Built to Move: The 10 Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully

In this useful program, husband and wife Kelly and Juliet Starrett (Deskbound)—founders of The Ready State company, which provides personal training services—share “instructions on how to prepare your body for whatever comes its way.” The authors detail 10 ways to make the body more resilient, focusing on how readers can achieve greater ease of movement and improve overall health. Eschewing intensive workouts, the Starretts focus on boosting mobility through simple exercises. Sitting for long stretches of time, they suggest, leads to knee and back pain, and they describe activities for engaging affected muscles, including lying down and raising one’s leg at a 90-degree angle to stretch one’s hamstrings. To fight neck and shoulder stiffness, the authors recommend lying down with a small ball under one’s shoulder and repeatedly raising one’s arm over one’s head. Additional chapters tackle sleep and diet, encouraging readers to maintain a consistent sleep schedule and eat 800 grams of fruit and vegetables per day. Helpful illustrations demonstrate how to perform the exercises and the low intensity of the workouts will appeal to those intimidated by more demanding regimens. Even couch potatoes will be motivated to get moving. (Apr.)