Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists

Tom Myers in his two books presents an appealing if not compelling theory on fascial anatomy and its potential effects on movement and posture across broad planes. The theory itself is not new, with other Rolfers and osteopaths referring to the vast "network" of fascia throughout the body being the integrator of posture and movement. At least one other well known fascial bodywork author has equated the fascial network to a sort of sweater made of fascial yarn in which snags can form and propagate tension across long distances in the body.The book is wonderfully done, and the theory is well presented with ample and useful anatomical illustrations of each anatomy train. There is a lot to learn from here, and as always, Tom Myers' writing is thought provoking, intelligent and easy to read. This is not one of those books that tantalizes you with tidbits and then says "but to really learn it you need to take my classes." Myer's doesn't hold back in his books. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in anatomy from a movement or manual medicine perspective. That being said I do have some reservations about the Anatomy Trains concept and the phenomenon of whole scale acceptance that surrounds the theory. If you want a great book that explains the Anatomy Trains concept clearly and deeply enough to take to the clinic or massage table, then definitely buy this book. Read no further, it is worth it. IF, on the other hand, you are reading reviews wondering what the Anatomy Trains phenomenon is all about, then read on.What is troubling is not the theory presented in this book, but the almost ubiquitous acceptance in massage and chiropractic circles as proven fact. One repeatedly reads reviews calling this book "essential" and referring to other theories on fascia as "outdated" or "misguided." I believe this speaks to the elegant and intuitive nature of the Anatomy Trains concept and the way it is presented, rather than speaking to its veracity. In fact, the most basic elements that would make this a relevant clinical tool seem to be completely missing from the scientific literature.I say this not as a skeptic of manual medicine. I myself trained with Tom Myers 20 years ago, trained and practice as a practitioner of structural integration (Rolfing) and use manual medicine in my veterinary practice. I've had anatomy instructors in Rolfing training, in pre-medicine in college, and in both chiropractic and veterinary college, and I can say Tom Myers is as good as they come in making anatomy relevant to clinical treatment. I think he is a visionary in stepping back to look at functional anatomy from a whole body perspectiveWhile there has been a great deal of basic scientific work done on the microscopic structure and chemistry of fascia, the work has yet to be done to verify what Rolfers have always proposed: 1) that restriction in a small area of fascia can be propagated across long distances and across firm attachment points to cause global movement dysfunction and 2) that deep manual intervention is actually able to stretch or "free" fascial restrictions deep in the tissues. Over the years I have seen some prominent Rolfing authors back away from these theories after participating in actual anatomical dissections. I myself was taught that I could stretch the quadratus lumborum fascia with my elbow, yet even a cursory look in dissection at the depth and overlying muscle would lead one to doubt the possibility of achieving that outcome. I was also taught that I could "effect" the TFL and the very tough fibrous fascial attachments around the hip joint (think lateral line here) with manual intervention. Having actually held these tissues between my fingers, I have to doubt the possibility. In fact, given the strength and organization of those tissues and the forces they must withstand, any gross change in them whether manual or surgical would amount to tissue damage and joint capsule injury and would require substantial healing.While the Anatomy Trains concept is an excellent theory that, if true, would be a wonderful guide to strategy in manual therapies, there are other competing theories that make as much sense and may have a better scientific underpinning. One such theory is that deep fascial intervention, as a secondary byproduct, causes mast cell degranulation in superficial tissues and that the released histamine granules cause extravasation of intravascular fluid into the tissues which "hydrates" those tissues, bringing about better sliding between fascial planes. My Rolfing teachers often commented on this feeling of "tissue hydration" underneath their fingers as they worked. A German medical approach to fascial manipulation is based on this phenomenon. The redness you see on the skin after fascial treatment and acupuncture is partially due to this phenomenon of mast cell degranulation.Moshe Feldenkrais, one of Tom's teachers, repeatedly showed that supposed "physical restrictions" in the body were actually habitual parasitic muscle tensions that could be eliminated simply through a few minutes of low amplitude client-directed movements to bring awareness to those parasitic actions. Joanne Elphinston in her excellent text Stability, Sports and Performance Movement takes us critically through many of the stereotypical aberrant movement patterns we in the fascial world have always credited to fascial "restriction." She shows how these are often related to and corrected by addressing weakness in stabilization strength and stabilization strategies. She also shows how weakness in stabilization in one area of the body can demand compensatory and inefficient movement patterns elsewhere in the body. Like fascia, movement strategies are also global whole body phenomenon, and weakness in one area can result in visible movement compensation across joints distant from the weakness. Not only are these compensation strategies clearly visible, but being inefficient, often lead to pathology and injury, again distant from the underlying problem. Without fascial work these problems can be reversed through skill and strength acquisition.Lastly, where physical restriction and tension are actually palpable and measurable, current scientific research seems to implicate vascular, neural and local chemical mediators all playing an intertwined role in initiating, sustaining and propagating such restrictions. Fascial adhesion may be an end point, but to what extent and how far reaching from the initial insult its effects can travel are still unknown.The manual medicine and massage world has always struggled to get itself accepted in the mainstream world of medical treatment modalities. We have often stood by the roadside watching the parade of medicine and patted ourselves on the back for being visionaries and 20 years ahead of our time. We compliment ourselves for having already accepted what "they" have yet to discover. However this is no excuse for not recognizing the difference between fact and theory. This is why I see it so troubling that the Anatomy Trains concept has become so pervasively accepted as fact, yet the most basic premises, 1) that gross fascial strain can be transmitted physically across chains of firm anchor points and 2) that deep manual intervention can stretch or "release" fascia in vivo, remain completely unproven theories.I hope Tom Myers continues to use his unique gifts to develop this and other theories that really feed the imagination. However I wish that the massage therapy and chiropractic worlds would embrace critical thinking rather than merely embracing every new enticing theory as fact simply because it has a certain intuitive appeal. Our clients invest a great deal in time, effort, hope and money when they come to us. We owe it to them to separate fact from theory, and to not sell them the latter as the former. As it is, the Anatomy Trains concept is an exciting theory, but it is as yet only a theory, not an essential revolutionary truth in manual medicine, as many claim.

The previous edition was a better book. This one has cuts to squeeze in more text and relies on you looking at the good illustrations at their website instead of in the book. Buy the previous edition if what you want is a book.

Don't buy the Kindle version !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The pictures you get are too small. Other kindle books allow you to zoom in or open the bigger picture. NOT for this book. I need to use a magnifier to read the photos and the quality after that was horrible. Get yourself the old version if you want to get the full pictures and photos in 1 book. This new version provides links to the website to see the photos. After using the Kindle version for 3 days, I just hate it! I don't think the producer (Amazon?) of this book truly care about the knowledge. They just want to protect the imagines from EVERY one, including payers.The concept of the author is excellent and wonderful. I learn from it and applied the knowledge into my practice.Kindle is getting worse and dying. This might be my last Kindle E-book.

I’ve heard about this book from several physical therapists and my chiropractor for about the last teen years. The info I’ve gotten from them about it has been incredibly useful. I’ve just begun to read it only at the preface, letters of acknowledgements and first few pages of intro. The book has already been incredibly helpful in helping me put things into better context. I’m hypermobile and have more damaged joints than undamaged joints. The concepts in this book are helping me understand how one problem area connects to/effects the whole of my body. Myers explaining what he calls “felt sense” or Kinesthetic Quotient, puts into words what I’ve been trying to explain to others and myself for along time. I’m a patient not a professional, but have had to do a lot of research because of my health. So far I’ve been able to follow and understand the information because of the way Myers writes. I am looking up things to get a better understanding of certain terminology, etc., but I can tell this will be an extremely helpful tool as I work on improving my health.Top left corner/spine of book banged up/bent a little bit. I’m really going to be using this book a lot, taking notes in it and the like, so it will end up looking very used anyway. Not worth the effort for me to exchange it. If it was a book that I’d be putting on the shelf mostly, I would be annoyed the corner was bent.

It is an interesting read, but self created. The meridian lines that Myers mentions are entirely derived by him and not part of a larger medical community. I was hoping to get information that would honor the traditions of Chinese Medicine and this was not quite the case. I took an online class that recommended this book in conjunction with the course material. The online class was a really good exposure to understanding human musculature. However, Myers has quite the ego and likes to bash many medical terms, claiming that they are not appropriately descriptive and make up his own. He is kind of quirky in that way. He means well, but he is a little out there.

The big takeaway is that for bodywork to be effective, you have to understand the model of agonist/antagonist. Our bodies are always striving to be in balance, and when they aren't they just don't feel good. Bodywork and massage utilizing the tensegrity model addresses more than just symptoms. It addresses the postural roots of pain and discomfort.PROS: If you have a passion for understanding how the human body is set up (actually any mammalian body will be similar), this book is a must-have. The beautiful illustrations, along with the strong foundation is gives you in understanding facial mapping is one of the best I've come across.CONS: This isn't a how-to book, but a why-to book. It explains the history, science, and rationalization, but to find the techniques, you'll have to look elsewhere.

I've just returned this book to Amazon. I will agree that this looks like a nicely presented and very readable book; however there are very many more references to the all too absent DVD in the book than there are to the multi media website. To get the best out of this book you would definitely need to have the supporting DVD which you can now purchase for the astounding price of £182.70 (on Amazon). I agree with a previous review, that this is blatant greed, especially when the 2nd edition came with the DVD. Good book or not I'm not prepared to support this type of merchandising!

Not that great a book, as difficult to read and just appears way to long. Fundamentally I think it could be shortened to 1/5th of its length. Haven't read as a result (tried to). These trains are simply what the Chinese Acupuncturists call the sinew channels and you can explain these in a paragraph or two with probably a chapter to go into much more depth (even than this entire book). As a result whilst credit due to Thomas Myers for rediscovering the wheel, this book now feels unnecessary and lacks the charm that would make you want to read it anyway.

This is....for me this is dense BUT looking at the movement of the body in different types of movement, how it can change and how repetitious movement can shape the body - a must read for any serious athlete, trainer, yoga teacher, movement teacher. Such a useful reference.

Amazing book however received with a slight tear at the top corner of the book. Not the worst case and not going to cry over it. All in all, a great book. Read twice or more to really make the most of it. Very very intricate detail!

Really good