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A Guide to Better Movement: The Science and Practice of Moving With More Skill And Less Pain Paperback – May 21, 2014
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Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length306 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMay 21, 2014
- Dimensions7 x 0.69 x 10 inches
- ISBN-100991542304
- ISBN-13978-0991542307
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Editorial Reviews
Review
-- Jamie Hale, M.S., cognitive scientist and author of In Evidence We Trust, maxcondition.com.
"Simply put, this book is the most important book on movement in the last 20 years, possibly in existence up to this point. It will become a required reading for every movement professional to truly understand movement and pain."
-- Leonard Van Gelder, DPT, ATC, CSCS, dynamicprinciples.wordpress.com
"It's almost infuriating how good this book is . . . It is both refreshing and inspiring to read something of this quality. This is definitely a resource I will be referring back to for quite some time."
-- Matt Danziger, personal trainer, truemovement.net.
"I truly enjoyed reading this book; It details some wonderful activation exercises and mobility work, some familiar to me and some new. At the rate it's going, though, I will wear out the binding because I am continually referring to the book throughout my mobility/movement "practice time. Great job!" --Chip Morton, Professional Football Strength & Conditioning Coach, Cincinnati, Ohio
Product details
- Publisher : Better Movement; 1st edition (May 21, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 306 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0991542304
- ISBN-13 : 978-0991542307
- Item Weight : 1.18 pounds
- Dimensions : 7 x 0.69 x 10 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #519,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #332 in Physical Therapy (Books)
- #564 in Pain Management (Books)
- #685 in Exercise Injuries & Rehabilitation
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Todd Hargrove is a Seattle-based manual and movement therapist, avid athlete, father, and former lawyer. He writes a blog at BetterMovement.org.
Customer reviews
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Top reviews from the United States
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I really liked the way that he talked about slow "non-ballistic" movement, particularly since it is something that I use almost exclusively in my yoga classes.
It was inspiring to see it so clearly described.
There are a few problems though.
The first point is that of stability. He uses the metaphor of firing a cannon from a canoe suggesting that doing so is not a good idea because the force of firing the cannon shot will be wasted in pushing the canoe backwards. (Personally I think the quote alludes to the fact that if you fired a cannon from a canoe you'd smash the canoe or end up being waterlogged.)
The point is that cannon's are designed to be more massive than the shot that they fire. Because the cannon is more massive it is accelerated less than the cannon ball. Doesn't matter if it is on solid ground or on a canoe the recoil force will be the same and being on a canoe won't reduce the "force" that the shot receives as it leaves the barrel.
(It's like doing a push up. Unless you are Chuck Norris then everyone knows that when you do a push up you push yourself away from the earth rather than the earth being pushed away from ourselves. Why? Because the Earth is more massive.)
This is actually relevant to stability as it applies to the body.
Doing a sit up with knees straight but relaxed, we can make it easier to actually do the sit up if we engage the quads to "lock" the knees. Then the weight of the shins and thighs combined gives the hip flexors and abs an anchor from which to pull the torso upwards.
Doing a leg lift we can do the opposite and lock pelvis, ribcage and head into one unit so that then the hip flexors have a foundation from which to act on the legs to pull the legs up.
Using a similar principle we can make it easier to lift the legs by unlocking the knees so that the knees bend as they are lifted with the feet remaining on the floor. We can then lift the shins after the thighs are vertical.
Another idea that I think can be improved upon is the idea of centration. (Personally I think whoever invented the word should be shot. It's an abomination. Why not just say centered! That being said the word is used consistently throughout and so whenever it is mentioned we know exactly what the author is talking about.)
Centration is the idea that in any pose or action a joint is as close to the center of it's range of motion as possible. The author goes on to say that when we look at someone who is "in their body" i.e. using their body with awareness, what we see is a body with all joints centrated. While this may be true I'd argue that this is a pretty hard quality to feel.
Personally what I look for is space or openness or length and that is usually accompanied by tension.
This tension isn't just muscle tension, it is connective tissue tension, akin to the tension in the fabric and guy wires of an old fashioned tent that is set up just right.
I'd suggest that tension is beneficial for people who want to move more efficiently since with it we can both feel our body and control it. (And I'm not talking about the type of tension we get in the shoulders as a result of stress.)
And it leads to the ability to feel the body without needing the floor for feedback.
And that leads to the next problem.
While the exercises in the book are well described and useful, my complaint is that they are for the most part "floor exercises."
The idea is to use the floor to help participants feel their body.
Why not come up with exercises that we can use to feel our body while seated or standing. Instead of learning to feel our interface with the floor (which is important, but personally I focus on it in the context of balancing and using it to feel our center and control it) why not learn to feel muscle tissue activating and contracting.
Finally, on flexibility, while I agree that good movers have good control within a normal range of movement, the evidence that flexibility in the posterior chain correlates with poorer running economy is pretty slim.
The study cited showed that people with less flexibility had better running economy. It appears from the study cited that women are both more flexible and less economical. But a related study shows that women are less economical anyway. Plus the initial study only used 8 participants (4 men and 4 women).
The point is that flexibility isn't necessarily a bad thing if it is accompanied with control within that range of movement.
How do we define good movement? What is the role of our brain activity on movement? Where does pain come from? Why do we feel pain? How can we deal with pain through movement exercises? Those questions are well-discussed in this book based on both scientific and clinical research.
Besides that, those 20+ exercises at the end of the book are so good. They are simple, but sincerely helpful if done regularly. This book is actually about understating the nature of movement patterns, and how we can incorporate basic and intuitive exercises to live better.
Highly recommend this book. But please, don't jump to the exercise section before reading the first two sections about movement and pain.
I hope you, too, take advantage of this gem.
Haical
I would suggest that in addition to the suggested movements that the acquisition of powerful muscles be emphasized.
A lifetime of lifting very heavy weights has made me famous among my doctors and friends for resilience. A super strong body is hard to break. Lastly, if you are relaxed you will sustain little damage during a slip on ice or in a fight or sport.
Top reviews from other countries
The practical exercises are also useful but I am probably biased as I have found the method extremely useful in significantly reducing pain due to long hours at the computer.










