The Stark Reality of Stretching: An Informed Approach for All Activities and Every Sport

Finally somebody who got it Right!I won't waste any space in telling you how important, and undervalued, stretching is for any sport. This is a fantastic anatomical approach to stretch. The book should be read, and understood by anyone who wants to be physically fit.The coverege of the book is spotty in some places, especially when dealing with the torse and upper body. But, to me, that does not detract from the overall exceptional quality of this book.

Stark Reality of Stretching might be seen as a real eye opener. The new material presented here on muscle stretching and physiology has been immediately recognized as a long needed reference and manual. Rather than relying on decades of dogma regarding athletic stretching techniques, Dr. Stark has done an excellent job of researching this subject, having waded through over fifty sources of medical literature. To this he has added his years of experience with sports medicine patients including athletes of world class. This is not to say that the book is highly technical. The proper methods of stretching are uncomplicated and easy to understand. Illustrations of stretches are clear and easily followed. The accompanying instructions are broken down into important muscle groups including the majority of common injury and problem sites.Dr. Stark notes the unfortunate drop out rate of young athletes, many of whom are forced into retirement due to repeated injury related to improper training. One is surprised to learn that some of the stretching and warm-up exercises that have been taught to virtually all school children may be the beginning of a long fall into serious and chronic soft tissue injury.The strength of this book is that it is a new presentation of the latest view of proper physiological muscle stretching for the athlete aimed at optimum strength and safety. Stark Reality should be a must read for athletes, Phys-Ed teachers and those in the physical medical fields.

Not only does this book include diagrams for proper and improper stretching techniques, it also includes diagrams of the origin and insertion point of the muscle to determine if you are injuring yourself while stretching. Dr. Stark doesn't try to teach difficult stretching techniques (PNF or passive-active / active-assisted stretches), that need to be taught hands on by a professional. He teaches the proper techniques of static stretch while including the anatomical / cellular knowledge needed to stretch properly.

This book is a must for anyone interested in sports and exercise. It is well illustrated and nicely details the function of muscles and how they relate to proper stretching. Finally it dispells many of the common misconceptions about proper stretching.

Should be updated with stretches of other parts of the body