend, because you’ll soon get bored! I find my 3 x ‘Q&D’ Practice Sessions per week almost meditative and afterwards I feel recharged. As a Coach it’s very easy to put your own spin on someone else’s programme, and I’ve been guilty of doing this myself in the past, by tweaking sessions, however with this I’ve not done that, this timeI’ve treated Pavel’s words as gospel, and that he’s my Coach and I’ll do what he says to the letter! Results wise I’ve lost body fat, feel a lot stronger, and my dead hang Pull-up’s have increased when I did some the other day, and I don’t feel run down or beaten up by the end of the week, which is usually the case when I’m following a strict Training Programme. As a older athlete, I’m turning 50 in a few weeks, the ‘Q&D’ Protocol is really good, I’ve had over 100 Competitive Kickboxing & Boxing Bouts, Ran Marathons, Ultra Marathons, Done numerous Extreme Mountain/Fell Running Events, Triathlons, and many other fitness based events etc, and I’ve got a lot of wear & tear on my body from over 30 years of competing. But this programme is perfect and doesn’t add to that wear & tear, it’s all about quality over quantity, and I would recommend anyone to give it a go! Many thanks Pavel for such a great book & training schedule! Andre Daltrey.

If you have read other books from Pavel, you will love this one. Simple, factual, informative.

Commençons par le début. Cela a été écrit maintes fois, mais mérite d'être répété : ce n'est pas un livre pour novice. Il faut être suffisamment fort pour bénéficier de Q&D. Bien sur, il sera toujours possible de pratiquer les exercices et suivre le programme, mais sans être en mesure d'exprimer de la puissance à chaque répétition, c'est inutile. Donc si vous n'en êtes pas encore là, devenez fort d'abord (StrongFirst). Relativement fort est suffisant, pas besoin de la force d'un haltérophile non plus ! Pour ceux qui en sont là, c'est un excellent programme pour entraîner la puissance, en peu de temps avec un minimum d'équipement. J'ai suivi le programme de snatch (sous son ancien nom Plan 044C) alors que je devais rester à l'hotel toutes les semaines. Je n'ai eu besoin que d'un kettlebell de 24kg et de moins de 20 minutes par session, tout en étant capable de continuer à travailler la force les autres jours. Le résultat : un snatch test assez facile (100 répétitions en un peu plus de 4 minutes, avec un kettlebell de 20kg, en pesant 65kg). Si ce n'est pas là un programme efficace ET efficient ! Le livre est très bien organisé et explique les pourquoi, quoi et comment. La science est digeste et les références sont fournies pour ceux qui veulent creuser un peu plus. Une grande oeuvre de plus de Pavel.

Libro didáctico sobre la mejora física a través de un método sencillo y sin florituras. A pesar de no haberlo puesto en práctica ya que no me encuentro en el momento adecuado ( he de mejorar ciertos aspectos previamente) estoy deseando llevarlo a cabo y experimentar los resultados.

Programma di allenamento con i kettlebell scritto da Pavel, è molto versatile per quanto riguarda i tempi e può essere combinato anche con altri tipi di attività, non è pensato per chi sta iniziando ad approcciarsi al kettlebell, ma per chi ha già abbastanza esperienza o comunque sa eseguire molto bene lo swing. Per chi vuole ora iniziare ad utilizzare questo attrezzo è più consigliabile "simple and sinister", sempre dello stesso autore. Libro estremamente scorrevole.