Health and Fitness Excellence: The Scientific Action Plan - Hardcover

Even the most highly motivated, impressionable reader would need a succession of eight-day weeks to follow all the advice given by Cooper, a fitness instructor, physical therapist and former all-American athlete. Emphasizing the need to increase awareness of one's selfespecially one's physical selfand one's environment, Cooper colors discussions of everything from NutraSweet to nuclear power with his advocacy of heightened consciousness (" Change depends on awareness" ). Sections on stress, exercise, nutrition and posture ("You can stop accumulating tension and pain from standing or sitting by learning new ways to take pressure off your back, neck, and shoulders during the day") offer practical advice, but chapters on body fat, "rejuvenation and living environments design" and "mind and life unity" philosophize and generalize with an ecstatic banality. At times, Cooper repeats himself, and occasionally strays from his main scope (e.g., into massage therapy). His research has yielded quotes from many scientists, medical journals and popular experts, and his thorough documentation includes hundreds of sources and footnotes. Author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Health power is moving out of our doctors' offices . . . and into our homes, schools and places where we work," writes Tom Ferguson, M.D., in a foreward to Cooper's sound and clearly written synthesis of physical fitness and holistic medicine. Health and fitness educator Cooper has produced an authoritative and practical health action plan based on the principles and clinically proven practices and techniques of holistic health--a philosophy and strategy utilizing stress management, exercise, nutrition, fat-control, posture, lifestyle choices, and consciousness. Written for the layperson, this compendium of health advice and knowledge is likely to become a "wellness bible" for the 1990s: It integrates the best of traditional Western medicine with the discoveries and insights of contemporary alternatives to traditional medicine.
- Jack Forman, Mesa Coll. Lib., San Diego
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.