The Miracle of Flexibility: A Head-to-Toe Program to Increase Strength, Improve Mobility, and Become Pain Free

The Miracle of Flexibility: A Head-to-Toe Program to Increase Strength, Improve Mobility, and Become Pain Free

  • Downloads：9471
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-03-01 06:21:27
  • Update Date：2025-09-13
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Miranda Esmonde-White
  • ISBN：1668000164
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Online Eccentric Librarian ，

More reviews （and no fluff） on the blog http://surrealtalvi。wordpress。com/This is a balletic type of continual movement program designed to help with flexibility and pain relief。 These movements are smooth， gradual and continuous， thus separating it from the static poses of yoga or the high impact aspects of aerobics。 The author has a YouTube channel and so a lot of the exercises in the book can be viewed in motion in various locations， by the author and others。 The strength of the book is More reviews （and no fluff） on the blog http://surrealtalvi。wordpress。com/This is a balletic type of continual movement program designed to help with flexibility and pain relief。 These movements are smooth， gradual and continuous， thus separating it from the static poses of yoga or the high impact aspects of aerobics。 The author has a YouTube channel and so a lot of the exercises in the book can be viewed in motion in various locations， by the author and others。 The strength of the book is to have the detailed explanations of each movement and have it targeted to problem areas; the weakness is that you will have to practice them quite a bit in order to memorize a complete routine。The book is broken down as follows: Section 1: The Balanced Body， Redefining Stretching， The Musculoskeletal Trifecta， The Poor Posture Epidemic。 Section II: Techniques And Positions， Neuromuscular Techniques， Essentrics Sequences （equipment， correct and incorrect placement， sequences）， Essentrics Routines For Every Day （warm up， morning， evening， travel， walking the dog， stress relief， relaxation， increase energy， stimulate the brain， for the kids， etc。）。 Conditioning for an Active Life （beginner flexibility， upper body toning， quick posture routine， etc）， Routines for Sports （cycling， hiking， golf， baseball， skiing， etc。）， Routines For the Workplace （on your feet all day， at a desk all day， manual labor， flight attendants， hairdressing， housekeeping）， Routines For Chronic Pain （back， knee， hip， shoulder， etc。）， Routine for Better Posture。The book is nicely photographed in bright lighting， making it easy to understand the exercises。 Some are in black and white and others are in color。 There are also many clean and clear illustrations to accompany the introductory material about the muscles and bones。 Each type of movement has a photograph， so there are plenty - often 5-6 each page。 Descriptions of the exercises are short and brief， making them easy to use。 Extra points for the book pointing out how each exercise can be done incorrectly and how to make sure you are doing it well。 It is easy to get to the routines you want to use for your particular issues。 The book has very targeted material: whether it is sports causing pain （e。g。， cycling）， workplace （e。g。， hairdresser on his/her feet all day）， or just general issues in an area （e。g。， back or shoulder pain）。 This means that if you are having pain in an area or from an activity/job， you can easily find routines to help address the issue。 Similarly， if you just have a sore back or hip， you can find routines to address those。 Since there is a wide range of individuals/body sizes/genders photographed， you can see the program being done by all kinds of people。I actually prefer the book over the YouTube videos but recommend checking the online version to see how this essentrics program works。 What isn't obvious from the book is that you are in constant motion， very similar to Tai Chi （but with less poses）。 The youtube routines can be annoying at times， with a lot of endless distracting chit chat （I have to mute out the chatter of fascias or lubricating） and it can be hard to follow them online unless you practice a lot in advance （and even then， I sometimes felt like I wasn't doing them right when watching online）。 With the book， you get a more directed， comprehensive and focused overview of each exercise。I think this is particularly useful for those over 50 who need to ensure they have good balance and posture。 But athletes and individuals of all ages can find exercises to address issues here。 Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher。 。。。more

Alicia Bayer ，

Where this book excels is in convincing me that I want to do the essentrics program， the gentle and fluid workout former ballerina Esmonde-White developed 25 years ago。 She is in her 70s and says that even though X-rays show arthritis in her body she is active and pain free because of the program， which she developed after people in her yoga and fitness classes asked her to create a workout that didn’t make them hurt more afterwards。 The first chapters show why using all the muscles and joints i Where this book excels is in convincing me that I want to do the essentrics program， the gentle and fluid workout former ballerina Esmonde-White developed 25 years ago。 She is in her 70s and says that even though X-rays show arthritis in her body she is active and pain free because of the program， which she developed after people in her yoga and fitness classes asked her to create a workout that didn’t make them hurt more afterwards。 The first chapters show why using all the muscles and joints in these ways keeps the fascia loose and flexible and our bodies strong and pain free。 The program is taught internationally and the poses and exercises in the book are shown by an impressive and diverse group of doctors， nurses， athletes， instructors and retired professionals of all different ages， body types and ethnicities。 The program is sort of anti-yoga， with a focus on fluid movement instead of holding poses and the insistence that exercise should never hurt。 There is a sort of “use it or lose it” mentality regarding all of the joints and muscles， with props and accommodations for mobility issues so those parts can still be gently helped。 The exercises have a ballet and dance feel and also are reminiscent of just regular movements of all types that involve stretching， rocking， swaying， twisting and so on。 They are precise though， so that your posture supports proper position and all muscles and joints are worked。 This is where the book is less helpful for me， because even though all of the many poses and exercises are very well illustrated by the 11 models， it’s basically a hundred pages of photos of this pose going into this one and so on。 It would work much better for me if all the steps of each fit on one page at least， and there were some one page cheat sheets of lists of what to do once you got the hang of them。 I came away convinced I’d like to try to incorporate this into my daily routine but wondering if I should just find a YouTube series。 I still highly recommend the book and am glad to have the new knowledge and tools it’s given me though。 I read a digital copy of this book via NetGalley。 。。。more