Pete Egoscue - The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: A Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body’s Power To Protect and Rejuvenate Itself

THE

Egoscue Method
of Health
Through Motion

A Revolutionary Program
That Lets You Rediscover the Bodys Power to
Protect and Rejuvenate Itself

Pete Egoscue
WITH
Roger Gittines

This book is dedicated
to all those people who knew what was wrong with them, but were told they did not;

to ail those people who knew what to do about it,
but were told they could not;

and to all those people who tried to tell someone,
but were told they should not.

, page 7: The bodys right-angle design.

, page 9: Side view of the bodys right angles plus the S-curve of the spine.

, page 11: The architecture of the body is designed to be bifunctional.

, page 14: The body as a unit. Were really looking at a map, and you can trace the muscular and skeletal roads that link the shoulders with the feet.

, page 28: The design constant for the foot. The feet are directly beneath the knees and hips. The line from the hip socket passes directly through the middle of the kneecap and the middle of the foot.

, page 29: The feet are cocked out or splayed like a ducks and the knees do not point straight ahead.

, page 31: The models hips are level, consistent with the bodys design requirements of right angles and bifunctionality. In addition, his hips are square and sit directly under the shoulders and over the knees and ankles.

, page 32: If one hip is higher than the other, bifunctionality is affected.

, page 34: Take another look at your hips. Does one hip seem to be a little closer to the mirror than the other? This illustration gives you an idea of what to took for.

, page 35: Both of the models hips are tilted forward. Notice how it influences the vertical alignment of the body.

, page 36: A reverse hip tilt.

, page 37: An elevated right shoulder that got that way because it is helping the model walk by compensating for her hip dysfunction.

, page 38: The stoop-shouldered look is very common but is not a matter of heredity, body type, or aging.

, page 40: When the bodys right-angle design is violated, the head is pulled off its natural balance point at the top of the spine. This creates additional stress, dysfunction, and compensating motion.

, page 58: Major Condition I symptomships tilted forward, feet everted.

, page 59: Seen from the side in a mirror, the angle of the pelvis may be even more obvious.

, page 66: The shoulder and hand are the real giveaway characteristics of Condition II dysfunctions.

, page 68: A rotated upper torso looks as though the shoulder is lower and forward of the rest of the body, as if you were walking a little sideways, leading with the shoulder.

, page 70: In Condition III, for both men and women, the hips are tilted under, which tips the top of the pelvis to the rear.

, page 76: D-Lux. The illustration shows a female model, but the basic musculoskeletal design is unisex.

, page 85: Abdominals.

, page 87: Air Bench.

, page 89: Arm Circles.

, page 91: Cats and Dogs.

, page 93: Crocodile Twist.

, page 95: Downward Dog.

, page 97: Elbow Curls.

, page 99: Extended Lateral.

, page 101: Foot Circles and Point Flexes.

, page 102: Frog.

, page 103: Gravity Drop.

, page 105: Hip Crossover.

, page 106: Hip Lift.

, page 107: Isolated Hip Flexor Lifts.

, page 109: Pelvic Tilts.

, page 110: Quadratus Lumborum Stretch.

, page 112: Runners Stretch, Modified.

, page 113: Runners Stretch, Regular.

, page 115: Spread-Foot Forward Bend.

, page 116: Standing Quadricep Stretch.

, page 117: Static Back Press.

, page 119: Supine Groin Stretch.

, page 121: Upper Spinal Floor Twist.

, page 125: Triangle.

, page 126: Under Air Bench.

, page 147: Dysfunction and Sports.

I n mid-1988 I was told by several doctors that unless I had either a discectomy or a discectomy plus a fusion, I probably would never play golf successfully again. I obviously did not want to accept the decision of surgery until I had exhausted all possible avenues of recovery. It was then that I ran into Pete Egoscue, and this foreword is to tell you how he has totally changed my life.

In chapter one of Golf My Way, I wrote, 1 am not a believer in methods. Im a believer in fundamentals. Thats still my view when it comes to golf, but as for an aching back and the rest of the body, I do believe in a method: the Egoscue Method. I have been to many specialists around the world, and yes, a few enabled me to achieve some marginal and temporary relief from pain. But never had I experienced such complete relief as I have by following the Egoscue Method. The fundamentals are sound, and it has worked for me since late 1988 when I put myself in Petes hands after enduring several years of increasing amounts of pain, discomfort, and restricted movement caused by deteriorated disks in my lower back.

I was hurting. Take it from me, a sore back was a deterrent to my golf game, not to mention a good nights sleep. My ability to compete successfully, not only physically but mentally, was being undermined. From our first meeting, Petes ideas and techniques made a difference, not that there was a quick fix. He warned me from the start that it would be some time before the good days outnumbered the bad. Even so, I was pleased to have the occasional good daythat was progress, in and of itself.

Pete told me the good days would become steadily more frequent, and indeed, thats what happened. As the pain decreased, 1 was able to start practicing again. Golf became fun again; I wasnt just going through the motions. On the average, 1 spend an hour and a half a day doing the exercises Pete recommended, and I have not missed a day since November of 1988. Sure enough, about seven or eight months after the workouts began, not only was I able to function, but my back stopped hurting also. Youll find the same exercises I used and more in the chapters ahead.

Pete gets results, without pills, manipulation, or a surgeons scalpel. There are no gimmicks or shortcuts here; it just takes hard work and dedication. Unfortunately, many golfers seem to think that back pain or physical problems are inherent to the game, and theyve gotten the idea that if they play through the pain, it will eventually go away. In fact, it seems that most athletes, whatever their sport, think that getting hurt and playing with pain are facts of life. I know that is not true from working with Pete and seeing the results he has achieved, not only with me but with many others as well.

I feel better than I have in years. Its not just the absence of pain, either. Pete has convinced me that many of the things we pass off as age or an off day are symptoms of the body slowly grinding to a halt through lack of motion. The Egoscue Method jump starts the body again, and thats why it feels good even if youve never had a back spasm in your life.

Pete has developed some extremely important concepts, all of them grounded on his uncanny talent for close observation and anatomical diagnosis. When Pete looks at the human body, his vision seems to go well beyond 20/20. Im delighted that he has written this book. With the help of the Egoscue Method, we can all look forward to feeling better and performing better at whatever we do.