FitnessProsBooks.com - Stretch to Win
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $10.75
Your Save: $ 9.20 ( 46% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Human Kinetics Publishers
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Brand: Human Kinetics
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.7182
EAN: 9780736055291
ISBN: 0736055290
Label: Human Kinetics Publishers
Manufacturer: Human Kinetics Publishers
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 250
Publication Date: 2006-06-30
Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers
Studio: Human Kinetics Publishers
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: still reading
Comment: I have just recieved this book a few weeks ago...its not a simple this is what you do book....but it goes into the hows and why of everything...highly recommended
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could be
Comment: This book basically just introduces a different way of doing the stretching movement and coordinating it with your breathing. It's not a radically different approach. Certainly not as different as doing isometric stretches or PNF stretches for those who have only done static stretching in the past. The book's biggest failure would be its lack of information on developing your own sport specific program. From reading the book's description of itself, one gets the impression that you could develop a program that would be best suited to your favorite sport. There is a section in the book that lists many sports/activities and what sorts of movement patterns need addressed by stretches. There is another section that lists out all the various stretches, but there isn't a section that correlates the two. It's up to you to figure that out. There are some "sample routines, but these are generic and not sport specific. There is a video, Flexibility For Sports Performance (Sports Conditioning) that goes along with the book. While the book is ok overall, I highly discourage anyone from getting the video.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Research and experience talks in this book
Comment: I found myself being the guy doing always the same boring and not always so useful old-school stretching routines. This book had enough science and experience in its background, so it was a thrust-worthy starting point to read. The presentation covers in an understandable way stretching principles, self-evaluation, sport-specific needs and different techniques. And of course, how to customize your own program. As a jumper (high, triple) I have got a lot of new tips in adding flexibility in my problematic areas like low-back and hips. The series of photos are so clear that it is easy to do the routines as they should be done.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A new way of thinking about stretching
Comment: Over the years it has become a standard mantra that people should "stretch" to help performance and prevent injuries. On the other hand, recent research has cast doubts on the usefulness of "stretching."
This book provides a good resolution to the stretching dilemma. It recasts "stretching" as a series of fluid, wave-like activities for improving mobility opposing the old "stretch and hold" protocol that so many of us have struggled with for years. The movements are performed in synchronization with breathing and at varying tempo for different purposes.
One interesting aspect of this approach is that it takes a big step toward bridging the fluid, rhythmic emphasis of traditional Eastern practices like Tai Chi and Yoga with the Western functional methods.
The biggest weakness of this book from my perspective was that while it emphasizes the importance of sequence, it did not really give enough detailed examples to help me sequence my own flexibility routines, I found myself guessing in various places. The book suggests working from the core outward but does not indicate how to relate each movement to how far it is from the core, and so on. As a result, I have enough information from this book to know how to do the movements and roughly how to structure my stretching, but it leaves me having to do a lot of experimentation on my own.
Still, the approach in this book is heads and shoulders above the previous generation of "stretch and hold" poses, and I highly recommend it for all athletes and martial artists.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Stretching Resource I've Encountered
Comment: This book provides:
1. A systematic approach for identifying your movement restrictions and designing a program to resolve them
2. Clear instruction on effective stretching, with a focus on developing the right combination of mobility and stability
3. Specific guidelines for incorporating soft tissue work with a therapy ball into your exercise program
My personal experience applying just the stretching guidelines has been the following:
1. My hips have opened quite a bit. I can comfortably drop into a deep squat.
2. Foot pain I have had for almost a year is quickly going away
3. A shoulder problem I went to physical therapy for but never quite finished fixing is rapidly improving
I've got the recommended equipment for the trigger point therapy on the way (a $10 Footsie roller and a $15 Fitball). If it does as much for me as the stretching has, I'm going to be a very happy person.
On a professional basis, I've been certified by the ACSM as a Health / Fitness Instructor since 2002. I was certified by ACE as a Personal Trainer in 2000. I've read a number of other stretching books and watched several DVDs. This book is the clearest out of any of them, and is one of the few to recognize being overly flexible is just as bad as not being flexible enough. It's also one of the few to address the concept of promoting soft tissue quality to reduce risk of injury.
Considering the price relative to other fitness products on the market, everyone should own a copy and apply the guidelines. Diligent attention to a sound program of mobility work will have more immediate impact on quality of life and ease of movement than just about any other form of exercise.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Leave the old static stretches, muscle tightness, and movement restrictions behind. Stretch to Win presents a complete flexibility training system--a proven winner for today’s athlete. This is the new way to both loosen up and perform your best. Learn the dynamic exercise techniques that most closely represent the movements and loads that will be required of your body on the court, field, course, track, or mat or in the water. After you complete a simple self-evaluation, a special science-based stretching matrix enables you to tailor a program specifically for your body, your sport, your position, or your event. Authors Ann and Chris Frederick have trained many elite and aspiring athletes to achieve optimal muscle and joint function. Now you can stretch to win and enjoy the same results champions in all sports have achieved through this modern, customized flexibility training program.
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