Complete Idiot`s Guide to Healthy Stretching [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• ISBN-10: 0028621271
• ISBN-13: 978-0028621272
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Stretching

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for all ages and levels !, October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Idiot`s Guide to Healthy Stretching (Paperback)

I am in private practice and see a wide range of patients and problems. I treat many professional athletes, but also our Az. "snow birds" who want to be painfree when they golf, jog, etc... I consider this the best tool I have to help them, not just for the moment, but from this point on. The vast majority of musculo-skeletal complaints I deal with can be traced to poor flexibilty and subsequent decreased function or complete malfunction. Chris' innovative approach to how the body works together has made these stretches very effective. More than one patient has been spared shoulder surgery due to Chris' perspective on shoulder motion and the stretches developed from that ! As more of my patients join HMOs, their access to good physical therapy is dramatically reduced. I have gone to prescribing Chris' book over arguing for a few physical therapy visits in a poor facility - and had much better outcomes !!! The text is clear and the photographs assure that positioning is correct. This book has been a huge help to my back pain patients, many of whom have now found relief they felt they would never experience again. If you hurt, this could easily be the best $20 you ever spend. Christopher R. Carlson PA-C ATC

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Help For the Rest of Us, August 2, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Riverside, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiot`s Guide to Healthy Stretching (Paperback)

When I read the review by tjh, I was hesitant to buy the book. However, I decided to take a risk, and I'm glad I did.

I am not a professional trainer, athlete, or physical therapist. I lead a sedentary lifestyle, my job requires that I sit all day, and exercise is not my favorite thing to do. As I have grown older, I have noticed the loss of flexibility. I am precisely the audience for which this book was written.

I found this book to be extremely informative about the mechanics of how our muscles work, easy to understand and follow, and most importantly, effective in reducing many of the aches and pains associated with a sedentary lifestyle. And because I feel better, I am motivated to increase my previously minimal amount of exercise to walking 45 minutes each day.

To the professional athlete, the stretching exercises may appear rudimentary. But for the average person, Chris Verna has assembled an easy-to-follow guide to identifying and improving individual fle! xibility for different body parts. The only way this book could be improved would be to include a 25-year old Trainer to come with it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource guide for stretching, September 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Idiot`s Guide to Healthy Stretching (Paperback)

This book is more than I expected. I only bought it hoping it would pinpoint the best stretching exercises to help in my bicycling. Besides getting sport-specific stretching suggestions, the book gives general stretching suggestions too. Chapter 1 walks you though a flexibility test for each general body part. Using the results of the test you can determine where you most need to improve on your flexibility. For example, if the flexibilty test determines that you need improvement in your hip area, the book refers you to which chapter or chapters of stretching exercises would most benefit you.