Positive Health Online

This is a oversize book in more than one sense. It is 334 pages long and weighs in at well over one kilogramme. You would be forgiven for thinking that there was a lot of wasted space and irrelevant material to fill these pages – not one bit of it! Once again Lotus Publishing and their US partners On Target Publications have come up with a winner. I have seen much thinner (in more than one sense) books that describe exercise therapy for the whole of the body, let alone just two individual, yet vastly important, parts of it. Being an author myself, I can instantly recognize that the author took quite a long time to complete this marathon and left no stone unturned in producing a comprehensive text on an important subject that is aimed at physical therapists and bodyworkers.

There are three main sections to the book that yield eleven chapters. Part One is an introduction to movement that describes biomechanics and kinesiology in general terms that gives the reader an overview in the types of muscles and connective tissue in the body plus fascinating stuff about kinesiology and injury predictors. Part Two consists of three chapters that discuss the gleno-humeral and hip complexes in every conceivable way plus information on assessment and functional muscle testing. Part Three represents the core of the book consisting of six chapters on corrective movement and exercise progressions. None of this material is formulaic in any way, there being hundreds of different scenario with conclusions that are both research and experientially based.

There are excellent illustrations and photographs throughout the book that wonderfully complement the text. Many of these are of the author going through various exercise programmes. Also scattered through the book are several coloured pages that are highlighted as being 'key to success' and 'key to performance' for whatever topic is being discussed. This alone gives the reader an excellent summary in what is essential information for each subject. I would hope that this book is just the first of many from this author. There is a thirst for this excellent way of presentation in the physical therapy world. Finally there is also an on-line access to videos that are detailed within the book. These consist of ten videos of about five minutes each showing a wide range of assessments and treatment techniques.

At almost £35 RRP this book is not cheap. However as the saying goes 'you get what you pay for'. If you are a physical therapist or bodyworker actively engaged in rehabilitation that include the shoulder and hip mechanisms, this book is screaming at you “buy me now”. You will not regret it.

Further Information

Available from Amazon:

www.amazon.co.uk/Corrective-Exercise-Solutions-Shoulder-Dysfunction/dp/product-description/1905367260

www.amazon.com/Corrective-Exercise-Solutions-Shoulder-Dysfunction/dp/1905367260