Straighter, Stronger, Leaner, Longer: A Head-to-Toe Strengthening, Stretching, and Pain-RelievingProgram

by Renee Daniels, Janice Billingsley

A therapeutic exercise program designed to rehabilitate injuries and tone the body identifies everyday activities that can lead to muscle weaknesses and discomfort, providing self-assessment recommendations and a customizable exercise plan for problem areas. Original. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Health

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2005

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For exercise, I either swim or work around the farm. However, I've had trouble with certain muscles periodically getting stiff and cramping and refusing to naturally work themselves out. So I needed a book that taught stretching exercises.

I bought this book because the author is a medical specialists who understands the details of how the body works and used this knowledge when putting her exercise program together. This lady really knows her stuff from the inside out. I appreciate how this book carefully explained how the body is put together (in very simple terms) and which muscles each exercise works. And you can feel each specified muscle or muscle group being worked during the exercise! Be careful not to overdo an exercise the first time through or you'll get sore.

Most of the book explained the muscle groups and the various exercises that work those groups. At the back, she has two 30 minute exercise workouts using certain of those exercises. If you can't do the suggested exercise, you can always do an alternate one.

The illustrations of the muscles and the pictures of the exercises were in black and white. Overall, the explanations and pictures of the exercises were very clear and easy to follow. However, one exercise, I still can't figure out. It would have been helpful if there was another picture showing the middle stage for that. But since there's another exercise that works the same muscles and is easy to follow, it doesn't really matter.

I used this exercise program for several months and loved it. The exercises are easy to do and don't require specialized equipment (though some optional exercises use an exercise ball). The stretches helped get rid of my stiffness problem, so I stopped using it since I was getting exercise from other activities. However, the last few weeks, I've been in constant, low-grade pain due to stiffness. I tried this program again, and the pain was gone afterward. Maybe I'll just stick with it, this time.

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a "keep in shape & working order" exercise program.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and, with the exception of a single exercise, easy to follow. Does a good job of explaining what makes a person's back sieze up or droop out of shape and how to address it.