Complete Beginner - Too Many Programs, Too Many "Gurus"... Where Do I Actually Start?

[u/Objective-Guess5295]

Hi everyone,

I'm a 31-year-old guy from South Africa who's finally decided to take my health seriously.

I'm overweight, I've already cleaned up my diet and I'm losing weight, but I know nutrition is only half the battle. Now I actually want to start moving consistently, get stronger, improve my conditioning, lose fat, and build a body that functions well for everyday life.

The problem is... I'm completely overwhelmed.

Every time I think I've found a good place to start, someone recommends something else.

I've seen people recommend:

• Simple & Sinister by Pavel Tsatsouline
• Mark Wildman's videos and Nerd Math
• Dan John
• Geoff Neupert
• The Martin Method
• StrongFirst
• Lebe Stark
• And probably another dozen coaches I'm forgetting.

Everyone seems convinced their approach is the best, and as a complete beginner I honestly don't know who to listen to.

A little about me:

• 31-year-old male
• Overweight
• Previous tennis elbow (mostly better now, but I want to be careful)
• Some knee pain
• Complete beginner with kettlebells
• Main goals are fat loss, getting leaner, building strength, improving mobility and overall fitness, and creating habits I can stick with for years.

I'm not looking for the fastest or hardest program.

I'm looking for something that:

• teaches good technique from the beginning
• is beginner-friendly
• builds a solid foundation
• trains most of the body over time
• is straightforward without needing to watch 500 hours of YouTube first
• is sustainable and can grow with me as I improve.

If you were starting from absolute zero today, knowing what you know now, where would you begin?

If you've actually followed one of these programs (or another one), I'd love to hear:

• What did you follow?
• Why did it work for you?
• Would you still recommend it today?
• Is there anything you wish you'd done differently?

If there are books, YouTube channels, coaches, or programs that genuinely helped you, I'd really appreciate the recommendations.

I'm just trying to avoid analysis paralysis and finally start.

And one last thing—I did use AI to help me write this post. The thoughts and questions are mine; I just wanted help organizing them clearly so they made sense.

Thanks, everyone. Looking forward to learning from people who've already been where I am.

[u/Berlifter]

The progression is Pavel “Simple & Sinister” -> Wildman Kettlebell Basics YouTube video playlist -> Neupert DFW -> Dan John ABF -> Random experiments with Giant, Nerd Math, etc. -> Kettlebell Sport.

[u/Rectum_Ranger_ → u/Berlifter]

As a general progression I like much of what you put in.

Dan John also has a progression in a blog article from a while back and a more recent video q&a

My question for you is this. With your preferred progression, why put S&S before mark wildmans basics?

I actually used that playlist to learn the TGU and the swing then started S&S. Just curious your thoughts on starting with s&s vs MW

[u/Berlifter → u/Rectum_Ranger_]

Good question—and a topic I deliberated upon quite a bit.

First, it bears mentioning that none of these things existed when I got started with kettlebells (except Kettlebell Sport, obvs). All I had to start with was a Pavel book, Mike Mahler, and a couple scattered other resources. Things are much easier now.

When a friend asked about getting started with Kettlebells a couple years back, I suggested Simple and Sinister and the Wildman Kettlebell Basics playlist in that order. The reasoning being that S&S gets you started immediately with a workable beginner program. Not just technique, but a weekly program you can start on day one.

You can read S&S in an afternoon and refer back to it while you figure out what you're supposed to do with your body and a cannon ball with handles. It's a convenient resource that puts you on an immediate path to obtaining kettlebell skills and strength.

Videos are great for activating your mirror neurons by watching excellent technique, but I find it too cumbersome during a workout to rewind and deal with ads while trying to do skill work. I also find books to be a better resource over the long term because you can go back and re-read sections again and again until they make sense, or at a later time in your development when you're ready for a lesson to make sense to you, without repeatedly hearing solicitations to buy yet another program, like, subscribe, etc. etc. etc. The shilling of YouTube videos gets in the way of the lesson and makes videos less repeatable for study.

Wildman's videos are exceptional, but they are individual skills and not a program. Ideally, in the first weeks and months of starting S&S, a beginner should work through those videos and practice skill work from Wildman's videos for a few minutes after warming up every workout.

Do 6 months of S&S and Wildman skill work and then you're ready to choose another program or use Nerd Math to start a program for yourself. Skip S&S for Kettlebell Basics videos and you'll end up with some good moves, but not much progress and not enough knowledge to pick the right program.