The Quick and the Dead: Total Training for the Advanced Minimalist

Pavel is the best

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.

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.