Pavel Tsatsouline's ideas appear to be consistent with the idea of
evolutionary fitness, though Pavel has come up with them on the basis of
his Soviet training and years of experience training and teaching.

Pavel is not concerned about muscle bulk, just on the ability to use
power.  So people who thought the X-look was something to strive for in
itself would not find much to support them in Pavel's books.  For more on
Pavel, check Clarence Bass' site and see the book reviews at Amazon.com.
(I've done one myself).

Talking this over with my son the other day, we decided that a good
training aid would be a tree trunk, irregularly shaped, which I would push
around the house once or
 twice a week.  To get it through the gates I would
have to up-end it; if there were roots projecting from one end it would be
too awkward to roll along easily. Every workout would be different.

For the past year I have had weekly sessions with an ex-Olympic
decathlete.  He has convinced me that elite athletes do virtually no
exercises you'll find in standard exercise books or in posters on gym
walls.  If you are interested in performance and not appearance you'll be
following a Pavel-like (or a de Vaney-like) routine.  I train less now, and
have lots more fun.  For example, I used to do 600 sit-ups a week.  Now I
do 10-20 "Dragon flags" amd 5-10 "evil wheels" a week (For both see Pavel's
book on abs)and my abs are far more defined and I'm never tired.  It's the
same for other exercises: replace volume with intensity and variety.

This ex-Olympian showed me the most impressive exercise I have eve
r seen in
the flesh: a single movement power clean and push press [I think that's the
right name] with 90kg - one handed - and with grace and speed and, yes,
sheer beauty.  Thats what Olympic javelin throwers do, but you won't find
it in this month's "Men's Health"

Keith Thomas