Product Description

"Movement That Matters" provides trainers and fitness enthusiasts with the tools necessary to create functional training programs for themselves and their clients. This book is a must-read for any trainer desiring to provide their clients with higher caliber training programs that work.

In "Movement That Matters" you will learn:

- The body's five different reflexes and how to determine the dominant reflex profile of your client.
- The importance of static and dynamic stability.
- How to determine if an exercise is functional based on the six defining characteristics.
- How to evaluate a compound movement and identify its "Primal Pattern" movements, enabling you to accurately determine which portion needs training.
- The difference between open- and closed-chain exercises.
- 10 tips for optimal motor learning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #309114 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-15
• Binding: Paperback
• 56 pages

From the Author
The libraries are chock full of technical books on exercise; books full of mathematical equations and hard to read charts. Have they made a difference in the way we train today? Not much, I think! Some of the best strength coaches, trainers and therapists successfully perform their work predominately guided by clinical experiences and trench-savvy knowledge! I have spent the past 18 years rehabilitating and conditioning those who were misled by incorrect training principles, thinking bodybuilding was the way to get stronger and improve athletic performance. My desire when I wrote Movement That Matters was to convey experience that is tested by its application and usable in practice. It is the movement that matters!

The very foundation of what I use on a daily basis and what I have taught to exercise and rehabilitation professionals all over the world, can be found in this book. I wrote it to be an easy, straight-forward read. My goal is to show you the obvious about movement, which as it turns out has been the elusive obvious. You won’t get bogged down with unnecessary details. The illustrations are simple, yet clearly show what I regularly see while working with everyone from elite athletes to the beat-up construction worker. I hope that anyone and everyone will find this book very instrumental, as it provides the tools and understanding to save time in the gym or while exercising and get real results. Now you will only spend your time performing movements that matter!

About the Author
Paul Chek, world-renowned rehabilitation and exercise specialist, has been developing training program designed to improve clients' function since 1984. His knowledge and clinical experience have helped thousands of people get relief from chronic pain, and improve performance and overall well-being.

Customer Reviews

Mostly for trainers but good for the layman.
Short and to the point this book teaches the reader to look at functional movements in a different way. By breaking movements down into primal patterns, or basic more generalized patterns of movement that our brain associates all movement with, we learn to more easily identify how to enhance our sporting ability by pinpointing the types of exercises needed for the specific sport we are conditioning for.

The book also looks at learning styles and how to best communicate with a student in order to maximize learning and elicit the quickest training response. For the layman this may help identify where your efforts to learn and excel will best be applies and which teaching style you should search for when seeking professional help.

Last but certainly not least the book discusses how to break down movements for more efficient learning, how much to train, when to rest, how to qualify one's self for a movement, how to identify the speed needed for sport adaptation to repetitions, and how to prepare your environment for optimal learning (helpful in all situations).

Over Analysis that is tough to apply
I was very excited to buy this book because of Paul Chek's reputation as a top fitness expert. I also own his book "How to eat, move, and be healthy" which I have enjoyed. However,

This book is extremely disappointing. First of all, it is only 54 pages long, very short for the 24.95 price. It is less than 1/2 inch thick. Next, the book launches into highly complex language regarding concepts ranging from balance and reactions to open and closed chain exercises. Some of it can be understood, but most of it is so overly analytical it is hard to know how to apply it.

I was hoping this book would give me some clear information on how to improve my fitness routines and new concepts on how to exercise. However, it offers little or no diagrams of new exercises and only goes on and on with different scientific terms that are tough to memorize and tough to translate into your excercise program.

I am planning on returning this book to Amazon due to the reasons stated above. Do not waste your money on this book.

Principles of functional exercise
This small, neatly packaged, exercise text is well referenced, providing a concise view of how to effectively design functional exercise programs for yourself or for your clients.

As a lecturer in exercise rehabilitation, I find this an excellent reference book, both for myself and for my students. The Chek approach is the only approach I have found that successfully crosses the boundaries between exercise science, motor learning, athletic conditioning, neurological factors in training, as well as many other considerations, in a simple and comprehensive way.

For those of a more research-oriented background, references are cited, and the text is well illustrated to keep it understandable for all.