3 Minutes to a Pain-Free Life: The Groundbreaking Program for Total Body Pain Prevention and Rapid Relief

by Joseph Weisberg, Heidi Shink

Relieve and prevent chronic pain forever with this simple, safe, and sure-fire three-minute daily program!

Imagine a world free of aches and pains...no back pain, headaches, joint stiffness, or arthritis; no expensive ergonomic equipment or pain medications. With Dr. Joseph Weisberg's revolutionary new system, a pain-free life is now within reach of everyone—even those who have endured chronic pain for years.

At the heart of Dr. Weisberg's system is the 3-Minute Maintenance Method --a unique program for all ages and fitness levels that eliminates the conditions that cause pain in the first place. By utilizing six different thirty-second therapeutic movements the program makes it possible for the body to keep itself free of pain.

Thanks to Dr. Weisberg's groundbreaking program, relief—and a lifetime of healthy muscles and joints--is finally at hand. In fact, it's just three minutes away!

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Fitness

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2005

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book way back for a special price. I bought it since I figured I might have pain someday. Now is that day. The 3-minute regimen is a simple great stretch that will help anyone to stay supple and relieve stress, but getting rid of pain -in my circumstances at least- did little for me as in helping the overall pain from degenerative disc disease. It did help for individual parts of my body when I merely had a foot, knee, wrist issue from overuse. I had bad pain at one time in these 3 areas from being on my feet too much and running to high impact aerobics with my knees. I also had carpel tunnel from running a cash register at a retail store. The individual exercise healed these things and also get rid of my bad neck pain I have had off and on for quite awhile. But as far as stopping all pain in my back and legs from the disc problem with sciatica, I was so disappointed that this did not do more.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

With books like this you have to wade through the gimmicks (anyone can be pain free for life!) and filler (history of the chair, car metaphors), look for the science (tons of information on how joints work), and try out the recommendations to see if they work for your body. I found some of the stretches in his routine did not feel good on my back. For right now I am liking the morning routine in Younger Next Year: the Back Book better, but I may try Weisberg's method again at some point in the future. I'm also keeping his 30-second rule in mind as I do my own stretching routine. With this kind of thing the more information you can get the better, and you can combine bits and pieces together to come up with a custom approach.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this book is true, it is the answer to all my problems. He makes a very convincing case. I am attempting to do his 3 minutes of daily stretches and see if it makes a difference in my life. Let's hope it does!

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author makes some important points for athletes that help to prevent injury and exercise in a healthy way. I appreciated his careful explanations even though some of the material was familiar. I plan to incorporate the stretches into my daily schedule.

[Hilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

use it or loose it

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book ... got some stretches from it to add to my workout.

[Book Nerds In MN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though many of the movements in the 3 minutes are ones I have already been doing as suggested by a chiropractor, it was an interesting read. I really found the chapter about the history of the chair and our sitting habits eye opening. he also tells you the purpose for each movement and the order they should be performed in and why. There is some repitition and I found myself skimming a bit sometimes, but overall good, especially if you have dealt with chronic musculoskeletal pain, or are looking for some good kovement/stretches to do daily that don't require a yoga class.

[Gwyz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did this for 6 months. I reached the point I was able to "PALM the floor" as opposed to merely "touching my toes." Continued to stretch _exactly_ as instructed. One day I was doing the "arch your back" stretch and there was no pain. So I stretched some more. Still no pain, so I stretched some more. I LITERALLY BROKE THE VERTEBRAE AT T-11. The doctor at the Rehab clinic said (regarding this book): "YOU DON'T STRETCH FASCIA MUSCLE TO THE POINT OF PAIN BECAUSE FASCIA WILL ENDLESSLY STRETCH!!!" He was then no longer surprised at the unusual location of my injury. (Lower Thoracic Spine).

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up because who doesn't want to be free of pain? Willa was with me and we giggled together about it being groundbreaking. For clarification, this book is about muscle-skeletal pain, not migraine pain or pelvic congestion or varicose veins. Dang, dang, dang! But it had surprisingly good things to say, and it may change my daily routine because I believed so much of it.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the alarms on my bullshit detector clamoring, but when your boss gives you a book it is usually good policy to read it. And, hey, maybe it really is the secret to a pain-free life. Yeah, sure, because we've all been waiting for The Weisberg Way to save us!

The gist:

1) Humans evolved doing certain movements
2) Modern convenience and lifestyles--notably sitting--means we don't move that way anymore.
3) As a consequence, our musculoskeletal system doesn't get the proper range for healing the "microtraumas" caused by everyday activities.
4) These six movements will cure what ails you.

The movements are basic stretches/exercises used by many over the ages. They won't hurt you and it is probably a good thing to pay attention to your body, its movements, and to stretch. What I have a problem with is the idea that there's nothing wrong with repetitive movements at work and even things like carpal tunnel syndrome can be cured simply by doing these movements. As my physical therapist pointed out, if this "Way" was all we needed to be pain-free, it would be everywhere.

[Cinnapatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister loaned me this book. It is pretty good. Makes sense. I started reading and found I knew a lot of the anatomy/physiology stuff already thanks to college courses, so I started skimming. Then I started just flipping pages thinking "ok, enough already, tell me the exercises!". Took forever, but I finally found them. I like how he says "to the pain, not through the pain". I like all the adaptations to the exercises. Some for older people, some for pregnant people, some for kids, some for athletes and then the regular ones. I like the tune up and diagnosis guidelines. In the end I will likely buy this book to have all that info on hand as I enjoy doing the exercises and come on, I can spare three minutes. It can't hurt, that's for sure!

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was some stuff that I read that I didn't agree with but overall I think the concept is valid. I love the way the stretches have improved my quality of life and lowered my level of pain. I believe movement and flexibility is the key just like he says and sitting in chairs all day is killing us.

[Jean-marie Prevost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good advice and exercises in there, but it seems to me that it is aimed primarily at older and sedentary people. Still a good set of exercises to maintain a minimal good mobility and strength, but it wasn't quite what I hoped it would be.