I've been looking for a good strength training programme for a while and I've always been fascinated with kettlebells. There's something very primal about a cannonball with a handle that you use for lifting and that is what appealed to me. The promises of strength training that also delivered a hard cardio workout at the same time were too good to ignore. I bought Enter the Kettlebell and haven't looked back since.
Enter the Kettlebell is all about kettlebell basics. Pavel gives a good description of remedial drills to build the flexibility and strength in all the right places before you even think about training with your kettlebell. Then the book moves on to RKC Minimum; a simple 4-times-a-week programme that will burn off fat, build strength and muscle and make you feel awesome. Following this comes the RKC Right of Passage, which is the bulk of the book. It's a devilishly simple strength training package that only consists of three exercises (clean and press, snatch and swings) but the beuty is in the simplicity. Those who've trained under Pavel before will recognise his simple but highly effective approach, taken right out of Power to the People, but the results are phenomenol.
As other reviewers have mentioned the book is literally filled with tag lines and cliches ("The closest thing to fighting without throwing a punch", "For strength and conditioning to walk through walls", "For the work capacity of and android and the pain threshold of an immortal") but look beyond them and there's a genuine, solid book written in an entertaining style that's typical of Pavel. Again and again he throws facts at you at why kettlebell training, although not for everyone, is rewarding if you can hack it. He does all this but builds it on the principal of safety as a part of, not the opposite of, performance. It all comes together to deliver a good instructional book that will give you a solid foundation in which to continue your kettlebell lifting.
If you've read this far, chances are kettlebells are for you. Buy this book, buy a 16kg kettlebell (I don't recommend starting any heavier, there's no dishonour in lifting lighter kettlebells) and prepare to feel the kettlebell What The Hell effect.
Russian Kettlebell Power To You