Now, any movement is better than none, but there are a lot of cultural assumptions about stretching that we (exercisers, yoga adepts, bodyworkers, rehab specialists) have embraced without much of a foundation. The presumptions persist even as the research tells a different story. Everybody stretches, all the time. Sit down, and you are stretching the… Read more
To roll or not to roll? That is the question. What is happening inside when you do foam rolling or use any types of balls or tools for self-myofascial release (SMR)? For starters, you cannot foam roll fascia exclusively; all the other cells – nerve, muscle, and epithelia – are getting ‘rolled’ too. In epithelial… Read more
One of our followers on Facebook recently posed this question to Tom: What are the current thoughts about the fuzz speech? There seems to be a lot out there about it moving often and all the time which makes perfect sense, but it is also using information on a cadaver versus a living body. I seem to… Read more
[Editor’s Note: Tom is responding to this article, written by Nick Ng: http://tellusnewsdigest.com/health/2014/11/anatomy-trains-stirs-painful-controversy/3323/] Dear Nick Ng, You flatter the excerpt from my recent interview by raising it to the level of neurological treatise, thank you. Less convincing is the use of unnecessary words like ‘sect of followers’ (lol) and ‘maverick’ – are such editorial comments really… Read more
A reader asks: Do you or your team have any experience with linea alba / deep abdominal fascia separation? Can it heal? Can separations be strengthened? Tom replies: A bit hard to answer generalities – depends on how large and open the diastasis (abdominal hernia of the linea alba) is. Also different responses happen to… Read more
Q: The question that the student has is: “If the fascia is more ‘stretchable in a horizontal means, why are we working with the grain (AT – up the SFL)? A: Let’s first distinguish between connective tissue structure and myofascia. Even though this image is brownish in Eric’s microscope, it is pure tendon – the… Read more
