Customer Reviews

Full-Body Flexibility

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been looking for a good stretching/yoga book, and came across Full-Body Flexibility and was reading the reviews. I have actually seen Jay speak in person, and so I was compelled to buy it. I was not surprised by the positive reviews, but was very surprised by the negative one because I thought Jay had a lot of interesting things to say about stretching and flexibility in the lecture he presented. I am a personal trainer, and enjoy Jay's approach and philosphies because he keeps things simple and straight-forward. I bought the book, and was very satisfied and impressed, and am baffled by the negative review. The pictures are clear, the instructions are simple, and the entire concept of active or "unassisted" stretching is VERY unique and not found in most books. In addition, Jay's book has great stretching routines at the end that I have found very useful and so have my clients. I have used the routines many times since I bought the book. I have seen Jay speak in person. He is not just a marketer. He is a renowned Trainers with an extensive background in exercise and health education. In fact, he has provided me with useful training information over the years that is often better than the PhDs in the same field. Jay has been a trend-setter in the health club fitness industry for years, and continually clarifies, simplifies and organizes what is often complex information into easy to understand and use exercise protocol that I use every day in my exercise routines with my clients and students. I am not sure what that particular reviewer was looking for in a stretch book, and maybe he never read the the opening section of the book (where much of the interesting information is presented), but I think it is a great book. Easy to read. Clear organized pictures. A variety of stretches. Routines I can use. Not a clinical text book, but not an artsy-fartsy picture book either. Well done...

I have been looking for a good book on stretching, and there are so many out there, I had no idea which one to select. However, I have been to a couple of Jay's presentations (author), and he is an amazing teacher. So, I thought buying his book would be a safe bet amongst all the other choices.

It is amazing! Easy to understand, great pictures and some interesting new information about stretching I did not know. Mostly, though, I love the routines. Every stretch book has stretches, but not every one has routines! There is a simple to follow routine for everything from tight shoulders to lower back problems. Some short routines, and some longer routines.

I love this book, and have already noticed a difference in the way I feel and my flexibility.

I was an athlete in my younger days and now only get to workout occasionally - but I know the importance of stretching, and over the years have lost so much flexibility. This book has helped me get it back and it's so easy to follow! There are routines for every level, clearly explained with great pictures demonstrating each move. I never thought I'd like yoga with all the strange positions and such, but the yoga-inspired poses in this book make it simple and I actually feel how effective they are. I'm buying this book for all the "weekend warrior" athletes on my Christmas list.

What can I say. I am not getting paid to write this, but the benefits of this book are immense. I am a 33 year old male, I have always been fairly athletic, but put on a lot of weight over the last three years and in the process have become entirely stiff. I can feel that, for example, in my hip flexors when I go jogging, also my harmstrings feel very tight.


After buying this book you can plunge right into it (except the author asks you to read his forword, which really helps though). There is exercise upon exercise, 8 for harmstrings alone (of course the entire body gets covered in the book. Just happens to be that I am into harmstrings right now).

And it's not that you have to do them all, it doesn't make a difference in the world. You do whatever you want. But some you do laying down, some standing up, some with a chair, etc, so pick whatever you are comfortable with. Some require just holding the stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, some ask to execute a movement 10 to 12 times.

So what is so good about it? Well, just that, the variety, and how incredibly easy everything is.

Example. The "Dynamic Knee Kick".
Stand tall and lift one leg up to hip heigt, keeping the knee bent.
Start: Straigthen the knee.
Finish: Rlease the stretch by bending the knee.
Repeat as a continuous , controlled, fluid sequence 10 to 12 times.
Repeat on the other leg.
Touch a wall or hold on to someting for balance, if necessary.

Then there is a foto that goes with it. THIS is easy to understand and won't waste your time trying to figure it out. This exercise takes up a page and they're ALL like that, in some cases you can read up on the next skill while you are still performing the previous one (after all, sometimes you just stand there).

Man, I have done just the 6 different ones for the neck...and feel rejuvenated. All of them are gentle and even simplistic, but some I really wouldn't have figured out myself. The exercises were on to someting.....something evil in my body.

And it doesn't take any time...let's say, conservatively, 8 minutes for all of them. And of course there are fullbody-workouts in the book that won't make you do 6 different ones for the same muscle group, but for the entire body. But I am not there yet. There is also some andvanced stuff which I haven't done yet, which goes a bit into yoga. As for now, I am content being a lot more flexible than last week.

this book does a good job of explaining stretches as well as setting up stretching routines. i have been using the routines for a month or so and it has increased my flexibility as well as help me recover faster after workouts. all in all this a great book for the price.

I tried a couple of the author's stretching exercises that were published in the Orange County Register and was hooked.

I mostly do strength training and one of the weaknesses of weight training is that it can affect your flexibility, which can lead to injury. These excercises truly do cover the whole body (you'll feel the burn in muscles you didn't know you had). The illustrations are actual pictures, which makes them easy to follow and there are a wide variety of routines for various types of atheletes or those seeking to focus on a particular muscle group (lower back, neck, etc.). Included are several morning, evening and timed routines (10, 20, 40 minutes).

The stretching excercises isolate and work particular muscle groups well and there are so many exercises that you can vary your routine with ease, if you like, or simply follow those chosen by the author.

In short, if you're in great shape or not, you can pick up this book and have a routine that you can do right now, or build a specialized stretching regiment that enhances your workout or athletic needs. A great book, I hope there will be a Full Body II.

this book is really, really great. A lot of the stretches are common, theres not a lot of new ones, just with little twists and new techniques. The real jem is assisted vs unassisted stretching, dynamic vs static and combining. balancing you strong and weak muscles. You'd never think you could sweat from stretcing. it gives great advice for athletes such as soccer players have strong calves and weak shins, so emphasixing shins is more important (lifting toes and holding it). I would highly recommend it.

I'm middle aged and was ordered by my doctor to exercise. I have to stretch to keep my lower back and shoulders and neck loose and to recover from aerobic exercise. The stretches in this book work to keep me flexible and loose. The descriptions are clear. I find the sets of stretches described in the last portion of the book useful: I do the 10-minute series after using the elliptical trainer and do the 20-minute series on my day off from aerobics. The book is inexpensive and you get very good value for the money.

Athletes stretch before and after exercise sessions in order to warm up their muscles, prevent injuries, and cool down after their exertions. Personal trainer and fitness educator Jay Blahnik blends the best of yoga, Pilates, martial arts, and sports training in Full-Body Flexibility to create "user friendly" stretching sequences that anyone can safely use for warm-ups and cool-downs, as well as during the course of performing challenging workouts on their own. Blahnik operates with three key stretching principles in mind: Variety (challenging muscles with multiple techniques to attain maximum flexibility); Strength (ensuring that muscles can support the body throughout the entire range of motion); and Balance (developing equal strength and flexibility in opposing muscle groups on both sides of the human body). Offering 10, 20, and 40 minute fitness routines; sport-specific sequences; and specialty stretch sequences, Full-Body Flexibility is an ideal and recommended introduction for even the most novice of beginners, while also holding much of value for even the more experienced athlete and fitness enthusiast.

Betsy L. Hogan
Reviewer

This is a pretty good book with tons of static and dynamic stretches for all muscle groups. It also contains several different stretching "routines" at the end of the book, which appear valuable.

The content is basic, but thorough, and I learned at least a few new stretches, which is why I bought the book.

My only complaint is that lots of the directions seem to be pretty vague and cryptic.

Pretty solid book.