The Genius of Flexibility: The Smart Way to Stretch and Strengthen Your Body by Bob Cooley

From the Publisher

The Technique: RESISTANCE STRETCHING® offers immediate, cumulative, and permanent increases in flexibility, takes the pain out of stretching, and protects you from injuring yourself by overstretching.

The Program: THE MERIDIAN FLEXIBILITY SYSTEM® provides stretches for sixteen unique muscle groups with physiological and psychological benefits.

Publishers Weekly

After a life-threatening accident, Cooley developed a series of 16 resistance stretches that he says gave his body a degree of flexibility that far surpassed his pre-accident levels. Cooley explains that program here, organizing the stretches into four difficulty levels and addressing personality traits, since, he says, stretching certain muscles can affect nonphysical areas in one's life. Once he used the program to heal himself, Cooley began to work with professional athletes and others suffering from injuries, including Olympic gold medal swimmer Dara Torres. While these athletes' testimonies and Cooley's own enthusiasm for his subject are inspiring, the principles he describes will be familiar-and hardly groundbreaking-to yoga students. Cooley's more direct approach and language, however, will appeal to those who find cues in yoga class too subtle or unclear. The chapter on adjusting the intensity level of stretches for maximum benefit without overstretching will be particularly useful, as will the charts listing physiological, spiritual, emotional and psychological concerns and associated stretches; organic meal plans; and an extensive resource list. 170 b&w photos. Agent, Michael Broussard. (Sept. 6) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

These books offer self-guided exercises designed to increase strength and flexibility and address differing levels of physical fitness and athletic ability. Lyon, a Pilates instructor based in New York City, aims to dispel the myth that Pilates is only for women; his clear, organized text explains and illustrates 40 traditional mat exercises and 60 reformer-on-the-mat exercises for men. (Reformer refers to an apparatus commonly found in Pilates studios.) The Pilates philosophy recognizes an integral connection between the mind and the body and focuses on the strongest part of the body-the abdomen or "core" from which all movements derive. These routines, according to Lyon, are supposed to be natural for our bodies, and their practice should increase strength, coordination, and confidence. Cooley, founder of the California-based Meridian Stretching Centers, has trained professional athletes with his program of 16 "magic" stretching exercises that are linked to the body's "meridians," or energy pathways identified in traditional Chinese medicine. Unlike conventional stretching, these exercises employ resistance. A total of 64 stretch movements are presented in workouts at four different levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and assisted advanced. Each exercise is clearly explained and accompanied by photographs. However, Cooley makes fervent claims about the psychological benefits of his regimen: the Seated Lotus Opener exercise, for example, is supposed to "help to give you greater understanding and confidence, and a better sense of humor." Lyon's book, though comparatively conservative, is inspiring nonetheless and will probably find a larger audience; recommended for public and academic libraries. Larger health collections with a New Age emphasis may find room for Cooley's manual.-Deborah Anne Broocker, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Dunwoody Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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