The Exercises of the FitzGordon Method: The Core Collection Paperback – August 16, 2011

The information in this book deserves a hundred stars, but the production makes it hard to follow. The photos are tiny, and there is not enough contrast to clearly see what is being done. Also, Jonathan wears baggy clothes, so it's hard to see exactly what he's doing. Alignment is at the heart of this program, but Jon's is impossible to see clearly. The font is way too large, as well. Using a correctly sized font would have left room for the photos to be big enough to follow more easily.I bought this book to help me decide whether or not to buy the Core Walking Program. I'm not sure I can make an assessment based on what I see, or can't see, in this book.

Maybe I'm looking for something that doesn't exist. I am always scouting for NEW, more effective ways to help my back and hip pain without causing more back and hip pain. This was a good presentation of nothing new. That being said,, it really is a well formatted approach to an age old problem, and if you follow the graded instructions you will get stronger and better aligned. A spiral binding would be a good addition to this edition. It would stay open to the section being worked on.

FitzGordon has his own approach, and its well thought out. If you've done a lot of stretching/rehab/yoga before, and read several books/websites, you will be familiar with many but not all exercises in this short book. Even so, a handy reference and compilation. If you're more of a novice, the work's been done for you. Not a lot of extra detail, just the exercises, but also not terribly expensive. You will be on your own to develop your routine, but what i did was just go through the book, do all the exercises, and select those I had trouble with to work on more.

This plus 4 yoga blocs is all I need to do an adequate variety of yoga like exercises. Very clear presentation. A little expensive maybe for the very basic paper, printing & format, but on the other hand unlike a big glossy yoga book it's easy to keep at hand and use. FitzGordon writes very clearly.

I use this book all the time in my yoga classes. The exercises are very helpful. The rest of the books in his series are also great.

My friend in Brooklyn took me to his yoga class one Saturday morning years ago and he amazed me with his intuitive approach to each person there, including me. He told us to move and walk like we wished we could to train the body toward that. I'm paraphrasing his point, but I have never forgotten it and apply it always with wonderful results. The body is often like an adjustable machine that we can tweak with the simple things like good posture, stretching, basic movement repetition, and whereas I once walked with a limp that caused people to stare after getting arthritis, I walk normally enough now so no one looks at me with pity or curiosity, with no notice at all, just because I refused to use a cane and allow myself to act like a cripple. This is solely due to FitzGordon's comment during thatSaturday yoga class as my friend's guest when he gave me that take-away idea. Wish there was a DVD in addition to books.