Customer Reviews

Stretching For Fitness, Health & Performance: The Complete Handbook for All Ages & Fitness Levels

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

 

 

This 192 page user friendly manual is perfect for people of any age group or fitness level. Written by two Canadian Chiropractors, it provides all the basic and advanced concepts of stretching. It's information, photographs and anatomical drawings are the best on the market today.

It contains stretching for all muscle areas as well as specific stretches for most sports. It also contains stretching for seniors, pregnancy, standing and sitting occupations and household activities.

Stretching for Fitness, Health & Performance is a must for any person in order to prevent injuries, maintain mobility and reduce stress!

As an athlete myself, I have read all kinds of books on stretching and fitness. I found this to be the most informative manual on stretching that I have ever seen. A virtual encyclopedia of stretching! It covers every sport & activity known. Ranging from competitive athletics, to household chores, to certain ailments and even pregnancy. Also, simple exercises are outlined to help strengthen the back and joints of the body, helping to rehabilitate and prevent injuries. It is very easy to read - explaining technical concepts in a simple and understandable manner. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to increase their flexibilty, prevent injuries, and improve their health.

Personally I have read many books on stretching and yoga. I have also watched virtually every video on stretching and exercise. In my view this book far exceeds any other. It was easy to follow and provided many extra tips. The case studies and anatomy pictures were very interesting. The photos are great- so nice to not look at stickman drawings!

This book is so comprehensive. I love that it covers the basic stretches for everyone as well as sections on stretching for chronic conditions. I have asthma and carpul tunnel syndrome, just two of the conditions it specifically addresses. A bonus to me: it gives suggestions for children and pregnancy. I was originally intending on buying at least two books on stretching, but because of all the ground that this one covers, and the fact that it was written by two chiropractors, I don't feel the need to invest in any other texts.

I bought this book because I had recurring problems with my IT bands, hip flexors, hamstrings, plantar fascia etc. - in short, everything involved in cycling or running, both of which I love. Approximately two weeks after I got this book my knee discomfort (probably due to the IT band) was gone. I continue to stretch regularly and have noticed significant improvement in my overall well- being. I'd never thought of doing some of the stretches suggested in the cycling stretching routine (f.e. the hand and arm stretches) but they do make me feel better.
My major complaint about this book is the section going into unsafe stretches which consist of many of the poses I practiced for years in Yoga- without any negative effect. I think that a good Yoga routine will benefit everybody- as long as you at least once in a while take a class with a certified instructor to check for alignment and proper form. While I agree that some of the poses may not be safe to do without proper training (or warm up for that matter) I don't like to condemn these exercises all around.

In contrast to other reviewers, I was less satisfied with this text. I have two main complaints:
1) Too many stretches are described as dangerous or damaging. I'd argue the key to avoiding such injury is to learn to listen to the body...performed gently, most of their 'bad' stretches are perfectly safe.
2) Since stretches are identified only by numbered photos, it's rather awkward to use the book to find stretches by muscle group or common name (eg., side-kick stretch, neck roll, etc).

I found this book to be very helpful, but the chapters were shorter than I would have liked. Also, most of this information can be found on the web. Probably easier and no doubt cheaper to just surf around for a while.

While there are a lot of good things about this book they show almost NO stretches for the feet and ankles. I am a long distance over 50 walker and the way I found out about stretches for my feet and ankle strength and shin splits was to go to P.T. The pictures are good and they do show stretches for a wide variety of sports.

I think, for its time, it was really good but there are probably way better books nowadays..