> I think this device was popularized in the United States by this guy, Pavel
> Tsatsouline:
[...]
> According to his books, the Soviet science of fitness was radically
> different from the American one. The American model is based on the idea
> that strength is a function of muscle mass, so strength training is centered
> on building muscle, whereas the Soviet model operates on the premise that
> strength is essentially cognitive control over muscular tension, and the
> methods of training reflect this.
Ah, yes, Mr. Kettlebell. The book I've seen by him is puffed out with all manner of self-promotion, pitches for other of his books, information spread thin over too many large format pages, delivered with an "evil Russian" schtick and a smirk.
And I've been delighted with it. This was one (_The Naked Warrior_) which was all about strength training more or less along the lines quoted above, based around single legged squats and one-handed pushups. Yes, a 100 or so page large format book on how to do a push-up. He's like that. Oh, but those pushups! You have to tense everything up and start against a table top. It does take practice beyond mere strength. In a year or two of very lackidaisical practice (a couple times a day, intermittently) I've gone from two against a table top to ten against a chair seat. And damned if it doesn't do some sort of whole-body thing -- a single-handed move with a filled 15' truck (including a queen mattress and marble table) that trashed me a few years ago left me last year chipper enough to enjoy the evening. It's not a short cut, but it does work.
WRT kettlebells, I tried doing some of the same moves with a barbell and that's a whole nother workout. I want to try that again. Yeah, it's a hunk of iron with a handle, you know, like a dumbbell? Those are remarkably expensive too, but you probably can get away with one kettlebell.
I live in small places and move around a lot and like KISS and don't like health clubs, so a compact solution has a lot of appeal, like this too: <http://shovelglove.com/> $25 or so for a sledgehammer, and you get all homy-handed and stuff.
Yeah, comrade, I'm the one holding the hammer.
-- Andy