The Naked Warrior: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Guest guest]

I actually have several of Pavel Tsatsouline's books, but for a variety of

reasons I hadn't really put any of his instructions to use until I recently

picked up a copy of _The Naked Warrior_.

Those reasons, for both the curious and the contemptuous:

First, my experience with all forms of so-called aerobic exercise, even

mixed types (I have a Trimax sitting in my junk room, and I've tried

conventional high-rep lifting too, though with machines rather than free

weights) has been uniformly disastrous. Perhaps due to my thyroid problem,

perhaps for other reasons, aerobic exercise has always caused profound and

long-lasting drops in my blood sugar (metered, not guessed, and regardless

of whether I was low-carbing at the time) even when I've been in good

shape. Those drops kept me in a state of near-constant exhaustion that

largely precluded getting anything constructive done except when I took

vacations from exercise.

Second, for various reasons including the destruction of some my digestive

apparatus by an asthma drug, my health has been poor enough until recently

that I didn't feel working out would be beneficial.

Third, though Tsatsouline advocates low-rep lifting without training to

failure, a regimen which seemed likely to be more effective for me, " seemed

likely " was insufficient motivation for me to risk a bunch of money buying

a pile of weights and related equipment. (I cannot stand gyms and gym

culture, so going to a gym wasn't an option.) Nor could I afford a trainer

to make sure my technique was just right -- and for that matter, I don't

have the patience to run through a bunch of trainers trying to find a

decent one anyway.

Fourth, I live in a NYC apartment, and though it's big for Manhattan

(because I chose apartment size over neighborhood quality) I still don't

have room to set up anything approximating a home gym. I've been meaning

to empty out my junk room for that purpose, which should be sufficient even

though it's more like a large closet, but that's been happening very

slowly, and even if I dropped everything else and made a concerted effort,

it would take time. (Long story.) So even if I wanted to risk an

investment on a bunch of weights, I'd have nowhere to put them.

And fifth, of course, the usual mixture of laziness and inertia got in the way.

I say all this so that anyone with similar problems will see that _The

Naked Warrior_ solves them all very neatly. There's no need for equipment,

so the only investment required is the book. There's also very little need

for space. If you can find a spot to sit on the floor, you have enough

room for one-legged squats, and if you can find a spot on the floor to lie

down, you have room for one-armed pushups.

If one-legged squats and one-armed pushups sound daunting, particularly

those of you who are either out of shape or in poor health -- or more

likely both -- don't worry about it. They are (very much so) but

Tsatsouline provides a wide variety of alternate forms and modifications

that allow you to ease into them, customizing the intensity of your workout

to your particular needs. One major crutch: elevation. You can do partial

one-legged lunges, for example, letting your knee come to rest on a box or

other platform (I'm using a short stack of books because it gives me fine

control over the height), and you can start pushups from an elevated

position, thus reducing the weight on your arm.

Just as importantly, since the entire _Naked Warrior_ program is based on

the two exercises I mentioned above, it's not complicated or difficult to

begin, and the forms are very easy to master, so there's no need for a

trainer or even a video.

For those of you already in great shape, Tsatsouline also lays out a number

of ways to make both exercises much, much harder, both with and without

additional weight, so there's really not much limit on how strong you can

become with simple bodyweight workouts.

As always, he advocates fewer reps (a max of five) per set and greater

intensity. And for those of you who, like me, have metabolic difficulties,

that makes all the difference in the world. For the first time in my life

I actually feel just as well or even better after exercise. I've

experienced absolutely no depressions in my blood sugar level.

In just over a week, I've already made substantial gains in strength,

endurance and simple ability to work out. I used to be much stronger than

I am now, but then the asthma drug struck. Now I finally think regaining

my former strength -- and dramatically improving on it -- is within

reach. Yes, of course, it'll take a lot of work, but it doesn't take much

time per day (unlike, say, an hour on the treadmill plus a lot of other

stuff too, which I used to do) and I actually find myself looking forward

to working out.

All that said, there are a couple drawbacks.

First, the book isn't as well-written or well-organized as some of his

others, and it relies to some degree on information in some of his earlier

books. Even though _Power to the People_ lays out a regimen based on

conventional weights, it includes a lot of basic information that is

necessary for a full understanding of the principles and instructions in

_The Naked Warrior_. If you can, get both. Otherwise, just follow the

directions in _The Naked Warrior_ without worrying about all the reasoning

behind them.

And second, though the two basic exercises described in the book do a

surprisingly good job of training the whole body, they're not quite

comprehensive. Tsatsouline recommends augmenting them with a couple

kettlebell routines or even some other exercises. Given how much success

I'm having so far, I'm strongly considering dipping my toe in the water and

getting a kettlebell or two -- and maybe chinup bar too. But for many

people, I expect that wouldn't really be necessary.

In sum: not quite perfect, but very highly recommended.

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