20th Anniversary Stretching - Stretching Review

When I first purchased Bob Anderson's 20th Anniversary Stretching (Stretching) I couldn't put it down. Over the years I have read literally hundreds of fitness and exercise books, but nothing like Bob's latest book. Published by Shelter Publications, the 224 page paperback edition is the finest piece of work written about stretching for fitness or sports.

Most everyone knows how important muscle flexibility is in everyday life, let alone health and fitness, but far fewer understand how to do it. Bob Anderson's 20th Anniversary Stretching (Stretching) takes you through the step-by-step process of the how's and why's you must stretch your muscles.

No matter if you like to walk for fitness and exercise, you need to stretch your legs, thighs, calves, hamstrings, etc. Or, if you enjoy jogging, running, weightlifting, basketball, or any other sport for that matter, this book if for you.

20th Anniversary stretching is a complete encyclopedia so to speak on stretching. It's complete with over 1,000 pictures, 200 stretches, and stretching regimens for 36 different sports and activities. So, if you play golf, tennis, softball, or horseshoes, you will gain valuable help and information from reading this book.

I never realized just how stiff I was until I started stretching with the routines included in this book. What I enjoy so much about 20th Anniversary Stretching (Stretching) is how the pictures and drawings make things so easy to follow.

I had no trouble understanding how to do each particular stretching exercise that is outlined in the book. There was no guesswork on my part on what I needed to do. Within a couple of weeks of stretching, I never felt better. I feel like my level of strength and conditioning is what it used to be 20 years ago.

I found the book to be more than just a book of stretching exercises. It's like a complete fitness book for people of all ages and level of conditioning. In fact, I believe you could substitute this book for any other type of exercise program. Regardless if it's aerobics, pilates, yoga, or any other exercise activity, 20th Anniversary Stretching could be a replacement for all of them.

If you're looking to get your muscles, body, and mind in better condition, I would highly recommend picking up this book. Anyone, regardless of age, or whether they play recreational sports or not, can enjoy a higher level of health and fitness in their everyday life from 20th Anniversary Stretching (Stretching).

You can find out more about 20th Anniversary Stretching as well as much more information on health and fitness issues at http://www.Health-And-Fitness.InfoFromA-z.com

How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth!

When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that stretching plays a critical role in building muscle?

Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for holding your muscles in their proper place in your body.

But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth. Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is holding them back. They have no room to grow!

Because fascia is so tough, it doesnt allow the muscle room to expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small pillowcase. The size of the muscle wont change regardless of how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within.

The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many trainers have great difficulty developing their calves.

The solution: stretching.

Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new space.

By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to grow.

The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood.

When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of the fascia.

One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such incredible chest development was that he finished his chest workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room to grow to amazing proportions.

Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to expand it.

Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull.

Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles arent pumped, just stretch normally.

You can find instructions for stretching at:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm

One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility, can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and their further ability to grow.

Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com or visit http://www.fitstep.com. You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.K#