The Posture Prescription : The Doctor's Rx for: Eliminating Back, Muscle, and Joint Pain; Achieving OptimumStrength and Mobility; Living a Lifetime of Fitness and Well-Being

Rating:
Summary: Did the trick for me
Review: Everybody probably has different needs but this book absolutely did it for me. I had neck and upper back pain for 2 and a half years and it was so bad I took ibuprofen every single day for that period and was worried I was going to suffer long-term medication consequences. I saw two chiropractors and a top notch physical therapist, all of whom, combined, were only able to make a small difference in the management of the pain. I started doing the exercises in this book in August of 2004 and by September the pain was about 10% of what it used to be. It's now January 2005 and I have occassional flare-ups, most of which can be managed through a brief run-through of the exercises. After taking ibuprofen every day for 2 and half years straight, I am happy to report that in the past five months I have taken it about 5 or 6 times.

The exercises are pretty basic and very easy to do and I'm not sure they would help everybody but they sure helped me. I highly recommend this book. Even if it doesn't work for you, I think it's well worth $10 to find out.

Rating:
Summary: no sweat exercises
Review: I found this book to be extremely useful. Most books never tell you how to "make it real", they just tell you how to lift weights or stretch out. Dr. White's style is so easy to follow, and I started putting his principles to work right away. I have a lot of joint problems, so I appreciated his tips about getting moving. I recommend this book for anyone who has aches and pains and doesn't want to go to a gym and be intimidated by the young muscle boys there.

Rating:
Summary: Eliminate the gym!
Review: If you want to find out how you can never have to go to the gym again, read this book. It's a great "how-to" about incorporating what you do anyway all day long into activities that burn calories! You will feel stronger almost right away. Stop being a slave to the treadmill and step classes. Read this book with its useful tools for improving your overall well-being.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent practical book!
Review: My friend who is a massage therapist is so impressed with this book she buys it in bulk and has started giving it to her clients as part of a postural restructuring program. Practical, readable, and best of all it works.

Rating:
Summary: the right exercises, but the book is only introductory
Review: This book contains the right exercises for everyone and that's a big plus. It is only introductory though.
I use to have back pain; I went to the physiotherapist and she showed me exercises to do. They worked very well and now I hardly have pain anymore (I am 30, pain from beding on computer...)
I wanted to learn more so I bought this book. The plus of this book for you is that 8 out of the 10 exerices it shows are the same as the ones my physiotherapist showed me and those exercises worked for me. The minus of this book is that it does not go very much beyond that at all.
It looks to me that the exercises are explained quite clearly, but it's hard for me to judge given that I was shown in person.
There is a picture "before the movement" and a picture "after the movement" and that's very nice. It would be even better if drawings were superimposed in order to emphasize the movement.
The book does not say how many repetitions you are supposed to do. I had to start with 5 reps of 10 seconds each and work up from there.
Another plus of the book is that it shows you how to get out of your car properly, get up from your bed and brush your teeth. If you think that this is laughable, notice that use to have my worst pain while washing my dishes.
The postures taught there may seem unnatural to you if you have never done them in your life, although they are not difficult to do, they are difficult to maintain throughout the day; it is easy to revert back to the old, wrong posture. Both the book and my physiotherapist say that I'll get use to them and they will come natural to me -- I hope so, it hasn't happened yet.

There is then a lengthy section on how to integrate the exercizes in your every day life. A few suggestions in this section are good (such as how to brush your teeth without making your back pain worse), most other advices are just not feasible for most people (such as doing squat exercises on the job while talking to customers over the phone). The whole sections on making exercises at work is a waste.
So why three stars? As said, the book is very basic and shows just 10 exercises. I am looking for something more advanced.