Reviews for Richard Hittleman's Yoga: 28-Day Exercise Plan

The average rating for Richard Hittleman's Yoga: 28-Day Exercise Plan based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-10-15 00:00:00 Gary Kajiwara While some of the language, nutritional advice and the photos are hopelessly (and hilariously) dated, this is a great little introduction to hatha or physical yoga. Structured as a 28-day training program, this book was created to help people gradually develop strength and flexibility through a series of asanas, and discusses the benefits of the practice on health, weight management, arthritis relief, etc. My father, who has been a yoga teacher for over thirty years, still recommends this book over newer, more fashionable yoga guidebooks out there. It's a prefect resource for anyone interested in learning basic hatha yoga at home: the instructions are clear and detailed, and the progression of the exercises makes the training both effective and less intimidating. The book is broken down into 4-day learning blocks: new exercises for the 3 first days, then the 4th is spent reviewing the previous material. This sets a nice pace, and keeps the exercises from getting too boring or repetitive. I have been doing yoga on and off for years, but to be honest, I hate most yoga classes (and gyms, and basically any place people gather for fitness activities - don't ask), so I'd rather practice at home. My father gave me a copy of this book ages ago, and I pulled it off the shelf last month, figuring going through the 28-day regimen would shake off my yoga cobwebs gently. Not only did it do that, but it also helped me put a daily yoga practice back into my routine, which is great! The pacing is perfect, somehow both challenging and gentle for beginners or intermediate-and-rusty practitioners. I can definitely see why my dad still recommends it! A couple of the asanas are actually a bit too tough for beginners (or rusty old crones), and should have been broken down in more gradual steps (head stand, cow face and full lotus, for example), but generally, the difficulty level is reasonable. You still might want to complement this with another (more recently published) book of illustrated asanas (the Grounded Panda's is pretty great: ) that also show you how to use props like blocks and straps - which are really helpful, especially when you are learning new poses. If you don't mind the fact that this was written for 1970s housewives who didn't dare associate with the hippies but wanted to try their hands at that yoga-stuff, this is a good building block on which to beginning practicing yoga at home, or as a primer for classes and more advanced practices.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-04-25 00:00:00 Jeff Lukas First attempt at yoga, so here I go! Exercises are sectioned into 4 day increments, so I'll review every 4 days. Days 1-4: On Day 1 I didn't think I would continue, but wanted to give it a fair chance, and day 2 changed my mind. I felt very stretched and awake after exercising. Day 3 introduced 'leg over,' which I am terrible at. But hopefully through practice, I'll become more limber! Overall, the exercises stretch me just enough to feel more limber without feeling sore all day. I feel good, and except for the 'leg over,' the exercises are great and I'm able to complete them. Days 5-8: Here are the positions I now know: complete breath standing, chest expansion, triangle, knee and thigh stretch, simple twist, circular motion, lion, scalp exercise, back stretch, backward bend, modified head stand, cobra, leg over, complete breath, lotus. I'm able to do all the positions as shown except leg over. I'm still nowhere close to the image! Hopefully practice will make that one more successful. I also can't extend as much as she in the forward extreme position of chest expansion. Overall, good exercises. Each day is followed by 'thoughts for the day,' and there's a funny, dated bit about being a housewife and still deserving to spend time on yourself. Days 9-12: Went on vacation, so missed about 5 days. Didn't seem to affect my ability to complete the exercises when I returned, however. New exercises learned in this section are: abdominal lifts, both standing and on all fours; side bend; locust; chest expansion with additional leg movements; cobra with additional turning movements; and head twist. I seem to have no trouble with any of these, though the abdominal lifts give me a case of the burps afterward, haha. And the locust is a bit difficult--I doubt I'm raising my legs that much. I remain unable to perform the full leg over exercise like last time, though my right leg is getting better (no change in left leg). The exercises in the next section look more intimidating! I've returned! I practiced, at an abbreviated rate, all previous exercises to make sure I could still complete them. I seem to be performing exactly the same, despite many months having passed. I still can't manage the leg over! Days 13-16: New exercises: Shoulder stand, plough, extended back stretch, extended backward bend, bow, rishi's posture, and bust exercise. I almost hurt myself doing the shoulder stand and plough, so I am not doing them. These just don't seem safe alone at home! I really like the back stretch exercises. The rishi's posture requires a lot of balancing on tiptoes. I'm not there yet, but I think with practice I should get better. The bust exercise also feels good. I definitely sit up straighter after these exercises! Days 17-20: New Exercises: Neck Roll, Balance Posture, Dancer's Posture, Elbow-to-Knee, Side Raise. These are all great exercises. The days during this set focused on specific parts of the body for each day. This is problematic with my heart/BP problem, because I can't stay in the same position for too long. This is why I've always avoided yoga. I will have to combine the exercises on different days so I'm not stretching in the same posture in a single day. Other than that, the exercises are going well. Days 21-24: New Exercises: Slow motion firming, Back Push-up, Posture Clasp, Leg Clasp, Alternating Leg Pull. Guess what, I can only do the last 2. I am now ceasing these exercises, though only 4 days remain. It seems to be exacerbating my POTS, so yoga is not a good fit for me. However, I'll take a few of these exercises and incorporate them into my exercise routine. I'm sure for most people, this would be a great primer on yoga. It's dated (there's a constant assumption the reader is a stay-at-home mom), but it does give good instructions.