Customer Reviews

The Whartons' Stretch Book

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I gave the book four stars because, for the price, it's got a lot of good information and stretches. The flexibility assessment, while long, is interesting to see where problems are. I always thought my hamstrings were too tight; turns out it's actually my calves.

However, the stretches can be confusing, and I didn't realize at first that I was doing one of them completely wrong.

Also, the book claims that you can do a complete routine in 20 minutes. I don't know how they do it, but it takes me over an hour to do all 59 stretches. 2 s (stretch) + 1 s (rest) * 10 reps * 59 exercises = ~30 minutes, plus some of the exercises are both sides, plus time to change position, etc...so maybe after I had all the exercises memorized I could get it down to 45 minutes.

This book is GREAT! If you are just beginning with stretching or if you have been stretching for years and not getting anywhere. The Ticket is to stretch what is hurt. Using the method as it is. Most people want to use what they know and forget about what the book is trying to teach. In other words get out of "THE BOX" Try this method for 3 weeks and see how good you feel.
Most people think stretching is Walking or Riding a bike ect. Please give it a chance. Most people don't know where to begin... Take the time and work with it. Also it helps to get it rebound at staples or some other place like that, The pages will stay open better.
Now... if you are a "PRO" (DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME) BUY.... "Active Isolated Stretching: The Mattes Method, by Aaron L. Mattes"

This book was a complete waste of money. About a third of the stretches I had to go over the instructions several times because of the poor directions and diagrams. I spent more time trying to figure out the stretches than doing them.

Skip this book and choose "Specific Stretching for Everyone" or "Active Isolated Stretching--The Mattes Method" by Aaron Mattes, the guy who first developed these techniques. His site at http://www.stretchingusa.com has more info on these stretches.

The exercises and the narrative descriptions in the Wharton book are copied almost verbatim from Mattes' original book--nothing new or helpful is added other than some self-promoting anecdotes about athletic successes--and Mattes' original book has clear and helpful photographs, unlike the amateurish and confusing line drawings in the Wharton book. Mattes' book also includes detailed stretching routines for upper/lower body, neck/shoulders.

Not for the advanced stretcher. I'm a figure skater and dancer and not many of these stretchs were challenging enough.

I used this program for a few months, and although it was effective, it required WAY TOO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT. I think it is unlikely that anyone could maintain the program for a long time, unless they dramatically cut out most of their other training. It is really unrealistic for the authors to expect people to do such a long warm up, and although they claim that it takes twenty minutes, it actually takes about twice that time. And we are not just talking about laying around in a fixed position either. It invloves constant movement.

Nevertheless, there is definitely soemthing to AIS stretching, and I must admit that it does seem to have many benefits.

There are a lot of things I don't like about this book, most of which have been hit upon by other reviewers. For some new criticisms, much of the sports-specific information is largely useless. For example, the authors group Thai boxing and Judo together under "martial arts". These two sports have radically different stretching requirements. Even when they seem to know the sport, the recommendations are often not helpful. In the section on bicycling you are encouraged to do EVERY stretch in the book - 59 in all! Come on - surely some exercises are more important than others for a cyclist.

I also believe the authors give too short a treatment to the potentially negative effects of too much flexibility. Can you be too flexible? No, they say, as long as your musculature is strong enough. Many knowledgable folks disagree.

With all of these shortcomings, why does the Whartons' book rate four stars? Simple. I have stretched off and on for many years. Mostly off because previous methods (like those promoted in Anderson's classic book "Stretching") just didn't result in any significant improvement. These techniques work. If you are already knowledgable in your sport, overlook the book's problems and just DO the exercises.

Excellent book that actually works. Allow at least three (3) hours on your first day to give yourself time to take the initial self evaluation. It takes some thought, but it will prove to be invaluable in the long term.

I gave this book 5 stars, not because it is faultless, but because the exercises are so effective. There is a learning curve involved here, and I think that puts some people off. And I'll agree that some of the exercise descriptions are a little tough to decipher. But I was in pain, and now I'm not.

My opinion: skip their initial evaluation step where you write down your movement ranges, etc. I think that is an awkward, tedious, and unnecessary time investment. Get into the exercises and hang with them.

I just got this book and have gone through it. The premise of the book is stretching for 2 seconds at a time while resisting with the body part being stretched. This is all done through well-targeted isolated stretches.

The diagrams are certainly not terrible, and you can easily figure out how to resist the stretch simply by stretching according to the diagram and then resisting as appropriate. Also most of these stretches have extensor/flexor components so you can refer to the extensor stretch to identify the muscles to contract in the flexor stretch, and so forth.

I'm working on my typing speed and the finger stretches alone are worth the price of the book.