Customer Reviews

Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I read this book several years ago after starting martial arts training in my later 30's. Prior to following the methods of Stretching Scientifically, I had slightly better than average flexibility. In less than 6 months after reading this book, and most importantly, actually following its methods, I could do the full splits in all 3 directions while simultaneously flattening my body to the ground. Now at 40, I've maintained the stretch, and take full advantage of it in martial arts. I've trained with some great world-renowned martial artists, but have not met anybody who understands stretching the way Thomas Kurz does. This is a great book.

I am not out of shape. At 190 pounds - I can bench press 2X my bodyweight, squat 2.5X and run 100 Meters in 10.7 seconds. Why then have I never been able to touch my toes?

I spent years as 22 foot plus long jumper. Nothing my coaches or "Physical Therapists" tried (PNF streching for 3 hours a day, partner stretching, warm ups, warm downs, Yoga etc) ever did a thing to visibly improve my extension. After 8 to 10 years of training 3 hours a day and streching every day I could never do any better than mid shin (and that was after fully warming up).

Kurz's book puts all of my coaches to shame and puts an end to the myth of inborn flexibility. I learned within the first 30 pages what I was doing wrong. Within two weeks of following his suggestions I can now easily touch my toes during the day without any warmup. This is the most flexible I have been in my life despite now being over 30.

The truth is that gaining flexiblity using his methods is much easier than what I was doing for all those years for 0 results. This book works.

It is true that there is a lot of scientific "filler" as one reviewer calls it and a distinct lack of pictures. I imagine it is kind of a dense read for people who haven't studied physiology so they might want to have a dictionary handy. Still, I had no problem creating a routine from the presented material that has produced amazing results.

I'm going to buy the video now. I hear it is pretty dated but If his suggestions worked this well without really knowing if I have been following them correctly I can't wait to get my routine closer to ideal.

-M

*** This review is for the 4th edition, superceding my 3rd edition review.

Buying this new edition, especially since I thought the third edition was a good enough start, was a matter of integrity. I'd blistered the editors for not organizing the book well, and took the author to task for some vagaries in his descriptions and the lightness of graphical assistance, i.e. crummy drawings and mediocre photographs.

I can say that the editors improved the book significantly. The organization of the chapters is now more-logical, and it also begins in a very direct, simple manner that gradually adds complexity as you read. Which is fine, since concepts introduced earlier are laying a foundation of knowledge required for the later , extremely scientific chapter on how muscles, tendons, and ligaments work together to move your body in three dimensions.

I enjoyed the new edition more than the third, and I was very pleased with the updates and corrections. I believe you still need to invest some sweat to extract any value from this, but I would surmise no one is picking this up for light reading: this is an owner's manual for your body in some respects, and it requires hands-on application.

The fifth star is not forthcoming, and I don't think a fifth edition will change this. The photographs and stick figures you loved to hate from prior editions are still here, and I can't help wonder why the publisher didn't just run a contest at SVA or Pratt for book illustrators.

Still, there's less excuses for readers to employ if they can't figure out a good routine after reading this book, and Thomas Kurz's admonishing commentary is hilarious: I can actually see him as a professor taking some of the dimmer student body to task for not fully reading the relevant material. The FAQ section alone is worth the price of admission.

The book isn't well-organized, and that might not be Kurz's
fault. I'm sure his training is valid and scientifically tested;
I have little doubt that the techniques work and there is an
underlying logic to the book; I've used similar methods
successfully for years in some form or another.

First, the beginning science is padding, filler. You don't need
to know, in so much depth, how stretching works unless you're a
medical student.

The rest of book is tantalizingly close to giving you a
stretching routine you can adapt, but fails to do bring you
to a worksheet or methodology. Kurz gives four sample regimens
for stretching but does not delineate a complete routine using
all four methods.

There are some routines near the end of the book that purport to be sport-specific. A better version of this book would show all the stretches, in the order you might perform them (especially in grouping them), and then charting sports and the stretches that might benefit the most.

Three stars for potential and content. A solid rewrite could put
this book over the top. And I can't understand the five-star
reviews of this book, but my guess is a good mix of genetics and
luck, plus no exposure whatsoever to a disciplined approach to
stretching, might explain it.

I'd recommend it for folks who have never approached stretching
in a disciplined manner before, or have not had good instruction
in training methods that use stretching.

I was sceptical of much of what the author had to say but I could not doubt the body of literature he quoted and the scientific studies he quoted to buttress his arguments.

Regardless, I applied his principles and I was astonished at the results especially the non-conventional kicking exercises in the morning with little warm up.

In applying a few simple routines twice per day for less than 10 minutes I was able to dramatically increase flexibility AND strength resulting in much better axe, side, round house and spin hook kicks.

The key to success is applying the principles and routines DAILY.

I particularly liked how he debunked certain myths of stretching especially stretching BEFORE a workout. The body of scientific literature suggests that stretching before a workout is actually detrimental and he is astute in pointing this out.

Some have argued that he does not provide sport specific routines, however, if you read carefully he points you to the correct chapters based upon your interests and allows you to decide which routines would be best for your interests. For example a martial artist who does alot of kicking would want to focus on lower body stretches whereas a wrestler would want to spend some time on upper body flexibility.

In other words he wants you to think about what your goals are and use the routines accordingly. He clearly states which routines are best for various types of flexibility.

This is a must have book for any serious martial artist.

I you have the time read the first chunk of text, otherwise read only the end.

I would have to agree with one reviewer Fred Mertz, that this book somewhat lacks structure, and that there should be well-organized stretchingroutines for various needs and sports, but despite this i give it 5 stars. I would give it 6 stars if possible. However I think that a great part of this book is the underlying science. I strongly believe that if you know why, you get better results and you can perform your task more determined and confident. Intricate descriptions of ligaments, muscles, tendons, connective tissues, joint capsules etc are in the book. However if'd have it my way, even more science would be added, but still you can get result wheter you know or not the science. The author says; "do not stretch the ligaments" And some people will just respond "ok, I wont" but I would answer "Ok, but why?" But either if you want to know or not, this method works.



Everything that I have read in this book and tryed has worked, its sound like a "loose 50 pounds of fat in 2 weeks with the new revolutionizing orange pill!" (which never works) but this one really works.

Why?

Science, science, science. The author/authors truly have a kings understanding of human anatomy and discards old myth about stretching.

To be honest, with the results I have gained, it is the best book (or anything for that matter) I have bought IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. And you can quote me on that.

I cant recommend this book more than anything to people who want flexibility do not get any results.

Björn Ahlman, Sweden, Umeå

This book tells you how to gain a rapid improvment in flexibilty. By using excersises shown in this book you will see these results: -Strong and elongated muscles. -Splits even if you are over 40 years old. -A maximum flexibilty. -Splits between two chairs.

I have read several books about this issue and "Stretching Scientifically" is absolute the best one. Here is my point of view: This book is amazing!!!!

After some nagging running injuries I purchased three books on stretching.

"Stretching scientifically" is not really a guide to injury prevention, or even flexibility training. It's more of a guide as to how to do splits. If you want to do splits, it might be worthwhile. If you're an athlete, trying to prevent injuries, or trying to increase performance, it's not much help at all. The inner cover is filled with13 pictures of readers who learned to do splits. The front cover is a picture of a split. So is the back cover.

Everything is the book ties into doing splits. There are many common and useful stretches missing. There is nothing for the calves, hips, nothing really for the quads, back (maybe a few of the split stretches will target some of these indirectly, but not as a primary goal.) When I'm injured, I research my injury on the web and try to figure out what stretches might have helped it. As a result, I've learned many interesting and useful stretches over the years - and NONE of them were in this book.

Plus, the book is loaded with techno speak. Even as an aerospace engineer trained in reading massive technical volumes my eyes still glazed over reading this book. A lot of technical references, but who cares (no way to read the cited articles, done just to impress)? There was a lot of information presented, some of which might be good, but it was hard to make sense of. I lacked a clear summary and goal set after reading the book. It's the authors job to know everything and present it in a clear, concise, organized, and usable form. What I got was a ton of raw data for me to organize.

There was nothing on which stretches prevent which injuries. Not much on how and when to stretch. Not anything on how to tell if you're overstretching. If you had a specific question it's even hard to find out what chapter to go to - the information is spread out all over. On the plus side, I liked the question and answer portion of the book at the end. I think he'd probably be an all right guy to deal with in person, one on one. However, the introduction to the chapter reads "Does this method really work?" At this point, I realized I couldn't summarize what his method really was.

I think this Mr. Kurz really does know what he's talking about - but is having a hard time communicating it in a simple and effective fashion. Again, it's for the kick boxer who wants to do splits - not for endurance athletes who want to minimize repetitive motion injuries.

At the same time I also purchased "Stretching Anatomy." A good solid book, lots of good stretches, some new to me, all my favorite stretches included. However, no tie in between the various stretches and different sport and injuries was made. I'd certainly want to know what stretches were good for a runner with Achilles problems, for example. You have to figure that out on your own. Still, there's lot of good general commentary on what each stretch achieves, and it's no big task to narrow it down to what could help you. Very visual, information is very easy to absorb and apply quickly, you can't be using it in 10 minutes, and isn't that what most of us want?

The last book I purchased was "Stretching" by Bob Anderson. Its is a pretty good book as well, equal but different from "Stretching Anatomy." The information was a little harder to digest, but still not bad. Perhaps a few more tidbits of information compared to "Stretching Anatomy." There's nice section showing a group of stretches that apply to a variety of sports, from running to bull riding! Also a section on massage tools. Lots of nice summaries, good organization, once I read it a few more times it might become my favorite stretching book.

So, overall, two yeas and one nay. Tossing "Stretching Scientifically," using "Stretching Anatomy" TODAY, going to re-read "Stretching" a few times. Still haven't found the perfect stretching book, but two are definitely worthwhile.

I used to do an hour of yoga a day to loosen up, now with this book I only spend 15 minutes a day stretching and I am getting better results.

This book contains all you could ever want to know about stretching. And it works... i have now tried it on my own body and I can highly recommend it for all. This is a must. If you are not into reading so much, then try Pavel Tsatsoulines Relax Into Stretch. It is basicly the same ideas but less science talk.