qirin
09-25-2008, 12:06 PM
I was just looking over the new Intu-Flow® ebook that was put out as a teaser for Free to Move. I liked the fact that the drills and the approach in it are somewhat different from what I've seen elsewhere. however, I have one very significant criticism of the ebook.
the information is great, although I am not crazy about the large print, and the format makes it a little hard to read. but my real criticism is that the instructions for about 50% of the exercises are totally inscrutable.
about "the hitchhiker"... what does "continue to spiral your forearm around" mean? what muscles am I using here? how is the first movement (hyperextending the forearm by rotation) a spiral? this drill is, I guess: laterally rotate the forearm to hyperextension, fully extend the forearm, medially rotate the forearm 45 degrees while also medially rotating the upper arm 45 degrees, then flex the forearm 45 degrees while laterally rotating the upper arm 45 degrees to return the forearm to starting position. but I can figure that out only because I saw a video of scott doing it, not from the cryptic instructions nor the fuzzy photos which contain nothing to suggest the final step. plus, you never say to reverse the movement, but if I keep doing this in one direction without reversing it, my bicep feels like a piece of taffy. maybe it's just me, but the opposite movement is more productive anyway.
things get even worse with the "okay cone" and the "jelly fish." are you counting first "knuckles" proximally or distally? what is the "middle component of full extension"? do you mean extension of the middle phalange? by "maximal rotation of your fingers" do you mean "maximal rotation of the wrist," since fingers cannot rotate? what in god's name does "flex [your fingers] back in a circle towards your forearm" mean?
you could say "look guy, it was free." okay sure, but that's not really the point. the book was intended as a teaser for the longer book, and it hasn't convinced me to buy it because the instructions here are so poorly written.
as a consumer, I humbly recommend that in the future you consider having your books proofread by a physical therapist or medical writer or someone else familiar both with proper anatomical terminology and the most effective terms to translate it into everyday language.
the information is great, although I am not crazy about the large print, and the format makes it a little hard to read. but my real criticism is that the instructions for about 50% of the exercises are totally inscrutable.
about "the hitchhiker"... what does "continue to spiral your forearm around" mean? what muscles am I using here? how is the first movement (hyperextending the forearm by rotation) a spiral? this drill is, I guess: laterally rotate the forearm to hyperextension, fully extend the forearm, medially rotate the forearm 45 degrees while also medially rotating the upper arm 45 degrees, then flex the forearm 45 degrees while laterally rotating the upper arm 45 degrees to return the forearm to starting position. but I can figure that out only because I saw a video of scott doing it, not from the cryptic instructions nor the fuzzy photos which contain nothing to suggest the final step. plus, you never say to reverse the movement, but if I keep doing this in one direction without reversing it, my bicep feels like a piece of taffy. maybe it's just me, but the opposite movement is more productive anyway.
things get even worse with the "okay cone" and the "jelly fish." are you counting first "knuckles" proximally or distally? what is the "middle component of full extension"? do you mean extension of the middle phalange? by "maximal rotation of your fingers" do you mean "maximal rotation of the wrist," since fingers cannot rotate? what in god's name does "flex [your fingers] back in a circle towards your forearm" mean?
you could say "look guy, it was free." okay sure, but that's not really the point. the book was intended as a teaser for the longer book, and it hasn't convinced me to buy it because the instructions here are so poorly written.
as a consumer, I humbly recommend that in the future you consider having your books proofread by a physical therapist or medical writer or someone else familiar both with proper anatomical terminology and the most effective terms to translate it into everyday language.