1,500 Stretches: The Complete Guide to Flexibility and Movement

Thu, 06/21/2018 - 1:04pm by howarde

Oh no, I thought as I lifted the book of the hold shelf. I’m not sure what I expected from a book entitled 1,500 Stretches, but for some reason I didn’t expect it to weigh five and a half pounds. (Make sure you’ve got a light load and a sturdy bag before taking this one home.) Hollis Liebman’s new book, 1,500 Stretches: the Complete Guide to Flexibility and Movement is pretty much what it says on the tin. Liebman opens with a brief introduction on the benefits on stretching, but after that, the book is nothing but pictures and descriptions of stretches.

Daunting as it was, I dove in anyway. I’ve spent a lot of time flipping the book open and just trying the stretches. Results vary from, “Nope, no way this is happening” to “Oh wow, this is surprisingly easy!” It’s been fun to move my body in new ways, see what my abilities are, and push myself further.  If you are looking for a book that will help you build a stretching routine, be prepared to do the work yourself. Liebman gives no specific advice about how sequence the stretches or how to use basic stretches to build up to more advanced ones. But, if you’re willing to experiment, the book provides the raw materials to create an almost infinite number of sequences.