Strength Band Training.

Abstract

This book can be read easily and covers a broad range of exercises using resistive rubber bands and tubing as well as a variety of other modern clinical tools. It is written in very basic language, with simple terminology that patients should be able to follow easily. The book is divided into sections based on general body regions and subdivided into basic exercises of increasing difficulty. Most interesting is the reference in each section to core stability, which seems to be the current trend in rehabilitation. I noticed frequent anatomical and physiological inaccuracies (e.g., identifying the biceps as the primary elbow flexor but not referencing its role in supination). This may be disturbing to those of us with anatomic or physiologic backgrounds but less worrisome to lay readers. I found the book slightly irritating in the frequency of its sales pitch for a particular brand-name product. The frequent mention of this product is not surprising, since the primary author is the research director of the company that produces the product and the second author is on the research advisory board for the same company. The product placement in the photographs, however, is more in keeping with a sales brochure than with an educational book, lending support to the perception that the book is designed to encourage people to use this company's products. Much of the book appears to be about the frequency of use rather than the most efficient use of this product. The photographs are important and significant additions to the book and clarify much of the text—which frequently is lacking in description and awkward to understand without the illustrations. These black and white photographs serve the text well, but they lack contrast and definition, leading the reader to suspect that they were originally colour photographs and were then converted to black and white. The result is a fairly bland impression that fails to create interest; this is a grey book, with shades of grey in both text and illustrations. The photographs were taken in a clinical gym setting, which tends to detract from their overall clarity. I found myself frequently looking in the background to see what else was going on. My overall impression is that the authors were “stretching” to make sure they covered more exercises than needed, in order to make resistive tubing appear more useful than it actually is in practice. In reality, although most of the exercises would work as described, the set-up with the tubing is more complicated than much simpler exercises without the tubing. Some of the exercises are simply too awkward either to perform or to teach. I particularly enjoyed Chapters 8 and 10. The section on sport- and activity-specific training addresses a non-traditional approach to specific strength and agility training. This emphasis is relevant to therapists involved in sport injury rehabilitation and to coaches interested in advanced skill development, and it addresses a need in functional training. Although some of the exercises are difficult to set up and would be more academic than practical, the concept is worth further thought. Chapter 9 (on stretching) seems superfluous and further emphasizes the use of tubing for a purpose for which it is not best suited. The exercises are often difficult to set up by oneself and could be accomplished more easily in a traditional format, without the use of tubing. Overall, Strength Band Training would make a good addition to a clinician's library to encourage the practitioner to think outside the box in designing exercise programmes. The addition of resistive tubing to an exercise regimen would add diversity and might encourage adherence. I would recommend that therapists read the book and digest its contents to gain a new appreciation for use of a common clinical product in their exercise regimes. Although my review may seem critical, the book does fill a void in the discussion of clinical tubing exercises and hopefully will open some minds to an alternative variation on traditional rehabilitation.