Book review: Prescriptive Stretching by Kristian Berg

I recently had a serious back surgery and after 4 months of physical therapy was looking for a book that would help me to continue with a stretching protocol on my own. Unfortunately this book was not as helpful to me as I hoped.

What I liked:
1) The book has nice diagrams
2) Does not require special equipment

What I did not like:
1) I found some diagrams and explanations hard to follow, even when I read them many times
2) I would have liked to see more options for each exercise
3) There were not a lot exercises specificity for the back

To help you make the decision about the book here are a bit more details about the content of the book:
* The first 24 pages go over the basics of why you need to stretch, muscular system, joints, general principles of stretching.
* Pages 25 to 39 cover neck stretches
* Pages 40 to 67 cover upper body stretches
* Pages 49 to 77 cover lower body stretches
* Pages 78 to 82 cover obliques
* Pages 83 to 107 more lower body stretches
* Pages 108 to 117 more upper body stretches
* Pages 119-132 diagnosis of pain and symptoms that require professional help

Bottom line: By reading other reviews it feels that this books fits a professional in the field of physical therapy best. But as a beginner with a back problem I did not find this book to be a good fit. I do my best to follow it for the general stretches, but had to get another book for the lower back.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆