Ten Golden Exercises: (As chosen by a 20 year Physical Therapist)

With so many exercise books to choose from, I liked this golden gem because the exercises are safe and easy to follow. I like the descriptions and reasons why it is important to work certain muscles of the body. These exercises help keep the body strong and flexible. Especially important for those over 50. Beyond the 10 suggested exercises there are a few more that can be incorporated into a daily exercise routine. I would suggest for those who have bone loss to modify the Cat/Camel position, keeping a flat back rather than rounding it up "like a cat."

As I've recovered from various injuries, and watched friends and family recover from their injuries, visits to the physical therapist are normal, and the same essential exercises seem to come up over and over again. I've had, or know someone who's had, half of the exercises in this book prescribed at some time or another. I believe that by working these 10 exercises into my warm up, cool down, and get up from the desk and stretch routines, I can either prevent the other half, or I will at least be better prepared if I do come to need them. For example, a friend of mine crashed her bike and broke a bone in her wrist. During the physical therapy for that she learned that she could no longer reach directly overhead. These are exercises like reaching overhead. Start early and you will never need to strain at them. Put them off until you need them and there may be a lot more to fix when you get there.

The only reason I gave this four stars instead of five, was because a few of the exercise descriptions were missing the recommended number of reps. I'm pretty sure that anyone using the exercises can figure out how many to do, by paying attention to the "pain rules", so it's not a deal-breaker. Other than that, the exercises were explained well, and the photographs were clear. The book isn't glitzy or full of jargon, just solid information, to be used effectively, by anyone, for a lifetime. The background information was essential, and covered: 1. the various parts of the body, 2. how they function, 3. how they support our movement, 4. how we tend to neglect them, 5. the problems that develop through that neglect, and 6. how to correct range-of-motion deficits, and strengthen critical areas, through SIMPLE exercises that can be done anywhere, by just about anyone. I would recommend it, especially to older people, who have compromised mobility/flexibility/strength. The Bible tells us we are, "fearfully and wonderfully made", and whenever I consider the profound effect a simple movement can have on a painful and/or restricted body part, I understand a little more fully what that means. After years of being a " frequent flyer " at various physical therapy clinics, I'm impressed by the therapists, above all, and fascinated by how much has been developed in the field of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Sports Medicine. I'm grateful to the author, Daniel Philpott, for his work in his chosen career, and for making this e-book available to a wide audience. I'm hopeful that it will be published in "hard copy", at some point, as I like having this kind of information in written format, too.

Movement is a funny thing. It can take you out of balance even with the best intentions such as wanting to work out on the weekend to make up for a week long of desk work or going to physical therapy and getting great improvement in the area of concentration with the rest of the compensating you now out of balance :) This is a great little book as it teaches you a little something for every part of your body to get back into both: balance and shape! It is a fresh start to be in thorough movement and flexibility if you want to go further afterwards into longer, more complicated routines but with the right start and everything in place. It is also a start and a stay as all of you will feel pretty capable after the book by itself and no further steps. The author is knowledgeable, patient and it was my instinct also that the author is giving, someone who knows a little something and wants to share it in a big way. Thank you for doing so! It was a big gift for me!

This book is great. The author simply shares his knowledge and wisdom from 20 years practicing as a physical therapist. He gives simple exercises to do for different parts of the body that tend to develop problems as we get older. I have a painful shoulder, as the result of over exercising it with doing pushups. I developed a shoulder click which started irritating my shoulder area. The exercises for the shoulder area are right on. I feel the pain going away when doing the exercises, and it is coming back when I don't do them. I've now adopted most of the exercises from the book in my daily exercise routine. I'm grateful for this book, it's given me a great way to prevent future problems!

Over the years, I have had the privilege of sending many patients to Physical Therapists like Daniel Philpot. As a group, they are simply wonderful and very dedicated to helping people make progress after various injuries. The feedback I usually get from the patients, many of whom are golfing buddies, is always positive. When one of our local PT specialists relocated to Augusta, GA, there was grieving in our clubhouse. That said, Mr. Philpot has given a straightforward, accurate and understandable dissertation that should be listened to. I am going to begin incorporating three or four of these into each workout and recommend that others do as well. You will be thankful if you do.

Good: solid ideas and logic behind choice of exercises... makes sense. Bad: written explanations of exercises are brief and seem to lack any depth or attention to detail. Ugly: photo demonstrations are sooo poor. Simply lazy execution in my opinion.

As a long time strength trainer, it is clear that many of these movements could have prevented aches and pains over the years. I will certainly incorporate a number of these, especially in those areas that have been problematic, as I move forward.

Great little book on exercises to rebuild strength and stability and also some great pre-hab for athletes. So simple I added some exercises to my routine today.

Scientific yet simple explanation of the most important but most ignored exercises because simple things get ignored. Anybody and everybody can do the exercises mentioned in this book.