Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
It sort of dawned on my a few days ago while training that it isn't really feasible to ever develop the "perfect" training system, nor that even something nebulous like this exists, even conceptually. The body can only handle so much exercise, and we only have so much time and energy to devote to this stuff. So, we have to prioritize based on goals. But, we can't "have it all" at the same time.
What I've noticed while using S&S as my base program but working on other moves in phases, is that all the moves have their good points, and many overlap in terms of what they do for me. I totally get Pavel's philosophy of selecting very few moves to master at a time.
PTTP is about deadlifts, which do indeed trim the midriff and strengthen the whole body.
ETK is about presses, which "do indeed trim the midriff and strengthen the whole body".
S&S is about swings AND the TGU, which "ditto".
With the concept of a big pull and a big push, or even a focus on one or the other (as in PTTP and ETK) where the complementary muscles are getting a lot of exercise too, we're more or less getting to the same goal of "overall strength and fitness" even though the nuance may be different. I've found by almost getting to Simple, I could suddenly also deadlift 1.5 my bodyweight (i.e. PTTP stuff), press 1/3 bodyweight (ETK stuff), and I've found that in turn deadlifting has helped my swings and presses, and pressing has helped my TGUs and vice versa (more vice versa perhaps). There seem to be so many shared complementary muscles involved in all these moves that even though the main thrust is different, the whole body is getting stronger no matter which of these moves you are emphasizing.
At the end of the day, they are all kind of similar, actually.
What I've noticed while using S&S as my base program but working on other moves in phases, is that all the moves have their good points, and many overlap in terms of what they do for me. I totally get Pavel's philosophy of selecting very few moves to master at a time.
PTTP is about deadlifts, which do indeed trim the midriff and strengthen the whole body.
ETK is about presses, which "do indeed trim the midriff and strengthen the whole body".
S&S is about swings AND the TGU, which "ditto".
With the concept of a big pull and a big push, or even a focus on one or the other (as in PTTP and ETK) where the complementary muscles are getting a lot of exercise too, we're more or less getting to the same goal of "overall strength and fitness" even though the nuance may be different. I've found by almost getting to Simple, I could suddenly also deadlift 1.5 my bodyweight (i.e. PTTP stuff), press 1/3 bodyweight (ETK stuff), and I've found that in turn deadlifting has helped my swings and presses, and pressing has helped my TGUs and vice versa (more vice versa perhaps). There seem to be so many shared complementary muscles involved in all these moves that even though the main thrust is different, the whole body is getting stronger no matter which of these moves you are emphasizing.
At the end of the day, they are all kind of similar, actually.