Muscle Book
Posted by terrepruitt on April 25, 2009
When I was studying for my Personal Trainer Certification I came across a book I thought would be helpful, The Muscle Book by Paul Blakey. After buying it, I took another class for which this book was recommended reading. The book is also recommended reading for Nia teachers. Obviously instructors think it is helpful too. It is a good book. It is very simple and easy to understand.
It has 45 pages, it is black and white, and spiral bound. Page 4 explains how to use the book, because every page that describes a muscle has a lot of information on it. Each page gives you the muscle name and where the name originated, it explains the possible movement issues, and advises that certain actions can injure or cause pain. There are line drawing illustrations, action of the muscle, the muscles origin and insertion, and the muscle’s contribution muscle (synergists). And last but not least “Finger First Aid”.
At first I thought the “Finger First Aid” was ridiculous because the book claims it strengthens weak muscles. Then I realized that it is great instructions on massage or what I am thinking of as acupressure, because the “massage” is not of the muscle itself, but of the origin and the insertion. The book claims that massaging these areas “stimulates the circulation”.
A few times when my upper back was sore, I had my husband press the points as shown in the book and it really helped. He didn’t really massage my back, but just pressed the points and it was amazing the relief I felt.
So, I wanted to share it with you because it is easy to read, which makes it easy to learn from. I really like this book and I refer back to it often, and I am a believer now, in what Mr. Blakey calls “Finger First Aid”.
I bet you can find this book in any book store in most cities like: San Jose, Los Gatos, San Ramon, Mountain View, etc. or through Amazon.
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