Trail Guide to the Body: A Hands-On Guide to Locating Muscles, Bones and More

by Andrew R. Biel

Before you can assess or treat a muscle, you first must be able to locate it. This acclaimed book delivers beautifully illustrated information for learning palpation and the musculoskeletal system. It makes mastering the essential manual therapy skills interesting, memorable and easy.

With 440 pages and 1,400 illustrations covering more than 162 muscles, 206 bones, 33 ligaments and 110 bony landmarks, this text provides an invaluable map of the body. A complimentary DVD for practicing palpation is included with the textbook.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Textbooks, Bodies, Reference

440 pages, Spiral-bound

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Hi, my name is Andrew Biel. I'm the author of Trail Guide to the Body, the award-winning book that has taught thousands of healthcare providers about musculoskeletal anatomy and palpation.

Why "Trail Guide to the Body" as a title? In preparation for any journey, it helps that you know the lay of the land. I want the reader to be able to manually map, navigate and gain their bearings on the human body.

This journey started for me almost twenty years ago. In the middle of the night I woke up, pulled out a yellow pad of paper and scribbled "Road Map Human Body -- book that connects stuff together" and then fell back asleep.

After thousands of hours and more than 500,000 copies sold after that initial epiphany, the success of Trail Guide to the Body (and the other products my company Books of Discovery has published) has surprised no one more than me.

I'm still writing (while tending to goats and chickens) and enjoying the life I have with my wonderful wife, Lyn Gregory, and our daughter, Grace Amalia.

Reviews

[Sebastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this type of resource should always be accompanied with an anatomy book/class - even if not necessarily into massage, having more of an idea how to locate certain muscles on a person, rather than guesstimating from the anatomy drawings, is an asset for anyone working with people (nurses, trainers, coaches, etc.)

[elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my Level 2 (deep tissue) textbooks at PMTI while I was going to school (so I first started reading it in August 2012), and I've been reading it a ton for the past 9 mos or so (over 2 terms), to prep for my teaching assistant job. As I write this review, I'm studying the spine/thorax chapter to prep for teaching Head/Neck/Face/Spine in class next week (we have a week off right now). Every time I read a chapter I learn something new that I can turn around and teach to my students! Cool that the author is a Goodreads Author. :)

[Freya Magnusson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the required text for my massage training at McKinnon Body Therapy Institute in Oakland, CA where I took my clinical science courses.

[Velvetea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assigned reading for my year in medical massage school.
This came with a workbook as well, which I did mostly in my first semester. There are videos available where you can see the specific muscles being palpated.
Trail Guide is great for visual learners and was very helpful when it came to studying for and passing my MBLEx!

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A staple for massage school and understanding applied kinesiology.

[Jennifer Roldan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book! I refer to it constantly. Despite the fact that some of the illustrations aren't 100% accurate. The author used cadavers as his "models";which of course can have an impact on how muscle tissue would look (i.e. no circulation) I still find this book extremely useful! The book also comes with a DVD for a more hands on approach; also very useful.

[Jason]

4th Edition