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Introducing Pavel Tsatsouline: The ‘Mother’ of All Fitness is Strength
This episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast features Pavel Tsatsouline, one of the world’s premier strength and fitness coaches. The central theme is that strength is the foundational skill for all other aspects of fitness—including speed, endurance, and general health. The discussion focuses on how men and women of all ages can get exceptionally strong without necessarily seeking hypertrophy (muscle growth).
Pavel’s Philosophy: Strength is the Foundation
Pavel conceptualizes fitness with a simple, powerful idea first stated by Professor Matveyev: strength is the mother of all other physical qualities.
- Universal Need for Strength: Every athletic endeavor requires a base of strength. A shot putter needs more than a triathlete, but both benefit immensely. Research shows that putting endurance athletes on a heavy, low-repetition strength program makes them faster without adding unnecessary muscle mass.
- The “Model Athlete” Concept: In the Soviet Union, researchers determined “model” strength numbers for various sports. For any given event, your odds of success were higher if you could squat or bench a certain amount.
- Strength for Everyday Life: For non-athletes, the goal is to have a reserve of strength for any of life’s demands. Looking at physical training (PT) standards for military or law enforcement can provide a good benchmark.
- Reach a Level, Then Maintain: Once you achieve a strength level appropriate for your sport or lifestyle, you can efficiently maintain it and focus on other qualities like power or, as Soviet scientists discovered, the speed of muscular relaxation, a key differentiator for advanced athletes.
The Core Lifts: A Minimalist Approach to Maximum Strength
Pavel advocates for focusing on a very small number of high-yield exercises. The goal is to pick movements with a great carryover to other activities. He stresses that there is no statistical correlation between the number of exercises an athlete performs and their results on the platform.
You should pick a few exercises you enjoy, can perform pain-free, have the right equipment and coaching for, and stick with them. Here are some of his top recommendations:
- For the Posterior Chain (The Hinge): The Narrow Stance Sumo Deadlift. This variation, popularized by powerlifters like Ed Coan, is a natural and powerful way to lift heavy objects and is fundamental for back health and longevity.
- For the Squat: The Zercher Squat. You hold the barbell in the crooks of your elbows in front of your body.
- Benefits: It’s easy to coach, can be done even with shoulder/wrist issues, and provides tremendous reflexive stabilization of your midsection. A great goal for an athlete is a double-bodyweight Zercher squat.
- For Pressing: The Bench Press. Despite its “gym bro” reputation, it’s an excellent tool when combined with lower body and core work.
- Benefit: It allows you to make consistent strength gains with a very low volume of training (e.g., several sets of five, once a week).
“If you just do curls, you’re going to get better at curls, but not at much else.”
A Sample Comprehensive Program
A simple, effective, and comprehensive weekly program could include just four movements:
- A squat variation (like the Zercher Squat)
- A posterior chain movement (like the Kettlebell Swing)
- Pull-ups
- Dips
Pavel notes that dips are a fantastic exercise if your shoulders can handle them safely. A prerequisite for safely performing dips is the ability to do a full “skin the cat” on a bar. Pull-ups are one of the best general strength exercises with carryover far beyond the exercise itself.
Luke Iams, a powerlifter from the Golden Age, used to say: “Anything over six reps is bodybuilding.”
Grip Strength: A Critical and Overlooked Component
Grip strength is extremely important for overall strength and has a strong correlation with longevity.
- Why It Matters: Gripping tightly creates an “overflow” of tension (irradiation) that instantly makes you stronger in any other lift. From a neuroscience perspective, the motor neurons controlling our digits (fingers, toes) are the first to degenerate with age. Training the periphery (like your grip) may help offset some of this natural decline.
- How to Train It:
- Indirectly: Incorporate exercises like rope climbs or heavy kettlebell snatches, where the eccentric (lowering) phase provides a powerful grip stimulus.
- Directly: Use high-quality grippers like the Captains of Crush from IronMind. Pavel warns that serious gripper training is a full-body effort, not a passive squeeze, requiring total body tension to close the heaviest grippers.
- What Doesn’t Work as Well for Crushing Grip: While beneficial for other reasons (like spinal health when done as a symmetrical carry), exercises like static hangs and farmer’s carries will not do as much to develop your crushing grip strength.
Lifting vs. Lowering: Concentric & Eccentric Training
- Concentric-Only Training (Lifting): This is ideal for minimizing muscle soreness and muscle growth. It’s a great tool for in-season athletes or those in weight-class sports. An example is performing a deadlift and then dropping the weight from the top (with appropriate equipment). It’s a very safe and effective way to build pure strength.
- Eccentric Training (Lowering): While often used to promote hypertrophy, eccentric-focused strength work can be risky. Because the muscle is strongest during the lowering phase, it’s easy to overdo it and get injured. A wiser approach is to use a competent spotter for eccentrics after your main heavy sets are complete.
