The Acupressure Warm-up

Every day, thousands of people in our fitness conscious culture do just what the TV commercials and their doctors tell them: "Play hard," "Just do it." They challenge their cardiovascular systems, participate in aerobics, work out with weights and machines, compete at games they last played in their youth, ride bikes, and run races. But they also injure themselves at an alarming rate, losing hours of enjoyment and even employment, as over-exertion and under-preparation take their toll. Calisthenics and stretching, athletic warmups familiar to most athletes, take too long, are awkward to do in public, and are often improperly done. In some cases, they can do more harm than good.

The main exercises, finger-pressure exercises, meridian-stretching exercises and flexibility tests that are described and illustrated in The Acupressure Warmup can enliven and prepare every major muscle system in the body. A routine of less than 10 minutes a day can improve your flexibility, enhance your performance, treat common injuries, and prevent their recurrence. It is an easy and effective solution for obtaining maximal enjoyment from sports for fitness and fun.

The Acupressure Warm-up is easy to learn. There are no awkward bends or twists and, unlike calisthenics or stretching, it relies on position, not force. There is no need, no temptation, or even any possibility of overdoing the routine. The Acupressure Warm-up eliminates overstretching, one of the most common sources of injury, and most importantly, it does what a warm-up absolutely must do: increase the flow of blood and heat to your muscles. Young or old, beginner or pro, you will notice an immediate improvement.

I must confess that this is the kind of book usually ignored by such a 'heavyweight' academic Journal as this. On reading it, however, I was unexpectedly impressed by its sincerity and effective application of a simple technique. Marc Coseo, a serious, indeed somewhat obsessive tennis player who (as many of us will empathise with) suffered agonies of frustration when injury prevented his playing, discovered a book on acupressure. Unable to find anyone willing to treat him as often as he needed, and remembering how the family pet dog used to roll around on a tennis ball, he tried lying with tennis balls placed on the spots the acupressure book recommended. Astounded by the results, he never looked back, going on to study acupuncture and at the same time develop this technique. He recommends it as the perfect pre-warm-up warm-up, relaxing and stimulating the muscles to minimise injuries, and equally as a therapeutic tool. The proof of the benefits of any technique are clearly in their results, and the book includes some exceedingly impressive case histories that I would have been proud to achieve with acupuncture.

Reviewed by Peter Deadman