The Anatomy of Stretching, Second Edition: Your Illustrated Guide to Flexibility and Injury Rehabilitation Paperback – October 4, 2011

The first section of the book talks about the physiology of muscles and the components of good stretching. The rest of the book is organized by area of the body. Each of the pages provides a clear diagram of what the stretch looks like and what muscles are involved and provide a brief description of the injuries or sports that benefit from that stretch. While it's very straightforward and clear, I wish it provided a little more commentary about each stretch to enhance your understanding of the context surrounding each stretch.

I ordered some of the sports related Anatomy books from Human Kinetics and this book. Though this book costs more, it is well worth it! Great for the artist, sculptor, physical therapist, massage therapist, nurse, doctor, athletes of every level or even the office worker with some aches and pains who wants to work intelligently with their health professional!Each exercise shows well drawn featured muscles (that are being stretched) in color which contrasts nicely with the adjacent muscles drawn in black and white (yet still with good detail). Drawings are usually in two views as needed. Then below are sections: Technique, Muscles being Stretched, Sports that benefit from this stretch, Sports injury where stretch may be useful, Common problems and additonal information for performing this stretch correctly and reference to other Complementary Stretches in the book. It is so much easier to learn when the reader can experience the stretch while studying. Thank you. I wish I had this book while in college, but it's never to late to learn!The only thing I didn't find was the origins, insertions and actions of each of the muscles. I found that online.

I'm 54 and have lifted weights on-and-off (mostly off) for many years. I've accumulated many injuries - torn or overstrained muscles, achy joints, etc. I recently started working out again and it wasn't long before all those aches and pains came back. My shoulders, triceps, elbows and forearms felt extremely tight and downright painful. Even with a pre-workout warmup routine, several of my exercises were limited not by the weight, but by how much discomfort I could stand.So I picked up this book and went through the shoulder and arm stretches. I probably only did each stretch for 15 seconds or so, but there are quite a few of them and so the routine was rather comprehensive. Immediately I felt the muscle tightness had been vastly decreased. The next day, prior to my workout, I went through the stretches again, and lo and behold, felt no discomfort in any of my weightlifting exercises.I can't recommend this book highly enough to people who have tight, sore muscles. I spent almost twice as much money on a bottle of pills that were supposed to help with joint soreness and it basically did nothing for me. The stretches in this book fixed me up completely in only a day.

This book is overall very helpful. There are 135 color coded stretches categorized by muscle group(s). The first chapter is information of anatomy of muscles and kinesiology. The second chapter has information on different types of stretching techniques and workout structure. The remaining chapters go on to describe all of the stretches with pictures, description of techniques, muscles stretched, sports and injuries the stretches may be helpful for and references to complementary stretches. It ends with the top 5 stretches for each sports injury and sport and a glossary of different types of injuries. I am giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 because I would not recommend following his 4 point warmup structure before working out. I found it way too time consuming and it goes against what most physical therapists would recommend for the beginning of a workout. The information of stretching technique and the 135 stretches were very helpful. For that reason, I would recommend this book to anyone as a good resource for their workout routine.

Helps with learning about the body

Great pictorial book

The older I get , the tighter I feel. This book will loosen my muscles and so forth

After a largely sedentary life, I have to develop a regular exercise habit.Stretching, obviously, is an important part of any exercise regimen. The other books I looked at showed me the stretches, explained them but were not as clear as I would like on precisely what muscles were being stretched."The Anatomy of Stretching" resolves that issue for me.There are 114 stretches clearly - in fact, beautifully would not be an exaggeration - showing how the stretch is performed and the muscles affected. The various affected muscles are printed in color so there is no mistaking them.What makes it nice for me, a literal beginner, is that it gives me an idea of where I should be feeling the stretch.The first five chapters cover physiology and flexibility, why stretching is beneficial, the types of stretching, rules for safe stretching and how to stretch properly.The remaining eleven chapters group the stretches according to the area of the body involved.Overall, at least for this beginner, "The Anatomy of Stretching" is a very helpful book.Jerry