Today's busy world provides too much stress and not enough time for exercise. Instead of walking, running, and doing physical chores, we sit for hours at a desk, use machines to do work for us, and drive a car for even the shortest trips. As a result, more than sixty-five million Americans experience back pain, neck stiffness, and tension headaches. Dr. Kraus explains the causes of back pain and tells you what you can do to prevent and alleviate it. He presents six simple tests to determine whether you have the strength to carry your own body weight and the flexibility to match your height. According to Dr. Kraus, if you fail any one of these tests, you are underexercised or overtensed, and the odds are high that if you don't already suffer from back pain, you will in the future. Dr. Kraus provides various approaches to back and tension problems, the primary focus being a series of carefully planned exercises to strengthen the whole body and to correct specific physical deficiencies. Featuring a foreword by Robert H. Boyle, Backache, Stress, and Tension is an essential handbook for everyone in today's overworked, overstressed world.