Fitness Books

Good instruction, a great price, and a growing-in-importance subject area all add up to a definite recommendation.

As a college student who spends hours and hours in front of a computer working on my thesis, this book has transformed the way I work. No longer do I suffer from back pain, sore wrists, and neck strain. Beautifully written, concise, and practical,"Ergaerobics" is truly a "must have" book for everyone! Every college campus should provide it for their students!

"Why does working @ my computer hurt so much" is the best book I've found on preventing repetitive stress injuries. It filled with practical information for anyone who spends long hours in front of a computer (secretaries, programmers, writers, college students).

The authors, both physical therapists, provide guidelines for arranging your workstation and how to sit there once it's arranged. The best part is an extensive list of exercises for your back,neck,jaw,thumbs,wrists,elbows, and shoulders designed specifically to prevent repetitive stress injuries. In addition, each exercise is illustrated so you never have to wonder if your doing the exercises correctly.

Once again, a great book!

As a college student who spends hours and hours in front of a computer working on my thesis, this book has transformed the way I work. No longer do I suffer from back pain, sore wrists, and neck strain. Beautifully written, concise, and practical,"Ergaerobics" is truly a "must have" book for everyone! Every college campus should provide it for their students!

ErgAerobics is a comprehensive guide to help computer users avoid "Computer Induced Repetitive Stress Injuries." In an easily understandable, entertaining, and concise manner ErgAerobics provides basic human anatomy information that anyone can understand as well as facts about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Lower Back Pain, Neck Pain, TMJ Disorder, Tennis Elbow, Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and DeQuervain's Disease. ErgAerobics offers tips on how to prevent and treat computer induced repetitive stress injuries, how to properly arrange a workstation, behavior modification techniques to help the reader interact with a computer in a safer, more cooperative manner. ErgAerobics is enhanced with simple, inconspicuous, effective exercises to help with the prevention and treatment of computer induced repetitive stress injuries including why, when, and how to exercise. If you spend days working at a computer - read ErgAerobics.

This is an excellent program. I have had lower back pain for years. I have tried muscle relaxers, pain medications, physical therapy and manipulation nothing worked as well as Robin Rothenberg's low back program. After using The Essential low back program I no longer have any pain or stiffness. I recomend this program to anyone with lower back problems.

Even if you don't have back pain, this book and accompanying CDs are for you. And if you are a yoga student or teacher, the program should be on your bookshelf.

For those who are not familiar with Robin, she is a master yoga teacher and therapist with a studio in Issaquah, WA called the Yoga Barn. She also ran the yoga program in an NIH-sponsored trial which showed viniyoga to be the most effective therapy for those with chronic back pain. This book and CD are based on that program.

I am a yoga teacher and am currently learning the program by teaching my students. I always credit Robin with the program and tell them that it was validated by NIH, and I think this is of a lot of interest to them. In order to teach the lessons, I am following the book and CDs word by word and doing this has immeasurably increased my appreciation for the mind-body connection and the importance of relaxation as well as the strengthening and balancing of the body to alleviate back pain.

Robin's a great and straightforward teacher and it shows in this program.

Jacky

I have suffered from lower back pain off and on for a number of years. When I am regular about doing the yoga practices Robin has given me the pain inevitably goes away. This book along with the CDs gives me that and more! Great clear descriptions and explanations of the postures and why! I highly recommend it.

I found the exerecises in the book to be simple, stress-free processes for relaxing and strengthening the lower back muscles. The explanations about the physiology were straight forward and were coupled with easy to follow exercises that are not difficult or demanding. I did not work up a sweat doing the various exercise groups, yet they left me feeling refreshed at the end of each session. But the real payoff came in my ability to work at projects or chores and not have a sore back at the end of the day, or wake up with a stiff back the next morning.

Dear Amazon.com, I recently purchased the Essential Low Back Program by Robin Rothenberg and I wanted to go on record that I am very happy to have it! Over ten years ago I had a sudden cardiac arrest, not to be confused with a heart attack. I was clinically dead for 20 min. and the statistics say that I was "200%" dead. All of my medical Dr's. tell me it's a miracle that I survived - and without brain damage. It did leave me very weak for months after and one of the ways I built my strength up again was to begin taking Yoga classes from Robin. Since then I have had many other life challanges. The major one was losing a son in a drowning accident. A year later I had to have open-heart surgery to correct my mitral valve. Through all of this and more Robin and her staff at the Yoga Barn supported and encouraged me. My Yoga practice strenghtens my mind, emotions and my physical needs There were many times when I felt as though my Yoga practice saved
my life! I do not have lower back problems, Thank God, but the practices covered in Robin's new program are still amazingly helpful and I will share about them with my friends. Now when I travel via motor home I can take Robin with me through these tapes and book which will be a great help. I will be telling others about it who may not be able able to take classes from Robin so they can enjoy her expert guidance also. Sincerely, Rachel Wierda

i really like this book. i have many yoga books, videos and decks and this is amongst the best. as an instructor i find the descriptions and visuals very helpful. i like the sequences that are written out. it's just a good book to have. this is a book i'd feel totally comfortable referring to my students for their home practice.

Excelent book, as a begginer in yoga I find it quite complete and very illustrative on the different excercises.

Essential Yoga is like a medicine cabinet for yoga practitioners. Inside are simple, precise, and thorough single-page guides to about 100 essential poses, warm-ups, meditations, and breath exercises...plus, what is far more important, two chapters full of creative and unique routines and sequences. Each pose is simply and crisply illustrated, and detailed instructions are given. (It's particularly nice that the book is sewn to lie flat, a feature which makes it quite easy to use while actually practicing! This nicely supports the premise of the book, which is to be a text that is for the practice of actual yoga--and not just "about" it.) Each pose includes English and Hindi names, suggested modifications and variations, and a sentence or two about its physical and mental benefits. What really makes this sublimely practical book a "medicine chest", however, are the sequences. From short vinyasas (everything from Camel to Sun and Moon Salutations) to complete workouts of several lengths and intensity levels, the back chapters of this book contain everything you need to begin a home practice for all moods and occasions. Best of all are the short series geared to various physical goals and/or ailments (from "Biking", "Golf" and "Skiing" workouts to programs for "Toxin Flush", "Cold Prevention" and "Depression")--they're effective and eminently doable.

This is by far one the best illustrated Yoga books I own. Very descriptive and many poses

I loved this book. I started yoga to destress from work, but I found that when the yoga instructor called out positions by name, I was lost. I found myself staring at what the instructor was doing and losing the benefit of yoga. This book not only helped me learn the positions, it also has some really great routines you can do at home.

Our world is increasingly technologized; leaving us sitting, inactive before the glowing screens of computer and TVs. We forget the joys of fresh air and physical movement, even when we feel the need to exercise, it is usually for the habitrail machinery of the gym.

Forencich challenges us to rethink the way we move, and rediscover our innate play instinct. Read this book and lead by example: get out there and have fun!

I had so much fun reading this book! Perfect for all of us who sense that some very simple shifts in perspective on health (and being human in general) could be the secret remedy for our bodies and souls in this ailing culture. I really hope that parents, teachers, coaches, healthcare practitioners and especially young people all over America will read this book and pass it along. Frank Forencich has shaken out the insanity from the American jar of health and fitness information, and then refilled it with purely sensible wisdom. This book offers something much more important than a new exercise routine or fad nutrition advice - real empowerment to start living life fully, the way our biology always meant for us to do. The great physique, extra energy and high spirits follow naturally.

There are very few books written about the potential influence of our primal heritage on our current lives, and there are even fewer that are written so accessably and entertainingly as Frank Forencichs Exuberant Animal. This is a book for everyone and the sheer "sense" of Franks wisdom on this subject shines through the pages. Thought provoking and offering genuinely new insights....and some great stories. Don't go thinking this is some obscure science book...take one on holiday, it might get you off the sun lounger.
Bob Wood, Physical Solutions, UK

I have been teaching fitness and outdoor recreation for more than two decades, and have come across only a few books that are supportive about using a creative, nurturing, and playful appoach to encourage people to get moving. Not only is this book packed with wonderful information, it was also truly a pleasure to read. The concepts presented in the Exuberant Animal, are also very similar the pholosphies practiced in the Nia Technique (another book available on Amazon.com) The Nia Technique: The High-Powered Energizing Workout that Gives You a New Body and a New Life. If after reading the Exuberant Animal, you are motivated to exercise in a way that is creative, playful, and full of joyful movement, look to see if there is a Nia studio in your town and you will find yourself playing and dancing through the rest of your life!

As someone with decades of being "rewarded" for sitting still in thought-work - by parents, teachers, bosses, and the hypnotizing eyes of the TV and computer screens - Exuberant Animal helps wake me up from insidious trance of "my mind is separate from and more important than my body." Frank's essays are playfully sculpted snowballs thrown at my subconscious limiting beliefs. In each, Frank lobs a first bracing splat of fresh perspective, then circles us with the latest thoughts from movement physiology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and universal notions of spiritual quest. Like one of his conditioning play games, I delight in catching more snowballs from all sides until I have to take a deep breath, laughing at how crazy-upside-down I've been living my life. I'm left with inspiring insights about small and easy things I can do throughout the day that add up to a big difference. I don't need to overhaul my lifestyle with the "discipline to achieve" fitness. I simply need to have FUN tuning into the playful, moving, sentient animal I am meant to be.

Facets of a Diamond is an incredible book that looks honestly, intelligently and profoundly at the roles of healer and patient, and more importantly, at the underlying motivation of man.

Diamond looks at every aspect of an illness or life problem: spiritual, societal, motivational, dietary, energetic, psychological, environmental, hereditary...

Lynne McTaggart, author of The Field, says that ""On Dr Diamond, I would say he is one of the great pioneering healers of our time. His greatest contribution (of so many) is his discovery that our emotional selves register physical weaknesses in the body and that the body's meridian points also are the seat of certain emotions. But he's also made an incredible contribution to the role of music, to the use of many herbs and substances in healing. He is, in short, a genius."

In the past, Dr. Diamond has on the whole confined himself to one major area of interest in each of his books. In the Life Energy in Music series he focuses on various aspects of music, The Healer: Heart and Hearth is concerned mainly with the role of the therapist or healer, Re-Mothering and its Experience examines the importance of our relationships with our mothers, and so on. In Facets of a Diamond, however, Dr. Diamond draws together all the aspects of his life and the experiences that make him the therapist that he is. But, more than being just an auto-biography, this book introduces us to the possibility that we are all therapists, whatever our profession or station in life. After reading this book I felt inspired to consider how my choices and decisions are determining the pattern of my own life, and how I can best develop and manifest my own philosophy day by day.

I think that this is one of the most remarkable traits of Dr. Diamond's writing: that, instead of claiming to have found the one true path to enlightenment, he presents his own ideas and thought in such a way as to be a springboard for the reader's.

This is an extraordinary book of depth and insight, not to be hurried though, to be dipped into time and time again to be refreshed by the wisdom and compassion contained in its pages.

I find this book a great inspiration - worth returning to repeatedly to stimulate my thoughts and uplift my spirit. It is as truly "multi-faceted" as its title implies - a reflection of the many-faceted author, Dr. John Diamond. In it, I find parts that apply to my personal, professional, artistic and inner lives. I can open it to any section and find a gem - and then I find myself engrossed by the wonderful stories, quotations, poems and aphorisms. It is full of humor and heart. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Diamond has written a book which covers a wide range of the areas to which he has turned his attention over many years. His work is indeed multifaceted and beneficial to both specialist readers from a range of disciplines as well as the general reader looking for further insight into his/her life. One of the most intriguing aspects of Dr. Diamond's writing is his focus on how insights and information are presented. His intention is to make the writing itself therapeutic and this intention, and its effect on the individual, is obvious and immediate as one dips into this book. Dr. Diamond writes with intensity and enthusaism as well as humour and compassion. This is truly a book which approaches healing and health holistically and with real concern for the sufferings, physical or psychological, more or less obvious, of others.

This is a really great book for a healthy, spiritual way to lose weight. It really challenges you to focus on surrending to God and stop relying on your own strength. I highly recommend it!

If you are trying to be healthy and believe you need divine intervention to make this happen, this book will be a helpful guide. It is an easy read and highly motivating. Even without a structured diet plan, the discipline techniques presented will help improve your health. I have read a lot of health motivational books, and this is my favorite.

EXCELLENT BOOK. DAILY GUIDANCE;EASY TO FOLLOW. LEARNING TO TURN CONTROL OF YOUR EATING OVER TO GOD AND NOT RELYING ON YOUR OWN WILLPOWER. I LOVE THE BOOK TO HELP ME TO REMEMBER I DON'T JUST HAVE AN EATING PROBLEM BUT ALSO A SPIRTUAL PROBLEM AND I NEED GOD'S HELP. THIS BOOK SEEMS TO BE HELPING ME ALREADY EVEN AFTER THE FIRST WEEK!

My church is using this paperback for a Bible Study. The only thing is the Bible Study is during the day. I checked out the book, and decided it was something I could do on my own. I used it for 40 days during Lent. The book instructs you to make a notebook for notes..journal writing, prayer, scripture, food for thought. I recommend you do this also. Each of the 40 days you work through this book (which only takes about 10-15 min. a day) you will learn something new or come away thinking about what was stated that day. I have since ordered a copy of this and The Dieter's Prayer Book for each of my Bible Study ladies (and a few close friends) They have all enjoyed it. Buy this book! You will love it! Once I finished the book, I just started a second round.

We're using this book as a guide for a spring Bible study at our church. It has been a great resource for our lively discussions of diet, discipline, and discipleship.

I have read many books on reflexology - Laura Norman's amazingly comprehensive book is by far the best. Other books are either technical - aimed only at reflexologists - or pretty picture books with little substance.

Feet First is the only book which combines Laura Norman's unique techniques, a comprehensive guide to applying reflexology and other techniques to improving your life (her book takes the reader through the stages of life from pregnancy through final transition), help in addressing physical conditions we all encounter, plus beautiful illustrations. Whether your challenge is about a relationship, illness, stress at work, fertility, or any other issue you might be facing, Feet First can help.

Feet First has earned a special place on my bookshelf.

very well written and well explained. useful even for beginners. I greatly recommend it.

I have this book in my massage bookbag so I have it with me on each call. I keep it for my clients who like to hear affirmations and also as a quick reference to conditions I haven't worked on before. The quick index with pictures to each condition is the best feature of the book; it has the primary and secondary reflexes per condition and the affirmation in the last column.

The content itself is excellent. However the book is very difficult to read due to it being in red. It is very hard on the eyes and difficult to see.

This is an excellent guide book. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the field of massage therapy, or who may be thinking of getting into reflexology. Great illustrations, very easy to read and understand. Wonderful ideas and example stories to refer to and use in daily activities.

This book really helped to change my life. Dino offers such wonderful advice and encouragement on how to loose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is not about a diet or eliminating a food group. It is about a lifestyle change. SO much of what I learned when reading this more than a year ago, I use on a weekly basis. This book teaches that we don't have to be a slave to diets or fads and we can have the foods that we want when we factor them into balanced eating.

The book was very informative and insightful.

I like the book and it came in a very timely manner. I'm a very satisfied customer.

I found this book so appealing and refreshing, candid and inspiring. Mr. Nowak tells the truth that diet pill companies do not. He also hits on how the spiritual connects with the physical and how to balance them out in proper perspective. A great book for anyone wanting to have true weight loss at any age along with so many exercises you can do at home. Definitely a must read for anyone out there who has tried everything else and it hasn't worked. Let this book take you step by step on a 40 day journey to true weight loss while teaching you to love yourself at the same time. Definitely a keeper!

Clear explaination. Kind encouragement. At 62 and very overweight and under exercised and after many attempts to loose and get fit, I happended to hear an interview with the author and believed that he was genuine and that he had a real plan that might work. The book did not disappoint. It is not just for "beautiful" people or the young. Mind, body, and spirit are all addressed. I'm daring to hope again.

Finally a book on health and fitness that makes sense has been published. As a person who has struggled with overweight since childhood, I am rejoicing in a resource that not only makes sense but one that deals with the issue right where I live. At 54 years of age, I have probably lost and gained hundreds of pounds in my lifetime. As a fat teen and young adult I followed every diet that came along ... fad and legitimate ... always to the ultimate end of failure and discouragement. After years of one new diet or exercise regiem after another, I finally reconciled myself to the idea that I was pretty much going to be overweight for life.

Finding THE FINAL MAKEOVER by Dino Nowak, changed all of that for me. For the first time in my life I am following a program that a real person can follow and actually see results. Dino makes no claims in his book that cannot be proven out by simply following them and applying. There are no "silver bullets" in this program. It is simply one of commitment to discipline and hard work. Following the program outlined in FINAL MAKEOVER probably won't turn me into a magazine cover model. After following Dino's program for two months now I can say that I feel healthier and more energized than I have ever felt in my life. I am rarely if ever hungry. Following his simple instructions I simply eat when I am hungry, and do so in quantities that are appropriate to my fitness goals. My blood pressure has lowered sufficiently so that my physician has reduced my HBP meds for the first time in 10 years.

I have lost 20 pounds and have lost two pants sizes. I am seeing fat being replaced by solid muscle mass. In short, every day is bringing changes that encourage and inspire me to look toward a better day of fitness tomorrow.

Finally as a Christian, I am thrilled to have found someone who makes fitness a process through which the God I love is proclaimed and glorified.
It's not ALL about me, but the better I am for me, the greater I can function for Him! Fortunately God has blessed me with better health than I deserve, and certainly better than I have earned. Finding a Christian fitness professional who FIRST gives God all the glory and then shows me honestly how I can make my physical body the tool that God designed it to be, thrills my heart and motivates me to be my best. If in the process I can feel and look better than I ever have in my life, SO MUCH THE BETTER!!!!!
And as I joked with by best friend, "Maybe I'll never have a six-pack. BUT, maybe I will! Wouldn't that be a hoot!"

Kudos and thanks eternally to Dino for what he has done!

I am a female new to the business. I was very nervous to enter the health club industry. The dialog in this book has helped me avoid the drilling of endless questions from customers that I had worried about. Not only did I sell 3 memberships my first week, with the dialog in this book, but I searched the internet for more info on Ron Thatcher and found his workbook! They both have been extremely helpful. I am signed up for one of his upcoming sales seminars!!

I've been in the business for over 14 years. I've been operating 2 personal training studios for the last several years. I'm now moving back to the club management side of the business again and was looking for a refresher on sales, prospecting etc. The book was well done, but very old school. Lots of cheeesy closing lines, scripts, etc. Lots of the techniques are outdated in the new era of club sales. Pretty "used-carsalesman" like. However, good stuff on forms, tracking, setting up personal planners etc. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book if you're a young buck just getting into club sales... just skip over the closing sections and you'll be ok. If you want a VERY current, highly informative book on working in a club... get "Making Money in the Fitness Business" by Thomas Plummer. That one is 5-stars!

I just read fitness, memberships, and money and it is an income producing system that was created to help sales people in the health club industry improve their ability to recruit and enroll new clients. This book was written in a basic form and I learned a lot from it!
I am not a sales person I am a personal trainer and I was looking for a book that could help me implement a fitness program or train a client. Many books may cover the latest and newest when it comes to exercise. These books are great for impressing my clients but when it comes time to make a living, I am looking for a book that gives it to you straight. One that teaches real techniques used by the best closers and producers in the "personal training industry." I was than told about a new book that had all the things this book was missing! "Selling Personal Training" by Ron Thatcher is the book for any serious small club operator or career personal trainer the techniques will lead you down the path of success. I bought the new book at Trafford.com and it covered things that were missing like how to do P.T. Re-signs , How to Work the Floor, The Wall of Fame, The Closeout, Selling Supplementation, Interacting With the Staff ,Giving a Free Gift with Purchase, Confirming Appointments and Cancellations my small personal training studio is booming because of "Selling Personal Training!"

I owne a small ladys only club in las vegas. I was looking for a way to improve my selling ability. this book was my first step to a thriving sales department. I use it on a daily basis to keep my new members coming in! first I used fitness memberships and money then with all my success I bought selling personal training what a great way to make your business grow!!!

erin brown

I learned more about fitness sales while working with Ron for 6 months than my other 10 years in the business combined!!! Ron's system is simple to apply and it works!!! If you want to immediatly increase your sales, buy this book!!!
Chad McCleary - Riviera Country Club and Sport Center

I consider myself to be fairly well informed on health and dietary topics but I did learn many new things from Dr. Hyman. I appreciated his sharing his own experience with mercury poisioning and stress. I am in the process of reading his other book, Ultrametabolism and have recommended his books to friends and family.

Dr. Hyman's Five Forces of Wellness is full of new information as well as reinforcing things we already knew. The presentation never is boring and my husband and I will listen to these tapes again for reinforcement of the ideas. We feel Dr. Hyman has given us the information we need to make the rest of our years healthier and therefore happier. My husband is 80 and I'm 72 and with this easy to follow health plan we hope to be around for quite some time.

This audio book is outstanding. I bought it and made copies for everyone I know because I feel the health and wellness information is SO useful and SO So SO vital. Do yourself a favor and check this out!

absolutely a life changer, i bought a bunch of these for the people i love. it makes tremendous sense and is
consistent with everything i had previously learned...and so much more. it's easy to understand and pretty darn easy to be a healthy person. this is especially important for those who have decent health as prevention is paramount -- but also for people with hard to diagnos symptoms and auto immune syndrome type problems. thank you dr. hyman.

As far as I'm concerned, absolutely anything by Dr. Hyman is a must read. Very informative. this is a compilation of a number of different talks so some of the information is redundant, but all in all, excellent