Hi All. Has anyone tried any of Pavel’s ab workouts. I bought the New Muscle Media(I know I know) because I saw Pavel’s Arm training article in the previous issue and I thought it to be of pretty good quality. I know he is held in very high regard for his Ab training…In the magazine he talks alot about Power breathing and Janda. I was wondering if any T-Men have tried Pavel’s ab training or have read his books…whattya think? Thanks, Mike
Hey, Mike-O, my man. I actually just flipped thru the pages of the Mag this morning while grocery shopping because someone else mentioned the Ab article. I remember reading about the Power Breathing, or something similar, and the Janda in the Parrillo Performance Press a year or so ago. I’ve never tried the Janda, but I like doing the Power Breathing exercise–which, if I’m not mistaken is similar to the vacuum exercise and Ian King’s thin tummy exercise. Actually, I like to hard boil a dozen or two eggs at a time and when I’m peeling them I’ll do the Power Breathing exercise for the time it takes me to peel an egg.
Mike, haven’t tried the ab workouts yet, but I have tried his idea of high volume never taken to failure with great success in the last few weeks. Averaging a 4% gain in strength from workout to workout. And that is with keeping the reps equal, not like the traditional 4% solution where you subtract one rep in the next workout. I will be doing high volume for 3 straight weeks then raising the reps slightly but backing off the volume for the 4’th week, then repeating.
Oh, one more thing, Mike. I noticed Pavel metions Swiss Ball Crunches in the article too. Those are absolutely phenomenal!
Chris Shugart has interviewed Pavel for the mag, and also reviewed his ab training machine and book for an early “Stuff We Like” column. Use the search function to find all this stuff, it’ll help answer your questions.
I have all his tapes and the Pavelizer. I really like them. I also am doing a form of his Power to the People program. I am very happy with the results I have needed a lot more sleep since I started working out like this though. Definitely do not do his workout prior to martial arts. I did that once and got my ass handed to me cause I had nothing left.
Knuckledragger, I am planning to order PTTP, is this program similar to the 10 sets of 5, or is it more advanced than that? I came up with my own version of the 4% solution based on his techniques and have had great results thus far.
I think PTTP is a bit different as he may discuss more theory however I am not familiar with the one you mentioned. Could you post your custom workout I would be very interested in seeing what you have done as I am on a 5x5 one. Trainging for wiry strenght.
The Janda sit-ups work very well. Actually you don’t need a special device to do them. All you have to do is make sure you contract your hamstrings when doing a crunch or sit-up and this will work just as well.
Knuckledragger. I am doing a 4 day split I devised, and in my strength phase I am only doing one exercise per bodypart, if I was doing only hypertrophy I suppose I would do 2-3. I am fairly fast twitch so you may want to adjust your rep scheme accordingly. I start with a weight I can do for 6 or 7 reps, but only do 5. I perform 10-15 sets with this weight, because I am more fast twitch I rest for 2-3 minutes, not the one minute Pavel talks about. The following week I added 4% to the weight fully expecting to only be able to complete 4 rep sets and then 3 rep sets the 3’rd week (as Poliquin’s 4% solution suggests), however I was able to complete 5 reps for my sets on the second week. Ditto for the 3’rd week! Amazing results as far as I’m concerned. I just finished my 3 weeks of this so I will be backing off on the volume for one week (so to speak), 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps not to failure. After that, I will continue with my 4 week cycles starting where I just left off, I eventually expect the 4% to dwindle down considerably, possibly to 2 or 1%, but I will keep changing my exercises, tempos, etc. to milk the gains as much as possible.
Janda sit-ups are very difficult and really isolate the abs! Also the evil wheel exercises by pavel are outstanding!
One last thing, this person believes his 4% results could continue for a longer period of time if Biotest were to ever release their N-17E and/or T-17E product, hint hint, nudge nudge. Sorry to go off topic but I tried 2 times to start a thread on this topic and it never got posted. I understand delays in bringing a new product to market but I just wish we were advised as to the status in the BTS columns, instead it hasn’t even been brought up in quite some time. How about that herbal euphoria while I’m at it.
Hey guys…thanks for the replies. Timbo wassup bud. A close friend of mine atuall calls me Mike-O…hahahah…I like the power breathing myself, but my rectal sphincter must not be in the best of shape,because I can’t hold it long enough(maybe a specilization program of static contractions and high reps hehehe) I ws wondering if you guys have seengood results from the vacuum? John , I have read the interviews and they were nicely done. Anyone else have any gd ab training (or pavel ab training ) tips? Thanks a ton Mike
Mike Mahler I’m with you, I’ve just started 1 ab workout where I do the wheel from a feet on floor as oppsed to knees and then do Janda’s with heels hooked under something to isolate abs YOW!