The Modern Book of Stretching: Strength and Flexibility at Any Age - Softcover

This is an odd and elegant book featuring movements that most of us wouldn't refer to as stretches, and a series of movements that don't look much like exercise routines. The theories behind the movements come from the author's study of aikido, Zen and Eastern healing. In the chapter called "Energy Stretching," for example, there's a detailed list of acupuncture energy centers. Some may look at this book and just want to go pump some iron and eat hamburgers, but others will find it refreshingly different from hard-core exercise manuals.

Rush describes these exercises as coming from her "25 years of researching and writing about preventative health care, and from the numerous training programs on psychology and exercise that I've taken and taught, from Aikido to Zen." This book is the third in a series, the previous two dealing with massage. By structuring these stretches as dance patterns and by assigning each a nickname (e.g., "Travolta movova" and "Walk like an Egyptian"), Rush succeeds in making them more enjoyable and easier to remember. Also included are song lines and quotations that are fun as well as motivational. The written instructions are easy to follow and are accompanied by black-and-white photographs that attractively and adequately illustrate the stretches. Emphasis is placed on proper movement and breathing. The indexing is excellent, including an index recommending sports-specific stretches. For public libraries.?Cindy Eubank, Waterloo P.L., Iowa
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.