Pyotr Krylov, “The King of Kettlebells” – Training of the Kettlebell Athlete [1914]

In recent years, among the enthusiasts I meet, there is a prevailing desire to train exclusively for records. This is the wrong system and, moreover, a harmful one. Such records are forced. They not only fail to prove real strength but wear a man out. First, develop your muscles, achieve their greatest possible development through training, and only then can you safely “work” for records without harm.

I am now 43 years old, and I feel no weaker than I did as a 25-year-old young kettlebell athlete. My musculature has neither deteriorated in quality nor decreased in size. This is solely the result of rational training. It is said that “an example is better than a precept,” and therefore, I shall describe my training day. This may be useful to my young comrades in kettlebell sport as they work out an individual training system for themselves.

Upon waking, I take an air bath for 10 minutes, or, if it is summer, a sun bath. Then I stretch the rubber expander—a short one made of six rubber strands. I pull it in front of me, overhead, behind my back, with each arm separately, and so on. I do push-ups on the floor—on the full palm or on the fingers—up to 100 times. I run for 10–15 minutes. I do “frog” jumps: short jumps on the toes with deep squats. I take a shower or rub down with cold water.

Half an hour later, I have breakfast: eggs, two glasses of milk, and one glass of very sweet liquid tea. I walk until lunch. Lunch is at 5 o’clock.

Two hours after lunch, I train with heavy kettlebells. I press or jerk, alternating days, a 5-pood barbell—82 kg / 180 lbs—both standing and lying down, 50 times: five sets of 10. I press two kettlebells 50 times, in the same proportion. I squat with a five-pood barbell—82 kg / 180 lbs—full foot, 100 times, then walk up and down the stairs with a heavy man on my neck.

I finish the workout with dumbbell exercises: shoulder work with 20-pound dumbbells—8.2 kg / 18 lbs—and, for the biceps, pulling two such dumbbells together with each arm.

For the last two years, I have trained with weights after lunch only three times a week—formerly every day. On the other days, during that hour, I train in standing wrestling and applying Nelson holds; this is necessary for me as a wrestler. After training, I take a shower and go for a walk.

When I used to train “for records,” I always took a very light weight for repetitions: two hands—4.5 poods, 73.7 kg / 162.5 lbs; one hand—3 poods, 49.1 kg / 108 lbs. I only took heavy weight once a week, and then tried to set a record.

It is precisely thanks to this extremely cautious and restrained training system that I have preserved my strength and musculature, even though, as a circus athlete of the old school, I sometimes had to “work” several times a day in performances with very heavy weights and perform the most difficult tricks.

As for my diet, I used to eat a great deal of meat, but now I rely mainly on vegetables and fruit and consider this far more beneficial. I especially love baked potatoes, shepherd-style—a hearty and healthy dish. I drink neither vodka nor beer, but at lunch I allow myself a small glass of light wine. I absolutely do not smoke.