Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a NY State Licensed and National Board Certified Massage Therapist. Honestly speaking, deep tissue massage is in great demand as people stress out from work and life. About 90% of my clients come for deep tissue massage.
I have most of the reference material for Deep Tissue Massage, including this book and DVD by Art Riggs, Deep Tissue & Neuromuscular Therapy (2 sets) by Sean Riehl, Balanced Body by Donald W. Scheumann, and Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (Vol 1) by Erik Dalton. Art Riggs' teaching material excels from them all. Furthermore, I appreciated the way how Riggs handled customer complaints. Riggs answered my email complaints personally and have turned a customer complaint into a praise. On the other extreme, I never got any email answer from Erik Dalton regarding my purchase (I did get an order confirmation from his company).
A final word, you will not regret buying the study material from Art Riggs, and don't waste money on the studying material for Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques. Most of the techniques from Myoskeletal Alignment (Vol 1) can be found in Art Riggs' Deep Tissue Massage.
Enjoy your Deep Tissue Massage

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(North Atlantic Books) Textbook-style manual for massage therapists who have completed or are in the process of completing basic massage training. Includes many photographs and illustrations for reference, biomechanics for preventing injury, and directions for treatment and rehabilitation for common complaints. Quick-reference guide to techniques. DNLM: Massage--methods--Atlases.

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Strength Band Training Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book hoping it would serve as a one-stop resource for dozens of strength band exercise ideas. That is, afterall, what this book attempts to be. However, I quickly found that this book falls far short of that mark.
On the positive side:
1) lots of exercises
2) generally well-organized by body part
On the negative side:
1) Their picture of "proper" athletic posture is seriously flawed. The guy's head is jutted forward, his abdominals aren't contracted, and his shoulders are rounded, among other things.
2) Photos are limited to 2 shots per exercise - the 2nd shot usually shows a variation of the first. While I was glad they showed the variations, this book would have been far clearer and more useful if they'd included at least enough pictures to show each exercise's 'start' and 'finish' positions.
3) I have to agree with the reviewer from Portland Oregon - the models in the exercise photos look bored to tears most of the time. I'm not advocating cheesy grins, but since these types of exercises are usually more effective if one (the exerciser) focuses on the specific muscles you're using, it'd be nice if this book showed models who at least look like they're actually doing the exercises - not just assuming a certain position and sleeping with eyes open until told to do something else.
4) As another reviewer mentioned, very few (if any) of the exercise pics show how one might attach the strength band to doors, table legs, or other attachment points the typical "at home" exerciser is likely to have available. In most cases, it matters significantly how high you attach your band, the angle of resistance you create, etc.
In summary, I will be returning this book. If the negatives I listed above are important to you, a far better book selection for you to consider would be "Therapeutic Exercises Using Resistive Bands" by Caroline Corning Creager. Although that book's title specifies "therapeutic" exercises, what you'll find inside is actually much broader in scope. It includes 275 exercises (pictures depict 'start' & 'end' positions :) ) plus a whole lot more.


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Maximize your strength, speed, and power through the use of resistance bands and tubing. As a complete workout on their own or a supplement to free weights and machines, strength bands are the ultimate tool for customizing workouts and isolating muscles. And the portable bands and tubing make the perfect travel workout.

Strength Band Training shows how to use resistive bands and tubing in 106 exercises addressing every major muscle group. These exercises have been used by strength professionals and many top athletes because the bands and tubing allow you to add resistance in multiple directions—something free weights and machines can't do. As a result, your resistance routine can simulate sport demands, strengthening core and supporting muscles or targeting specific rehabilitation needs.

Easy to adjust, bands and tubing are designed to provide resistance for users at any level of strength and ability. Add Strength Band Training to your conditioning program for the most complete and versatile workouts possible.

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Functional Fitness: Look Younger, Stay Active Longer Review

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(More customer reviews)Board-certified emergency physician Paul D'Arezzo presents Functional Fitness: Look Younger Stay Active Longer, a guide to delaying the effects of age not through expensive (and potentially dangerous!) surgery, but rather through healthier living and habits. Chapters cover everything from proper posture and nutrition to staying flexible, preventing back pain, personalizing an exercise program one can stick to, avoiding or coping with arthritis, the mental dimension of energy, and much more. Illustrated with black-and-white cartoons and diagrams throughout, Functional Fitness gives practical tips in no-nonsense terms. Though particularly valuable for aging baby boomers, Functional Fitness is a superb self-care guide for all ages. Also highly recommended is D'Arezzo's previous book "Posture Alignment".


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8 Weeks to a Younger Body Review

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(More customer reviews)Joan's programs are terrific! I have her first book, Strength Training for Women, which helped me figure out how to add weight training to my exercise routine. In her latest book, 8 Weeks to a Younger Body, Joan expands the topic to overall fitness - cardio and flexibility, in addition to endurance. She explains how each of us can develop a total workout regimen based on our fitness category. First, she shows you how to determine your body's functional age (not necessarily your last birthday number) and how your current fitness level compares to the norms for various age groups. The bulk of the book is comprised of beautiful color photos that demonstrate exercise plans for each fitness level (age) category. In this book, Joan shows how, by sticking with one of her masterfully-designed plans for just 8 weeks, each of us can revitalize our body and achieve an enhanced or even younger fitness level. Like before, her guidance in this book is first-rate. I also appreciate her practicality - focusing on doing workouts at home (no drives to the gym or sweating in front of strangers!) and keeping the investment in equipment and materials minimal, to save money and keep storage from becoming an issue. Great job, Joan...keep `em coming!

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Banish the effects of aging with this smart, new exercise plan created by fitness expert Joan Pagano. Rate your body age with self-assessment tests in key categories-flexibility, strength, cardio, and body fat-then embark on one of four programs, each guaranteed to make you look and feel younger in just eight weeks!

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15 Minute Total Body Workout (+DVD) Review

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(More customer reviews)

This book is perfect, exactly what I've been looking for, and the best thing is the DVD. It's incredible! It's so easy to follow, and so quick - I'm done in 15 minutes and on to the rest of my day. There's no stress on me to take 15 minutes a day to spend on my body. I can easily spend this much time experimenting with a new lipstick color. Everybody can find 15 minutes to exercise!

There are 4 different workouts and the variety keeps things interesting. The format is the same for each one: You warm up for 3 minutes, do 10 minutes of a really good routine - strength training plus heart-pumping intervals - and then cool down for 2 minutes with full-body stretches that remind me of Yoga. You can do it at home with just one set of dumb bells or a fitness ball.

And it's not just for women. My husband could do this - and should do it! He thinks that if you can't spend 4 hours working out it's not worth it; but that's overwhelming, so he doesn't do anything. The 15 minute workout is a good way to get started and be consistent. You can always add on and do more...


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Strength Training for Women Review

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(More customer reviews)I have purchased several books devoted to strength training. I have to say, this book is the best I have found--by far.
What makes this book exceptional is how thorough it is and also how much variety it offers.
Exercises for home users--both those who use dumbbells, those who use resistance bands and those who use stability balls or all of the above--are offered. Exercises for gym dwellers are also given. This book caters to everyone in a very balanced manner.
The book covers upper body, lower body, core exercises and lots of stretching ideas.
While, sometimes, strength training can get confusing because one often questions which exercises are best, how much weight you need to use and how many reps to do, this book really does simplify the whole thing.
Also, there are both modified and advanced descriptions and photos for each exercise.
Usually when you come across a book on strength training, you see the same, basic moves you've seen (and probably done) a million times before. But Joan Pagano includes variations of moves even I, a fairly experienced exerciser, had never seen before.
The layout of the book is visually stimulating. Along with photos illustrating each exercise, there are illustrations showing which body parts are being used with each move.
The book was well-written as well. Joan's instructions are concise and encouraging.
Recently, I decided I wanted to start working out during TV commercials--just to add a bit of boost to my fitness routine. I found many exercises within this book I will be doing while watching TV.
I think this is an excellent book for an advanced exercise looking for a some new ideas. But more importantly, this is an awesome resource for a beginner. I will be purchasing this book for friends and family who are daunted by the idea of doing strength training. I suggest you do the same.

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The American Physical Therapy Association Book of Body Maintenance and Repair Review

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(More customer reviews)Sorry to be a negative voice, but I was disappointed with this book. There are scores of exercises and stretches given, but there's not enough focus on which exercises work for which problems. There's a "try everything" mentality here, with the assumption that one has multiple hours per day to maintain one's body. The book explains how the body works but is weak at tying that information to good advice on what to do to prevent and repair. It's almost as if the book were written by an overly cautious attorney who's afraid to give any advice on the chance that it might not work for someone. It's the old "vague is better because it's safer" approach. Recommendations are so generic as to be commonsense. While there's plenty of impressive and arcane anatomical verbiage, the drawings accompanying the text don't label the parts referred to in the text, making understanding difficult. All the stretches and exercises are lumped together at the end of the book, one after another, with little explanation. The drawings are amateurish, with some of the line drawn models looking more like monkeys than humans. Part of what made this book seem so unimpressive was that I ordered it along with another book that was incredibly good: Allan Levy's Sports Injury Handbook. The contrast in quality between the two books was startling. See my review there.

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