A nine-minute routine to improve stretching, mobility, and strength, by personal trainer, massage therapist, and instagram sensation Joe Yoon.
Better Stretching teaches readers to stretch smarter to feel looser, move more easily, and peak perform. These stretches are fast and easy. Readers will learn to make areas of tightness and discomfort feel better immediately—and how to make those benefits last. Author Joe Yoon proves you don’t need 90 complicated minutes to get more agile and less achy—you just need 9.
Yoon’s stretches are easy and fast and made for people at all levels of fitness, whether you sit at a desk most of the day, are a high-level athlete, or somewhere in between. Better Stretching is broken up into three parts to help readers find what suits their bodies best. Part One is a compendium of stretches and mobility exercises; Part Two is comprised of strengthening exercises, including routines for specific needs like avoiding the hunching and soreness from sitting behind a desk or prepping for a workout; and Part Three gives readers three different 30-day routines to ease them into making stretching a regular part of their daily lives, as well as to develop smart and healthy stretching habits.
Better Stretching is for readers who want to: - improve their athletic performance - prevent injury - use stretching as exercise.
Better Stretching's simple, straight-to-the point stretches with over 125 clear accompanying photos will have readers looser and more limber in 30 days.
Stretching is important, even more so as I get older and there always seems to be pain in one body part or another. Over the past year I changed my lifestyle and became more active, but, like most people, I've not been diligent enough to follow a daily stretching routine. However, I'm working on getting better about it. This book illustrates great stretches with instructions in text and pictures as well as a listing of target areas for each stretch. At the end of the book is a suggestion of routines one can follow to stretch about 9 minutes per day and achieve greater flexibility.
I like the book, the tips, the easy to follow instructions and the stretching plans in the back. BUT, something happened in the editing process & many of the page numbers listed for the plans are not the correct exercise! Fortunately, I purchased the book, and can write in the correct pages.
Suggest to: people wanting a simple, easy to follow stretch program who don't mind the errors in pagination
FINALLY - an "exercise" book of use to ME! (Insert: dancing girl, confetti, raised hands...emojis!) I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this book, I'm just grateful to have done so. There are multiple things I appreciate, and in turn find VERY helpful: the layout, content, organization...
Of primary value to this user (see that? Not "reader" - - USER!) is the "clean", easy to use layout. Specifically, each new page presents a given stretch or strengthener and begins with a few sentences "introduction" spelling out the "whats" and "whys" of the given stretch or strengthener. As a question-box, yet with a limited attention span, I like background explanation, in brevity. Additionally, each page dedicated to a specific stretch or strengthener follows the format that includes "cues" (think: hints and tips), "target areas", and "how-to's" - all short and sweet. The pictures of the author demonstrating each of the positions, sometimes from multiple angles, are easy to discern, thus eliminating any "am I doing this right" apprehension.
The overall content and organization is helpful with separate sections denoting stretching/mobility v. strengthening, an intro, index, tools, and routines. Once-upon-a-time a former boss told me when presenting "talk to the dumbest person in the room" (don't assume anyone knows anything about what you're speaking - and do not use acronyms!). I feel like the author accomplished this in his introduction. It's informative, yet relatable. I didn't get a deep-dive into high school chemistry or biology, rather basic, relatable information helping me to appreciate WHY I want to stretch and strengthen (stat)! And as someone easily overwhelmed with tons of options, that the author has provided some optional routines eliminates the panic of choosing the absolutely-most-perfect- combination-of-stretches-and-strengtheners instead providing some training wheels I can take off when I'm ready.
A couple of final notes worth mentioning are the credibility of the author and his overall disposition. I value that he's a certified personal trainer AND a licensed massage therapist. He's got the education to back-up his claims. And if that's not enough, he's got quite a bit of endorsement from professional athletes - THEY rely on his expertise. He also presents without hard and fast rules, and is not married to his approaches, rather recognizes "not one size fits all" and people will and can modify for THEIR body's needs.
I'm really glad to have stumbled upon Better Stretching. It's working. (Scratch that: I'M working - with the helpful guidance of this book.)
Joe Yoon is a certified personal trainer, licensed massage therapist, and founder of the fitness training JoeTherapy. He trains Olympic gold medalists, professional athletes, champion bodybuilders, and Hollywood stars reach their fitness goals in as little as nine minutes a day!
Joe explains crucial stretches for each body part and the whole body. He modifies them to your level and gives you a 30-day plan for maximum results in the shortest time. He also gives integral strengthening exercises and stretching aids to help you stay fit and strong.
Sure you can google stretches. But I love that everything is in one book and you can turn to the muscle that aches so Joe can tell you how to stretch it correctly to avoid injury. I used this when I pulled my trapezoids and it gave me a lot of relief. Now I'm motivated to do the strengthening exercises and daily stretches.
This book, Better Stretching: Nine Minutes a Day to Greater Flexibility, Less Pain, and Enhanced Performance the JoeTherapy Way does all it says it does. For each stretch, there is at least one full-color photograph and a clear description, which makes stretching easy. The stretches are organized in groups based upon the body part that the stretch focuses on. But not only does the author provide you with stretches. He also tells the importance of stretching and how to go about it. He adds that strength training is an important addition to stretching. He concludes his book with a description of tools that may help enhance stretching and how to use them. He also provides some nine-minute stretching and strengthening routines. What a helpful book!
This is an easy to read guide to improving your flexibility.
Stressing the “use it or lose it” reality, Yoon suggests a stretching routine that takes less than 10 minutes, which should be done daily, or at least every other day.
He also explains that “tightness” can result from weak muscles as well as from overworked muscles - tightness can result from the body trying to protect the weak muscles. Thus he also provides some simple exercises that build basic strength, and thus ultimately more flexibility.
Instructions are clear and exercises and stretches are approachable and adaptable.
So mixed review here. Is this book useful? Absolutely! I enjoyed having the stretches all in one spot, I liked the 30 day examples at the end and did one full month of them. Now I have compiled my favorites and use those. Annoying things, page numbers at the back referencing the stretches were wrong or not even there. This could have used a bit more editing or proofreading before publishing. It was helpful to me though.
I bought this book on a whim but it has become an indispensable guide to safe, effective stretching. From my very first 9 minute session I felt the benefits; this was totally unexpected, but very much appreciated. I'm someone returning to a more active lifestyle and I'm so glad that I found this book. My 'twinges' have gone and I just feel better in general. Thank you, Joe!
The author states some impressive credentials that make me the reader feel good about what he has to say. It does give 30 day plan for beginner, intermediate, advanced levels. Which is what myself as beginner am looking for. He does give an outline on how to build own program, so I can see this book being an everlasting relevant book/resource.
KAREN (MY WIFE) FOUND THIS BOOK AND IS GOING TO PURCHASE IT FOR OUR PERSONAL LIBRARY AS A RESOURCE. SHE WAS LOOKING FOR A GUIDE TO STRETCHING AND SEEMS TO HAVE FOUND IT IN THIS BOOK. THE INTRODUCTION IS HELPFUL AS HE GOES THROUGH THE FUNDAMENTALS OF STRETCHING AND WHAT HE BELIEVES WILL HELP EVERYONE WHO TAKES 9 MINUTES A DAY TO STRETCH. THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS ON HOW TO DUE THE EXERCISES APPEAR TO BE VERY GOOD AND USEFUL TO APPLY TO YOUR ROUTINE THAT HE WANTS YOU TO DEVELOP.
Joints and Muscles stiffen because people do not move enough Leg, back, forearm and hands stretches are detailed after the three "most common" stretching techniques