Rating: 
Summary: A new way to look at abdominal training.
Review: I won't waste your time with bull. You want abdominals? Those showy, model abdominals? Well, those are made in the kitchen. Sorry. Buy "The Metabolic Diet" by Mauro Di Pasquale and lose that spare tire. Also, take a look at "The Russian Kettlebell Challenge" (also by Pavel Tsatsouline) to lose fat and put on muscle at the same time. You're still here? Oh, I see. You want ABDOMINALS. Not JUST showy, model abdominals, but abs that can stabilize your core with no belt when you're deadlifting 500+ pounds, abs that can take that ham-fisted brawler's hand and laugh it off, abs that are good enough to do circus tricks with, abs that you can build in your basement with less than ten bucks worth of equipment? (Or no equipment at all?) Pavel's the man that you want for that job, and in this book he tells you how to build a world class midsection capable of these feats and more. He explains where the conventional thinking on abdominal training in the US went wrong, and why training his way is better. He'll teach you how to make your abs and obliques into "team players" so you can throw farther, punch harder, and drive that golf ball like you've never done before. Moreover, he teaches you "forgotten" midsection breathing techniques and high tension techniques from martial arts that will make all the difference in your abdominal training. The one thing--the ONLY thing--I don't like about this book is the eight pages he spends hawking his "Ab Pavelizer". I wouldn't mind it so much if he showed you how to correctly perform the Janda situp with a partner, as well, but he doesn't. The upside of this issue is the website featured in the book. Pavel (or one of the other "comrades") will be happy to tell you how to perfrom the Janda situp correctly. The "tech support" for all of his products is awesome. I give this product five stars because, if you're like me, you know all of the conventional theories on ab training, you've tried them, and you haven't gotten anywhere. (Or at least not as far as you've wanted to go.) Pavel shows you how to break through that barrier, and he turns all of your previous knowledge on the subject into "superknowledge"--because you can combine many of his techniques with other things that you already know. Pavel's training is on an entirely different level than 90% of the training literature out there. I can't reccomend his books highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: A new way to look at abdominal training.
Review: I won't waste your time with bull. You want abdominals? Those showy, model abdominals? Well, those are made in the kitchen. Sorry. Buy "The Metabolic Diet" by Mauro Di Pasquale and lose that spare tire. Also, take a look at "The Russian Kettlebell Challenge" (also by Pavel Tsatsouline) to lose fat and put on muscle at the same time. You're still here? Oh, I see. You want ABDOMINALS. Not JUST showy, model abdominals, but abs that can stabilize your core with no belt when you're deadlifting 500+ pounds, abs that can take that ham-fisted brawler's hand and laugh it off, abs that are good enough to do circus tricks with, abs that you can build in your basement with less than ten bucks worth of equipment? (Or no equipment at all?) Pavel's the man that you want for that job, and in this book he tells you how to build a world class midsection capable of these feats and more. He explains where the conventional thinking on abdominal training in the US went wrong, and why training his way is better. He'll teach you how to make your abs and obliques into "team players" so you can throw farther, punch harder, and drive that golf ball like you've never done before. Moreover, he teaches you "forgotten" midsection breathing techniques and high tension techniques from martial arts that will make all the difference in your abdominal training. The one thing--the ONLY thing--I don't like about this book is the eight pages he spends hawking his "Ab Pavelizer". I wouldn't mind it so much if he showed you how to correctly perform the Janda situp with a partner, as well, but he doesn't. The upside of this issue is the website featured in the book. Pavel (or one of the other "comrades") will be happy to tell you how to perfrom the Janda situp correctly. The "tech support" for all of his products is awesome. I give this product five stars because, if you're like me, you know all of the conventional theories on ab training, you've tried them, and you haven't gotten anywhere. (Or at least not as far as you've wanted to go.) Pavel shows you how to break through that barrier, and he turns all of your previous knowledge on the subject into "superknowledge"--because you can combine many of his techniques with other things that you already know. Pavel's training is on an entirely different level than 90% of the training literature out there. I can't reccomend his books highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: All you need to know about effective ab training
Review: Like Pavel's other books, this one is short, easy to read, and straight to the point. The value of the information far exceeds the price; I've read many other books on abdominal training, none of which has information of comparable value. The most effective exercises for the abdominals, obliques, and other muscles of the torso have been collected here and explained, along with the principles of effective ab training. He explains why "going for the burn" with endless sets of ineffective crunches is a waste of time, and what works better. I thought my abs were in pretty good shape from doing some other well-regarded programs, such as Health for Life's Legendary Abs, but Pavel's program is more effective. Many of these exercises are not covered in other sources in much detail; you'll have to dig pretty deep to find much on Full Contact Twists, Janda situps, why squeezing an object between your knees magnifies the effectiveness of abdominal training, and a number of other gems. The breathing exercises are rarely covered in most ab training books, despite their usefulness. The author does not "make" you buy his device, either; he simply explains why it is an effective way to do Janda situps, an amazingly demanding and effective exercise that truly isolates the abs, which crunches purport to do but can't. Having done Janda situps with a partner and with a Pavelizer, I can say that the Pavelizer is more effective; it doesn't try to help you, as a partner often does. Elite powerlifters and other strength athletes have high praise for Pavel's program, because it works. Ignore the whiners and buy it if you want to learn real ab training.
Rating: 
Summary: Over priced
Review: Not nearly enough information for the price of the book. Only a a very few insights into developing the abdominals, and too much advertisements of his own over priced products.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Review: Pavel is a true genius. He has a great skill in giving information without any excessive words. He gets straight to the point without wasting time. The one thing that is bad about this book has been stated a hundred times, its expensive. Some people complained about Pavel showing how to do a Janda situp only on his Ab Pavelizer, which is shamless marketing (tsk tsk), but if one looks past the machine and reads the techniques he employs, it is quite simple to do with a partner. All in all, a great book, if you have the money and a dicerning eye.
Rating: 
Summary: Comrade of deceit: Too much to do about nothing
Review: The author pledges that, by using this book, in a couple of month you may be mistaken for a Greek god or goddess, page 113. Like a con artist, who buys a bottle of aspirin from a 99-cent store and tries to sell you each tablet of aspirin for a dollar, promising you that that would solve all your health problems, the author experiences a frenzy of publishing deceitful brochures, each contains few flawed exercises and crammed with endless tales about the evil empire (41 only in this book).
The book is jammed with untraceable citations attributed to professors John Jakicic, Janda, and Vladimir Zatsiorsky, doctors Judd Biasiotto, Garrick, Fred Hatfield, and Fred Clary, experts Vladimir Janda, Jürgen Hartmann and Harold Tünnemannoffered, Ori, and scientist Igor Sukhotsky. While the book title refers to abdominal muscles, you will find only one reference to `transversus abdominis' on, page 90, and one reference to the `internal oblique' muscle. There is no reference to key words such as `cardiac', `pulmonary', `venous', `inspiration', or `congestion', which you would expect to find in a book that is dedicated to abdominal development.
That explains why the author, on page 110, does not recognize the meaning of `upper' and `lower' abs. Though the author admits, in his dedication of the book to his parents, that he is not a rocket scientist, nevertheless he believes that it were easy to become a fitness expert by just browsing through medical books. In page 110, the author mistakens the anatomy of the abdomen by stating that "the rectus abdominis muscle is the only muscle that constitute the abs" and that "there are no upper or lower abs". He thus does not recognize the different and wide origins and insertions of the oblique and transverse muscles that constitute the lateral support of the abdominal pouch, in the upper and lower parts of the abdomen. Here, he states: "No matter where you attach the load to your torso or your legs, you will train the entire length of the abdominal muscle". That is an erroneous analysis of anatomical function, because the oblique and transverse muscles could be loaded with mere torso twisting apart from stretching the rectus abdominis muscle.
The author's flawed understanding of health, anatomy, and physiology issues caused him to make some dangerous mistakes:
(1) On page 110, the author advises "getting used to neck bothering" during abdominal workout without realizing the need for warm-up and progressive incremental strengthening of the neck muscles to avoid cervical disc herniation or nerve pinching.
(2) On page 107, the author prescribes a bizarre exercise that could not be explained in relation to any abdominal strengthening. The one-arm deadlift as a workout of the oblique abdominis is berserk. The author recommends buying a 300-pound barbell for that purpose, while his picture of performing the deadlift indicates his unfamiliarity with the mechanics of lifting. Neither his thighs are well developed, nor are his trapezius, which are characteristic signature of any significant training on the deadlift.
(3) On page 101, the author defends his approach of `heavy load with few repetition', against `light and high repetition', by suggesting that heavy tension increases muscle tone while high reps increases lactic acid production. He bases that on his understanding of `Myofibrillar hypertrophy' (page 47 in his book `Power to The People') versus `Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy'. Here, in that latter reference, he admits that he has no respect to `Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy' because it leads to a lot of vasculature and fluids in the muscle. The truth is that successful training must balance strength and endurance by planning periods of high repetitions for fat burning and endurance and periods of heavy strengthening for advancing strength. The author's claim that heavy loading with few reps is superior to the other modality contradicts his claim in his book `The Russian Kettlebell Challenge' that 40 to 100 lifts of the 32 kg ball will lead to ultimate strength.
(4) The author claims that this book will teach you both `isolation' and `integration' of the abdominal muscles. He then describes few of the commonly used abdominal exercises you will see in any mediocre gym. The leg raises (6 pictures), the sit-ups (11 pictures), the Swill Ball crunches (3 pictures), the wheel Jackknife pushups (22 pictures) all emphasize the rectus abdominis muscle. When it comes to the oblique abdominal muscles, the author describes another bizarre `full contact twist with bar' that has very little to do with the obliques. The Saxon side bends is the only exercise that reasonably emphasizes the obliques. Thus, the book ignores all torso-twisting exercises that strengthen the lower abdominal fibers of the oblique and transverse abdominal muscles.
Instead of distorting your knowledge about anatomy, physiology, and fitness, and draining your wallet on these deceitful publications, you could do yourself a favor by running few miles and attending local gyms where you meet many talented instructors on endurance, yoga, and general strength training.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but over-priced
Review: The book contains a lot of useful, relevant information. Contained within this black and white book are instructions with simple photographs on how to perform various types of situp (situps on a bench, leg raises, jacknife (wheel) pushups, Bruce Lee's famous "flags" etc.), most of them designed to minimize back stress and to isolate the abdominal muscles. However, amongst this information is a lot of babble. Tsatsouline does, as many reviewers have said, use every opportunity to make known his treasured "Ab Pavelizer", an expensive metal piece of apparatus designed to allow its users to perform the "Janda" situp without the assistance of a partner (the "Janda" situp is basically the standard bent knee situp peformed while a partner - or the great "Ab Pavelizer" - supports the calves, eliminating back stress and isolating the abdominal muscles). The constant advertisements thrown in do get annoying, not to mention the 24 sides at the back of pure adverts for Tsatsouline's other products.
The book could be better organised too and the mistakes eliminated (for example, there are incorrect references to figures and at one point the great "Ab Pavelizer" is even spelt incorrectly). The book could have been about half the size and half the price. Overall, the book is worth a look at, as it does have some interesting techniques, but perhaps not worth paying [dollar amount]for.
Rating:
Summary: The best book available for abdominal training
Review: The downside to buying Pavel's books is that they're expensive ... for such small books, and he always spends a few pages plugging his other books and/or products.
The upside is that he writes the best books on the market. "Bulletproof Abs" teaches you the best exercises you can do to increase the functional strength of your abdominals, and get that sexy "six-pack" if that's what you're after. Most of the exercises can be done at home, using no equipemnt (or cheap equipment). Those angry reviewers who insist this is an info-mertial for his ab-machine (which he admittedly does advertise in the book) seem to overlook that he demonstrates how a partner can take the place of the "Pavelizer". The other exercises can be done alone. Pavel is the leading ab guru among the serious iron-lifters for a reason: his stuff works.
Rating: 
Summary: don't buy the pavelizer
Review: The evil russian mentions how Russians launch Cosmonauts in a tin can. Don't buy the Pavelizer: either put a broomsick on the other side of the doorway or buy a basketball and clasp it between your legs. The hip flexors are isolated and your back is fine.
Rating:
Summary: Not necessary for abs
Review: This book first of all is expensive. It teaches you positons those you won`t need at all to strength your abs. Never use called Wheel(as he recommends in the book for not using because of back pain) means not tested and used before but just to add volume to the book! I experienced back pain as well after first use of this wheel. They sell those kind of rubish (wheel) on (as seen on TV) as well. Don`t buy this book! I do sports and a martial art for along time and read many books about sports.
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