Breathworks for Your Back [Paperback]

Nancy Swayzee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

If you --

•  Have tension in your neck or upper back much of the time

• Gave up most exercise because it bothered your lower back

• Cannot exercise because back surgery or injury has lessened or
restricted your movement --

Then this book is for you!Ingeniously combining breathing and correct body alignment, renowned exercise therapist and rehabilitation specialist Nancy Swayzee shows you how to eliminate back pain, prevent injury and build abdominal strength by working from the inside out. Here are more than eighty basic yet effective exercises, designed to strengthen the essential muscles that support you. Regardless of your age or level of fitness and without any special equipment or environment, everyone from seniors to pregnant women can use these non-strenuous exercises to end simple aches, pains and problems, and create a new healthier inner self.

Discover:

• A Unique Method of Breathing

• The Power of Passive Resistance

• Why Most Crunches and Curls Don't Cut It

• Your Range of Motion and How to Extend It

• And Much More!

Complete with easy-to-follow instructions, illustrations, special tips and personal cautions for each exercise, this revolutionary program will dramatically improve your body and posture with immediate results, thereby creating a healthier, leaner, taller, and shapelier you -- forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Exercise therapist Swayzee makes a case for her program of strengthening the innermost abdominal muscles to stabilize the trunk, thereby relieving stress on and pain in the back. Additional promised benefits are improved posture, better respiratory function, and improved abdominal tone. The basic abdominal exercises are introduced in part 1. These are performed in a slow, small, controlled manner, with conscious deep breathing, which helps release muscle tension and enhance body awareness. Line drawings accompany lengthy, detailed instructions; special tips and precautions for each activity address those with recent back injury or surgery, the significantly overweight, seniors, and pregnant women. Parts 2, 3, and 4 present range-of-motion exercises to loosen and warm up the body, back-strengthening exercises to correct memory patterns, and a protocol of progressive stretches. As the deep abdominal muscles get stronger and tighter, Swayzee guides the reader to incorporate the body's new patterns into everyday activities. Well written and easy to follow. Penny Spokes

About the Author

Nancy Swayzee is a Medical Exercise Specialist and a Health and Fitness Instructor certified by the American College of Sports Medicine. As a specialist in functions anatomy, she focuses on restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system. She has been trained in the Paul St. John method of neuro-muscular therapy.

Within her practice she specializes in treating patients with cervical an low back pain, TMJ syndrome, postural imbalances and other musculo-skeletal conditions. In addition, she develops fitness programs for a variety of special populations as well as patients referred to her rehabilitation exercise. Her abdominal and back strengthening program has gained recognition among master skiers, equestrians, runners and other athletes.

As a member of the Tahoe Forest Hospital Health Promotions team, she directs both the Senior exercise and the Aqua Aerobics program. She conducts abdominal and back exercise clinics at the hospital, and has been a regular presenter of the highly respected Women's Wellness Weekend held annually in Squaw Valley.

She lives in Cedar Ridge, California, close to her children and grandchildren.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380790440
• ISBN-13: 978-0380790449
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #643,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a 72 yr. old (semi-retired) exercise specialist, who is finally writing (almost) full time. I've wanted to write since I was ten yrs. old, it only took 62 years to make it my actual occupation. My first book, "Breathworks For Your Back" (here on Amazon), has been selling well since I wrote it in the early 1990's. I've focused on writing other clinically-based books (still waiting to be published) in a series of the "Breathworks" style: Breathworks For Your Brain, Breathworks For Body & Soul, Breathworks For Chronic Pain. Others are still waiting in the foyer, but somehow I came back to my first writings in the 1970's, which was poetry. My latest release (here on Amazon), "Pandora's Box" is a compilation of over 30 yrs. of poetry. I recently started another poetry book, "Out of the Box...A Continuation of Winged Creatures".
I still work with some patients privately, but have been focusing on Special Populations...those with Parkinson's, MS, Stroke recovery and the frail elderly. These are populations that have been sorely overlooked in the creation of exercises that stimulate both improved physical and cognitive function. It has become my passion.
I love to be in nature, surrounded by the sights and sounds that are so abundant.
This, my 72nd year, has been a year of wake-up calls and unexpected miracles. Life continues to be rich and full.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have back pain? Don't ever want back pain? READ THIS BOOK!, March 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Breathworks for Your Back (Paperback)

Ms. Swayzee wrote her book for the lay person, yet you will find that it is not at all simplistic. IF YOU WANT RELIEF FROM LOW BACK PAIN OR IF YOU HAVE A HEALTHY BACK AND YOU WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY you must learn how to function, day to day, utilizing a stable trunk. This means, that YOUR UPPER BODY AND LOWER BODY NEED TO LEARN TO STAY TOGETHER AS A SINGLE, STABILIZED, UNIT as you lift, work, carry, etc. This book tells you how to use your inner abdominal muscles to achieve a stable trunk. In my opinion, the critical discovery set forth in this book is the use of forced-expiration breathing to achieve a body stabilizing abdominal contraction. This technique allows instant access to a stable trunk and can therefore be used moment to moment, throughout the day. I use her method constantly all day long. This is the only effective way I know to protect the back during the damaging rigors of everyday life. It allows a person to quickly target the proper abdominal muscles and then to maintain a more powerful, more sustained abdominal contraction when needed. During quieter activities when I am not lifting, pulling, pushing, carrying etc. I maintain a constant 10% to 15% contraction as a matter of routine posture. I look better and I feel better. IN FACT AFTER TWO YEARS OF SERIOUS DAILY LOW BACK PAIN, I FEEL GREAT!! If practiced for a few weeks, this health-preserving technique soon develops into a reflex that becomes automatic. THIS BOOK CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FANTASTIC BOOK TO REBUILD YOURSELF, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Breathworks for Your Back (Paperback)

I love the book. Very well explained. Simple exercises but very effective. I have bought many books about the back, and this is really the best. I just would love to get the audio tapes. I live in UK. Please, if you know how I could get them, write me to [e-mail] thanks a lot

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This really works!, February 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Breathworks for Your Back (Paperback)

This is the best book ever for understanding and attaining strength and health. The exercises REALLY work. I saw results in a couple of weeks. My back feels better and my stomach looks better. And I keep doing the exercises everyday because the author talks me through them! No pages to turn and nothing to remember. Breathworks exercises are on cassette too. I love the sound of her voice! The best combination ever, information AND motivation. Get the book and the tapes now!!