Books about Stretch from Amazon.com

See inside every stretch--and maximize flexibility! Stretching Anatomy will arm you with the knowledge to increase range of motion, supplement training, enhance recovery, and maximize efficiency of movement. You'll also gain a detailed understanding of how each stretch affects your body.

Stretching Anatomy is like having an X-ray of each stretch, only better. Not only do you see full-color illustrations of the muscles in action, but you also find out how changes in position can alter the muscle emphasis and difficulty and how variations can improve safety and effectiveness.

Each exercise includes detailed instruction on how to stretch, when to stretch, primary and secondary muscle emphasis, and which muscles are activated for support. Stretching programs provide three levels of difficulty, including light stretching that can be used as a warm-up or to aid in recovery from soreness or injury. And summary movement tables show how to customize stretching programs to focus on key problem areas.

Whether it is increased flexibility or reduced muscle soreness or tension, Stretching Anatomy allows you to see and feel the benefit of proper stretching technique..
Price: $11.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Looking to give your wardrobe some pizzazz? Start sewing! Like knitting before it, sewing is being reclaimed by a new generation, one that celebrates individual creativity
Fresh on the heels of her first book, Sew U, which focused on sewing with woven fabrics, Wendy will now teach the creatively inclined how to make perfect t-shirts, dresses, and hoodies, all with soft knit fabric. She'll take your sewing to the next level, providing step-by-step instructions (both for sewing with a serger and without) and patterns directly from her own studio. And with tips on how to alter T-shirts and clothes you already have, you'll soon be revamping all your clothes to make fabulous custom creations..
Price: $13.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Something The World Hasn't Yet Seen -- You Can Forever Be More Flexible

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.

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Price: $9.53 [Notify me when price goes down.]

“You’d think a Miss America swimsuit winner would feel completely confident about her body, right? Not always! So I decided to write the book I wish I’d had as a teen and in college— an honest, funny, practical, medically accurate, totally reassuring guide to how women’s bodies actually look, smell, feel, behave, and change. Alongside real-deal photographs of women just like you and me (no airbrushing, no supermodels, no kidding) you’ll find medical pictures of things you need to be able to recognize, true confessions by yours truly, and the encouragement you need to appreciate the uniqueness, strength, and beauty of your body. What are you waiting for?”
–Nancy Redd

From fashion magazines to taboo Web sites, curious young women have access to tons of old wives’ tales about and thousands of airbrushed and inaccurate images of the female body—misinformation and harmful portrayals that can lead to low self-esteem, self-destructive acts, or even disturbing plastic surgery procedures. Teaming up with a leading physician specializing in adolescent health issues, Harvard graduate and former Miss Virginia Nancy Redd now offers a down-to-earth, healing, and reassuring response to those damaging myths. In Body Drama, Redd gives girls insight into the issues they’re often too ashamed to raise with a doctor or parent. She also reveals her own experiences with the culture of “American beauty,” and shows readers all the many versions of “normal.” From body hair and bras, to acne and weight issues, along with crucial issues such as the importance of a healthy self image, Body Drama is a groundbreaking book packed with informative fast facts, FYIs, how-tos, and moving personal anecdotes as well as hundreds of un-retouched photographs. A highly visual book, it’s the first of its kind for women: filled with real information and real photographs of real bodies, to celebrate all our different shapes and sizes.

Named by Glamour magazine as one of America’s top-ten college women “most likely to succeed—at anything,” Redd has spent the most recent years of her life on a mission to tackle the issues least discussed but most significant in young women’s lives. Celebrating the many versions of “normal,” and replacing seriously erroneous information with the honest, medically proven truth in a language all girls can understand, Body Drama dares to empower a new generation—with facts instead of fantasies, and the priceless gift of self-knowledge..
Price: $11.05 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Whether you're a serious competitor or weekend warrior, you know that proper stretching before and after your workout can improve your performance, increase your flexibility, help prevent injury, and make you feel better. But did you know that the traditional way of stretching -- lock your knees, bounce, hold, hurt, hold longer -- actually makes muscles tighter and more prone to injury?

There's a new and better way to stretch: Active-Isolated Stretching. And with The Whartons' Stretch Book,  the method used successfully by scores of professional, amateur, and Olympic athletes is now available to everyone.

This groundbreaking technique, developed by researchers, coaches, and trainers, and pioneered by Jim and Phil Wharton, is your new exercise prescription. The routine is simple: First, you prepare to stretch one isolated muscle at a time. Then you actively contract the muscle opposite the isolated muscle, which will then relax in preparation for its stretch. You stretch it gently and quickly -- for no more than two seconds -- and release it before it goes into its protective contraction. Then you repeat. Simple, but the results are outstanding. The Whartons' Stretch Book explains it all.

Part I contains the Active-Isolated Stretch Catalog, with fully illustrated, easy-to-follow stretches for each of five body zones, from neck and shoulders to trunk, arms, and legs -- over fifty stretches in all. Part II offers specific stretching prescriptions for over fifty-five sports and activities, from running, tennis, track, and aerobics to skiing, skating, and swimming. You'll also find advice on stretching for daily activities such as driving, working at a desk, lifting, and keyboarding. Part III discusses stretching for life, with specific recommendations for expectant mothers and older athletes. It also includes specific stretching exercises that could help you avoid unnecessary surgery.

Give Active-Isolated Stretching a try for three weeks. You'll never go back to your old stretching routines again..
Price: $8.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Appropriate for all fitness levels.. Useful for toning and shaping, rehabilitation, and athletes.. Improve versatility and functionality in your workout.. A complete, yet portable workout..
Price: $7.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Features: Own an illustrated guide to the thirty-six most effective techniques for super-flexibility; How the secret of mastering your emotions can add immediate inches to your stretch; How to wait out your tension the surprising key to greater mobility and a better stretch; How to fool your reflexes into giving you all the stretch you want; Why contract-relax stretching is 267% more effective than conventional relaxed stretching; How to breathe your way to greater flexibility; Using the Russian technique of Forced Relaxation as your ultimate stretching weapon; How to stretch when injured faster, safer ways to heal; Young, old, male, female learn what stretches are best for you and what stretches to avoid; Why excessive flexibility can be detrimental to athletic performance and how to determine your real flexibility needs; Plateau-busting strategies for the chronically inflexible..
Price: $21.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $8.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]