Book Review - The Anatomy of Stretching

Book Review - The Anatomy of Stretching

Brad Walker

ISBN 978-1-905367-03-0

£14.99

176 pages

Lotus Books

www.lotusbooks.co.uk

The book has 200 colour illustrations – arranged by body area – to show the muscles being worked in 114 different stretches.

Starting with a section on how to use the book and an intro, following chapters are:

1 physiology and flexibility – this includes the definition of flexibility and stretching, as well as a look at muscle anatomy.

2 benefits of stretching – like improved range of movement, increased power, reduced fatigue and post-exercise soreness.

3 types of stretching – grouped into static and dynamic.

4 rules for safe stretching – seven in all.

5 how to stretch properly.

The next few chapters are devoted to stretches for every part of the body, starting at the top: neck and shoulders, arms and chest, stomach, back and sides, hips and buttocks, quads, hamstrings, adductors, abductors, calves, and finally the shins, ankles and feet.

Each of these chapters has a page per stretch, with a clear linear diagram and a how-to, as well as information on which muscles are being stretched, sports that benefit from that stretch, which sports injuries benefit from it, common problems/supplementary information (i.e. when to avoid, how to get it right), and the complementary stretch to it.

Following that, there’s a glossary of medical terms, an appendix – a summary of stretches for sports and sports injuries, a page of resources and even a post script.

This is certainly a comprehensive book, and one for anyone seriously into sport of any kind. It shows you how to work muscles you probably didn’t even know you had. It would make a good companion to ‘The Anatomy of Sports Injuries’ by the same author.