The Naked Warrior: Master the Secrets of the Super-Strong - Using Bodyweight Exercises Only

by Pavel Tsatsouline

Have you noticed-the greater a man's skill, the more he achieves with less? And the skill of strength is no exception. From the ancient days of Greek wrestling, to the jealously guarded secrets of Chinese Kung Fu masters, to the hard men of modern spec ops, warriors and allied strongmen have developed an amazing array of skills for generating inhuman strength.But these skills have been scattered far and wide, held closely secret, or communicated in a piecemeal fashion that has left most of us frustrated and far from reaching our true strength potential.Now, for the first time, Russian strength expert and former Spetsnaz instructor Pavel has gathered many of these devastating techniques into one highly teachable skill set. In The Naked Warrior Pavel reveals exactly what it takes to be super-strong in minimum time-when your body is your only tool.

Genres: Fitness, Health, Nonfiction, Sports, Bodies, Self Help, Science

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does help you to become the Naked Warrior. The concepts within these pages are one-armed push-ups and 'Pistols', or one-legged squats. The interval training methods here will definitry help anyone to master bodyweight strength.

I learned about Positive support neural networking in your hands and feet. I learned why it's important to train without wearing gloves and shoes (or flat Chuck Taylors). I learned how to breath properly and learn how to "Zip up" your body to create relaxed tension. This is a great way tofurther your knowledge with Pavel's excellent training method. I would recommend it to someone coming back from an injury. Thanks!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book filled in the gaps of progression of convict conditioning. This book does have a lot of fluff to it but aside from that and repetitive bold "quotes" from that very page the book is pretty golden. The book sets its goal straight off the bat strength training as if you were naked with two exercises that will train your whole body. I feel that the book really deliver on this as well as techniques on how to progress to being able to get to the point of doing it. There is a lot of other information like full body contractions like the iron shirt or power breathing that never get mentioned else where. Basically what I did was take the principles behind the book and apply them to the big 6 movements of the convict condition which I will explain in the review of that book.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generally when this book comes up, people talk about the one-arm pushup and the one-leg squat (pistol), but the real meat of this book applies to any movement you do:

1. Greasing the Groove
2. Tension Development
3. Power Breathing in Compression

Everything else in the book is just gravy. Nice, but not needed for the book to be spectacular.

Considering the scope and quality (ranging from genius to fluff) of Pavel's work over the years, to say that this is one of his best is really saying something.

[Dena]

I don't know how to rate this book, because I've never read anything quite like it. Mostly it is an ode to the single-leg squat, which is an exercise I usually skip because I've never been able to do it well. But as I was reading this book, I found myself wanting to be able to do it, so I followed the exercises and progressions...and now I can! So, for that reason I enjoyed the book, which features a very direct, blunt and quirky style. I haven't read many other fitness books that use words like "sissified" and "Barbie" to describe workouts the author isn't enthusiastic about. I'm not sure that style is the best fit for me. But I admire Pavel Tsatsouline as a kettlebell instructor, and also enjoyed his interview on the Joe Rogan podcast. He is a very interesting and engaging person, who inspires you in his unique way to keep getting stronger.

[John Wiltshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting this one today. I'm leaner and fitter now than I was when I left the army as I actually work at it rather than have it just handed to me on a plate as it was then. But I'm always up for a challenge and this looks...well, challenging.
I also want to do my bit to challenge the increasingly vocal minority of people who think that fat is okay, that you can have health at any size. I don't deny that some thin people are unhealthy. Patently they are. I know some. But there are no healthy fat people....if (and this is a big if but I believe it) you call healthy being able to run fast, jump high, lift and carry an injured buddy for long distances, twist quickly, sprint when necessary...life skills in other words. Show me an obese person who can help others survive on a battlefield and I'll sign up to the health at any size mantra. Until then? I'll call it bullshit --it's despair and self-loathing needing company.
So, anyway, rant over. I'll update on my progress on this regime when I completely fail at being able to do a one armed handstand! Humble pie coming my way, I suspect...

So far I'm really enjoying this book. Having said that, it's not really something that works well in book format. It's a bit like having loading a gun explained to you with diagrams but never actually getting your hands on the weapon. Ideally, I'd like to have a trainer putting me through these exercises rather than having to read a description and put it into action by myself. For example, I was up to the bit where Pavel suggests you get into a plank (always happy to get into one of those, although it's hard to read and turn) then have your partner beat the shit out of you. That bit needed some further study so I had to come out of plank and read it again. Yup. That was the advice--it builds a particularly strong kind of resistant muscle. I was very happy to give it a go but unfortunately partner wasn't quite so enamoured of the idea. Why bend over to punch me? He said he'd rather do it when I was standing.
So, I moved on.
Do you remember as a kid being shown that trick where if you stand in a doorway and press the sides as if it's closing in on you for as long and as hard as you can, when you let go your arms rise of their own accord? If you've never tried it, give it a go. It's the basis of what this book is about--how to gain extra power through using the natural tendency of muscles to react against themselves. I'm not explaining this very well, but I have to say some of the techniques are very helpful. Take crunches. Now, we all do them, hundreds a day. But Pavel suggests beginning by punching your lower back down through the floor (in your imagination, obviously), forcing that back down, clenching the abs whilst leaving them long (yeah, that's what I thought) and then when you crunch you are effortlessly lifted. It's awesome when you get it right. Similarly, push ups. Clench your fingers down into the floor, pushing them hard down, and each push up is easier.
This is very similar to the power stretch technique I use too--the breathe in, clench and relax that gets you that little bit further stretched each time.
So, it's quite a cool book. It's not full of mumbo-jumbo science at all. Lots of photos. Typical Pavel encouragement "Comrades. Pain is your friend. Enjoy." So, I just need to persuade my partner to kick me when I'm down and I'll be there.
If you like fitness books I recommend this one as an interesting read. As I said in the prison-fitness book review, I'm not sure I actually want to spend my whole training time doing variations on two exercises. I like mixing it up too much. But Pavel is definitely worth a read (watch his DVDs too).

[Strateia8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone interested in strength training, this is a must-read. The principles learned through Pavel's program here really do work; they can be applied beyond the two exercises he covers.

That's right: he covers only two exercises here (one-arm pushups and one-leg squats), but he's chosen those moves carefully. And the benefits are manifold. You will come away appreciating those moves far more, and - even better - you'll be able to get more out of any other move in your strength training repertoire.

There is a video of this same program, but it contains slightly different explanations and tips. It's also useful to see the moves; while the analyses are fantastic, seeing is still believing.

My only complaint is the lack of documentation. While Pavel refers to a book here and there, there is no bibliography to go along with those references. This missing bit I've noticed in his works - which is no disrespect to what does make it into them or the author himself. Clearly Pavel knows what he's talking about, and we should listen. I just think the quality of his work should extend to the research-paper trail which complements his experience. Apart from that, bravo!

[Obi Lourdes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russia + Pistol Squats

Let me tell you about this book: Strength is a skill. Oh, and he’s Russian. And Russians are the best at strength. You only need 2 exercises to be strong. Don’t be a sissy. By the way, he’s Russian.

Maybe read it, maybe don’t. I don’t know.

[Alex Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simplicity and common sense. This is probably the best way to summarize this book, written by a former trainer of Russian special forces Spetsnaz and expert on strength training Pavel Tsatsouline. One of the things I like on this book is that Pavel is not trying to fill it with overly complex routines and training programs. Instead, he shares his 3 main principles for strength training in a very simple and easy to understand way. The same is true about the way Pavel communicates. Don't expect some "sciency" terms. Pavel always speaks simply and goes straight to the point. It is sometimes so simple it will make you doubt whether it really works. However, it does work! Maybe it is the simplicity, but Pavel's training principles really do work.

As mentioned, Pavel shares his 3 main principles, learned from years of training and couching. These principles are greasing the groove, tension development and power breathing in compression. Next, he teaches how to execute correctly two exercises. That's right, the book covers just two exercises-one-arm push-up and the one-leg squat (or pistol). However, these exercises will be enough to build a body strength you wished for. Pavel demonstrates how to do these exercises, and their variants, on a number of photos and simple instructions. It is almost impossible to fail if you follow these illustrations and instructions. That said, you can apply the principles you will learn and how to train these two exercises properly to any exercise you can think of. This is another huge benefit of the book, the knowledge it gives you is universal. It is not bound to specific exercise or equipment. If you learn it, there are no boundaries. You can apply it anywhere, anytime and to anything, and get stronger.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn and master the fundamentals of strength training. if you want to get stronger, read this book. You will be amazed how simple it can be to make progress, gain strength and improve your health.

P.S: This book can be a great introduction to strength training before reading Convict Conditioning series.

[Doc Octagon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the premier body weight training guides. This book teaches the correct principles to actually get stronger using body weight exercises. Far superior to this publisher's other book Convict Conditioning. You'll get far stronger doing the one arm push-up/pistol+ pull-ups alongside the principles in this book than you will doing a hundred lower tension movements found in other programs.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A-. Overall this book has given me a few gems that have really helped me progress in my strength training, both bodyweight and barbell.

Positives:

As mentioned above. There are a few gems or strength principles that are found in this book that can be applied to both bodyweight training and barbell training. They will improve your strength game and are enough to make this book totally worthwhile. I almost look at this book as theory that should be learned but then applied to a different more effective program. More specific to this program, the techniques it teaches to develop a one arm push-up were mandatory in my case. Was only able to do one arm push-ups after implementing the techniques in NW, even though I could do lots of regular push-ups.

Negatives:

Overpriced. Could've been condensed into a couple chapters. I bought the paperback, so maybe this isn't an issue now if there's a kindle version available. But the paperback was a typical Dragon Door overpriced rip-off.

Overall, I have to recommend this book. Get this, read it, and then apply the principles to a better calisthenics program like Overcoming Gravity (see my review).

[Seb T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago, when I was going through a calisthenics craze period of my life.

This book did for my bodyweight strength what Power to the People did for my barbell strength. Increased it dramatically.

Buy this book for the techniques, principles and insights into recruiting strength from your body, and then layer that onto a progressive model like Convict Conditioning.

Naked Warrior + Convict Conditioning paired together will take you far in the calisthenics world.

People complain about the length of Pavel's books, but in my opinion, just because a book is longer doesn't make it more valuable or effective. As long as I get results I'm happy. What you learn from this book will cut your learning curve right down, not just for cals, but even for traditional barbell training.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

There aren't many body exercises here and the book is not concise. I haven't followed through his suggestions but if he is right it isn't because of his general well rounded brilliance. For example, he speaks badly of slow speed lifting by saying that it is done in gyms with pink weights playing boy band music. While I probably hate boy bands more than he does this is pretty poor argumentation. He should be citing studies or at least trials he's done comparing the two (to be fair he does cite trials on occasion).

[John Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Before I read the book, a one arm one leg push-up was just a push-up, and a single leg squat, just a squat.
After I understood & learned the contents of the book and attended Pavel's Naked Warrior Bodyweight Strength Certification, a push-up was no longer a push-up, a single leg squat, no longer a squat.
Now that I understand the art, a one leg one arm pushup is just a pushup and a single leg squat is just a squat."
-- John Scott Stevens, SFGII, RKC II, CKFMS, SBS

[Peter Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to pick up this book after my gym closed. I found myself in a lonely calisthenics park on a cold, foggy November afternoon with the ambiance of the whispering melody of nature and the occasional sound of construction echoing in the wind. Dressed up in my Adidas-outfit, I worked on my pistol squats, one-arm pushups, and pull-ups. I could almost feel the National Anthem of Russia.

Pavel Tsatsouline is a legend in the world of strength training. He is known for introducing Russian military training methods to the American forces, and then to the general public in the West.

In his book, The Naked Warrior, he describes how to train for strength by using only bodyweight exercises. He advocates a low-rep program on body weight, which is unusual! And his methodology is also quite novel. He describes some exercises, general tips on bracing, breathing, tension, and programming.

Increasing the number of repetitions of easy exercises such as the bodyweight squat, push-up will not make you a whole lot stronger. They will just increase your muscle size and strength-cardio. Therefore, Pavel picks out two notoriously difficult exercises: The pistol squat and one-arm push-up, which you can progress toward and eventually perform even more difficult variations.

The progression of a one-arm push-up might be gradually increasing how much weight is on one arm or having your hands elevated on a bar or a box. The progression of the pistol squat might be doing the "Air-borne lunge" or having a box to decrease the range of motion.

Pavel emphasizes that strength is a skill, and to get better at a skill, you must do it often. Instead of lifting to failure with crazy intensity, one must focus on having as many quality reps as possible. Pavel describes his legendary "Grease the groove" system, which is about spreading your sets out and doing sub-maximum effort, in order to avoid fatigue and maximize the number of quality reps.

Grease The groove follows the principles of the 5 F's.
Focus. Flawless. Frequent. Fresh. Fluctuating.

Since strength is a skill, it is primarily neurological. You can gain strength through visualization. Your entire body is connected. Tightening your fist will make you stronger in your legs. Strength is about creating tension. Tighten your fists, brace your core, lock your glutes, and breathe correctly to create maximum tension.

To create maximum tension with breathing, breath into your belly through your nose. Contract your sphincter muscles, while straining to produce bowel movement ( :D ) to create a real tightness in the abdominals. Never exhale or inhale all the way during an exercise, as too much and too little breath will reduce tension. Breathing out on the concentric part of the movement is only a side effect of creating tension.

The presentation was ok. The book was sprinkled with some quirky funny tough-guy-talk here and there. I felt there was perhaps a bit too many hyperlinks and kind shoutouts for Pavel's friends. Pavel definitely knows his strength, and I'll use this as a handbook for the following weeks as I've decided to embark on this program. Pavel makes it clear that bodyweight alone is not optimal for building strength, especially due to a lack of posterior chain work. But it is superior in that it is available everywhere!

[Carlos Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nota:5/10
‘’The Naked Warrior: Master the Secrets of the super-Strong’’ é um livro de 227 páginas de instrução sobre educação física, que se baseia na prática de exercícios físicos sem ou com pouca utilização de pesos ou matérias de ginastica. Possui uma didática que é simples e básica para iniciantes, o seu autor, Pavel Tsatsouline, disserta sobre os mínimos detalhes entre as práticas e metodologias do processo de criação de força para uma vida saudável ou para a prática atlética em qualquer esporte, tudo acompanhado com imagens explicativas.

Pavel Tsatsouline é o presidente da StrongFirst, Inc. Sendo um instrutor de educação física que introduziu as técnicas de treinamento do SPETSNAZ( (Войска Cпециального Назначения- é um termo russo que designa as forças especiais da antiga União Soviética e atual Federação Russa) para os SEALs, Fuzileiros Navais e Forças Especiais do Exército, e logo depois para o público americano. Toda sua didática é mais centrada na ‘’ordem e execução’’ devido a origem militar dele, porém, isso não transparece bastante durante o texto ou instruções de movimentos.

Infelizmente os seus livros, somando com este, são totalmente em inglês. Mas apresentam informações relevantes para a prática de Calistenia ou de preparação de atletas de alto rendimento. Vale a pena como artigo de curiosidade ou para aumentar s biblioteca de modo e formas de melhorar sua potência como um todo. Os únicos defeitos do livro foram a falta de referências cientificas e dados clínicos demonstrando os efeitos dos exercícios e práticas no praticante, o que deixa o conteúdo menos confiável.

[Matthew Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

So be warned, everything in this review is influenced by previous knowledge of Pavel Tsatsouline. I first heard of Pavel in the context of MMA training and greasing the groove and did not pay much attention at first. But, as his name came up more and more, I started increasingly checking him out. Through some videos and podcasts, I grew to be a big fan of his expertise and personality - if you haven't listened to him speak, look up some of his stuff.

I begin with that because I do not think that either of these is highlighted in this book. In other words, The Naked Warrior was a much better read for me because of the background knowledge of Tsatsouline. At times, it can come off as a bit charlatan-y, especially with frequent mentions of his website and other advertisements, but the tips included in the book are fantastic.

As a big fan of bodyweight work and calisthenics, it was right up my alley. While the advice and guidance he gives are centered around these forms of working out, it can apply to anyone looking to improve the form of their body in doing movements (especially bodyweight ones). At the same time, I think that for powerlifters or team sports athletes or whatever, there may be appropriate books for improving.

All in all, this is one of those books I loved, but it may not be for everyone. But, I liked it, so 5 stars.

[Quan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extreme minimalist routine with only two exercises: one-arm push up and one-legged squat. Of course, you can start with easier variations and progress to more difficult ones. The real meat of the book is about maximizing strength and perfecting techniques. Pavel coined the phrase "greasing the grooves" (GtG) which is basically doing several sub-maximal sets throughout the day, practicing a lot while never push yourself anywhere near failure. GtG has gained significant popularity apparently. It's still in trial mode for me though. Internal factors like tension, breathing, torque are also covered. The whole mysterious Russian/Soviet thing, which I suppose was all the hype back in the early 2000s when this book was published, is a bit over the top. Overall, the book is accessible and fun to read, though not very well organized. Could have been half its length.

[Lars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Pavel

The style is remarkably similar to Pavels newer works (S&S and Q&D) which I liked a lot. Unlike these, this book covers bodyweight exercises with the usual focus on good technique and minimalism. However, the book is a bit lacking on the prescriptive site. Part of the appeal of most of Pavels works is that he gives a very concrete program with hard but doable goals. There is nothing like this here, it is just a general description of the methods. Having at least a basic outline and goal would have been good - for the goal, something like 5 pistols and OAPUs would have already been something, but there is nothing like that. And the GTG program (just work in as much as you reasonably can) leaves a lot of freedom. With both S&S and Q&D, there is one well defined session on a certain number of days which has the psychological advantage that you know when you are done.

[Marc Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book that will teach you how to get strong using only your bodyweight, then The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline is the book for you. In this book, Pavel provides clear and concise instructions on how to perform a variety of bodyweight exercises that will help you build strength and power. He also includes progressions for each exercise so that you can continue to challenge yourself as you get stronger.

The Naked Warrior is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn how to get strong using only their bodyweight. Pavel's clear and concise instructions make it easy to follow along, the progressions he provides will keep you challenged as you get stronger. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to get strong using only their bodyweight.

[Awisemantoldme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. The meticulous principles and techniques written here are golden and I'm sure such technical details will make a big difference in my progress, strenght and health. Although the fact that it only focuses on two major excercices: the one handed pushup and the pistol (one legged squat) is a big dissapointment for me because I personally think there are more essential bodyweight excercices such as: the one handed pullup, the one handed handstand pushup, leg raises and above all, the bridge. In that sense I tnink the Convict Conditioning series is much more complete. Actually they complement each other in some sense. If I hadn't known about CC I would have rated it with 5 stars.

[Edward F Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Pavel

Pavel focuses on pistol squats and 1 leg/1 arm pushups in this book. He provides detailed progressions to help get you there, as these are advanced techniques. He also provides you with breathing tips and concepts like hyper-irradiation that would make this book worth reading even if you never attempted the two specified exercises.

This is not a book for a beginner to exercise—in my opinion. I think anyone interested in serious training would benefit from reading this, though.

[Johannes Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love Tsatsouline's style. He minimises workouts to the essentials and he does it with a tongue in cheek impression of a Soviet Russian. I have never been addressed that often as "Comrade" or told to "OBSERVE!" (Please watch his earlier videos from the 90s. they are on YT). The funny style aside, I found a lot of success with his approach of doing something every day, but not to overdo it so you cannot train the next day. It made my body more robust and I saw improvements in strength within a very short time.

The outline on body tension and breathing is very interesting and I shall explore it further. First tries, gave direct success.

I only gave 4 stars, because it really doesn't feel like a workout 😅

[Hussein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is poorly organized and written. It seems like a set of internet forum posts, because it indeed came from such a setting. It can be summarized perhaps in in two to three articles. Nevertheless, the key messages of this book are few but really powerful like the concept of greasing the groove, repeating very low intensity exercises in oder to drill the exercise in your nervous system and hence it becomes easier.

[Maaz Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

The exercise principles of GTG (Grease the Groove) are interesting and do help one to develop their strength.

But the strength tips outlined to generate more tension in one's muscles to be able to perform difficult exercises such as the one-arm push-up or pistol squat are very novel and haven't been featured in many other books of similar scope.

A very good read for anyone looking to get fitter, especially those interested in calisthenics and bodyweight exercises.

[Joe Koennecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading but not buying. Some of his other books are better but the style is the same. A lot of quotes and forum inserts next to full and half page pictures. The actual meat of the book needs to be maybe 50 pages long with pictures but anyone with some background in strength training could get most of the great points out of 10 pages or less I think.

[Dr.Krishnaprasad Chaudhari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book ! I learnt many useful techniques which are currently helping me out… this book primarily focuses on two major exercises … one arm pushups and one leg pistons…. Proper progression of these have been given in this book… also this book gives various techniques which helps us achieving our targets… like breathing techniques… gripping techniques… overall wonderful book….

[Thomas Hermanek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight to the Point

Like all of his books, Pavel goes right to the heart of the matter. My advice: sit back, relax and take it all in like a good novel. You’ll come away with plenty of life long knowledge for a happier and more satisfying training experience.

[Joao António · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very very good book about GTG. A must-read, just the Martial arts concepts already are super worth, by adding a few examples of how to do the 2 main exercises. This is definitely the best book about exercises that I have read this year.

[John Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I think he hams up the Soviet stereotypes a bit much, especially for a book written over a decade after the USSR collapsed, the information is interesting. I plan on trailing this routine, particularly the tension work, and seeing how it goes.

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing style is not great and repetitive BUT solid ideas. 3.5 stars. Book could be half its length.