Stretching & Flexibility, the book

Kit's new book Stretching & Flexibility will change your way of thinking about flexibility and will certainly improve the way you go about achieving it. Everyone will find exercises to suit his or her body type and level of flexibility.

---From the foreword by Greg Chappell, arguably Australia's most elegant batsman of all time

This book is based on the Posture & Flexibility classes, running at the Australian National University Sport & Recreation Association for 20 years this year. Everyone says they need to do more stretching for all sorts of reasons---but the most important reason is too-rarely mentioned: stretching the right way simply feels great to do and leaves you feeling wonderful. Questions remain, though, like: which stretches, done what way, and how often?"

In Stretching & Flexibility, you will find effective exercises for all the usual places people want to stretch: hips, hamstrings and legs-apart movements. In addition, however, you will find hand, wrist and forearm exercises, a full range of neck and shoulder exercises (including the hard-to-stretch rotator cuff pairs) and a variety of ankle and feet exercises. There are even exercises to help you spread your toes and strengthen your arches!

As well, you will find rotation and backward-bending exercises, sideways-bending movements and a large number of unique warm-ups too. There is an exercise for every muscle of the body, and the associated tendons, ligaments and fascia.

The book is organised into 16 lessons and begins with very easy-to-do movements. Gradually, the subsequent lessons build on these basic 'functional units of flexibility', and in time you will find yourself being able to do the more difficult stretches. 

There is an unique "Unnumbered Lesson" midway through the book, full of 'poses between poses'---all the positions and places not stretched i any conventional system. We call this the "rolling around the floor' lesson, and is my personal favourite. This lesson can be used to assess your progress, and to get a clearer idea of which parts of the body to prioritise next.

The Posture & Flexibility system is a combination of three elements: we use the Contract-Relax (C-R) approach in a framework of partial and complete poses, many of which are partner-based. It is a rapidly evolving form being constantly tested and reassessed against two criteria: is it safe? and does it work? The book features:

* 96 stretching exercises, plus warm-up movements
* exercises presented from very easy to hard
* exercises for athletes, grouped by sport
* exercises for the whole body, including hands and feet
* exercises shown in partner and solo versions
* over 700 photographs, showing all the essential details
* full explanations, including what to do in the exercise and how to get in and out of the positions
* 20 detailed illustrations of key anatomical points

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