The Anatomy of Exercise and Movement for the Study of Dance, Pilates, Sports, and Yoga

by Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones

Awareness of movement potential,” says author Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones, “is key to a healthy body and injury prevention.” The Anatomy of Exercise & Movement shows readers how to gain that awareness by understanding the biomechanics of movement. In ten chapters, color-coded for easy reference, the author covers all of the major muscle and joint areas, including the spine; core region; shoulder; elbow; wrist and hand; and hip, knee, and ankle/foot joints. Most importantly, each chapter contains strengthening and stretching exercises for all of the above areas.

Developed as a handbook, The Anatomy of Exercise & Movement is an accessible resource for anyone who would like to know more about his or her body, how it moves, and what can be done to improve that movement. The more than 275 high-quality, four-color anatomical drawings and the broad scope of muscle and joint groups make this one of the most important guides to the moving body on the market. A helpful “Myths” page at the end of each chapter debunks many of the misunderstandings and rumors about fitness that have circulated over the years.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fitness, Health, Grad School

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2010

Reviews

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book really helpful. I wanted a book about anatomy related to exercise and in particular yoga, running and dance and this book is just the thing! The illustrations are good and each chapter also has stretches and strengthening exercises relating to the area of the body featured in the chapter. Also, each chapter has a helpful ‘myths dispelled’ section. I had little precious knowledge on anatomy and I feel I have a much better understanding of how my body works and it is pretty awesome! It’s fun when I’m doing exercises to think about the muscle groups I’m working and how my body is working to achieve movements. Also, more importantly, it has made me aware of how I can avoid injury and improve my form on exercises, to target particular muscles for stretching/ strengthening. I shall be keeping this on my book shelf as a resource to come back to for reference.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of its kind that I've read and while I really enjoyed it I have a hard time giving it 5 stars because I don't have any comparisons. The book is comprised of about 10 sections, with the first being an overview of positioning (say, dorsal and ventral or adduction and abduction) and then each chapter goes into much more detail with the muscles and bones for different parts of the body, as well as exercises to both strengthen and stretch them.

[Michaela Aerial · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful source of basic information for anyone who wants to better understand movement mechanics and basic anatomy. Absolutely need for anyone who works in sport, dance, yoga, fitness. Written in very clear way, easy to understand also for people without medical or PT education

[Meg]

A good overview of the movement muscles of the body and how they work together with joints and ligaments. Exercise examples for each section include Pilates, ballet, yoga, and weightlifting.

[Katya Rossokhata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book focuses very little on dancing, more on pilates and yoga, in its examples. Detailed pictures (not often clear though) however somewhat superficial and often unclear because in terms of explanations. Honestly I'd recommend getting a much more detailed kinesiology book, as this one is somewhere between and introduction and an actual manual, being really bad at either of the two. It is bad as an introductory book as it goes into too much detail and bad as a manual cbecause many thongs are not explained at all or poorly explained. Would probably work best if you have some general basic knowledge of kinesiology and muscle anatomy and want to get more details in movements more specific to pilates, ballet and yoga