ANATOMY ANATOMY TRAINS - EARLY DISSECTIVE EVIDENCE By Tom Myers, soft tissue practitioner

Figure 1: Superficial Back Line Here we see the fascial ‘grain on the back side of the body - from the toes to the brow ridge in one continual band of fascia. You can see the plantar fascia at the bottom, and how it is utterly continuous with the fas- cial covering traversing around the heel to the Achilles tendon. You can see how the lower ten- dons of the hamstring intertwine fascially with the upper tendons of the gastrocnemii, forming a ‘square knot’.

Occipital ridge

Brow ridge

Epicranial fascia

Splenios capitis

Erector spinae Semispinalis

Thoracolumbar fascia

Sacral fascia Sciatic nerve

Sacrotuberous ligament

Hamstrings

Fascia over ischial tuberosity

The short head of the biceps and sciatic nerve were folded out to be easily identified, and you can see how the ham- strings lead seamlessly into the sacrotuberous ligament (the superficial part at least).

Achilles tendon

Fascial interface between hamstring tendons and gastrocnemius heads

Fascia over heel

Plantar fascia

The sacral fascia and erector spinae had to be cut away from the under- lying bones, but there was no difficulty in dissecting out the con- nection between these muscles and the epicra- nial fascia to the brow ridge above the eye. This long fascial piece may have individual muscles within it, but it also acts as a single unit, convey- ing the tension or strain in one part down or up to another, contributing to an overall feel, shape, and pattern to this Superficial Back Line.

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Some readers may be familiar with the Anatomy Trains Myofascial Meridians idea. Briefly, all our muscles have been analysed as if they were separate units within the body. This idea - that there is a separate unit like the biceps, the psoas, the latissimus - is so pervasive, that it is hard to think in any other way. But in fact all the muscle tissue is embedded within the single, ubiquitous fas- cial webbing of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The fibres of the ECM, especially within the myofascia where tensile pulls are regu- lar and strong, are arranged along the same ‘grain’ as the muscle fibres. The muscle may end at the attachment point, but the fas- cia continues along its way through the ECM, linking up to other muscles in chains - a bit like a set of sausage links.

The Anatomy Trains concept maps out these sets of sausage links within the body - following the grain of muscle and fascia to see what links with what. The idea is that, especially in postural habi- tus and long-term sequelae from injury, strain communicates along these longitudinal lines from one muscle to another. This view leads to new strategies for resolving long-term problems by working on the strain pattern at some distance from the site of injury or pain.

Since the Anatomy Trains book was published, some people have asked whether the body really demonstrates the fascial connection theorised in the book. I am therefore excited to present for the first time, a few of the photos from a recent dissection in which we attempted to dissect portions of myofascial continuity from three preserved cadavers. The results were startling in their novelty and reassuring in how they confirmed most of what the book presents.

In February 2006, we went to the Laboratories for Anatomical Enlightenment, under the direction of Todd Garcia, along with sev- eral of his assistants and about a dozen bodywork practitioners. Over five days of feverish activity and cooperative work, we trans- formed the gift of the three bodies - we thank the donors so very much - into a set of anatomical images not seen in 500 years of Western anatomical study. These images and more will be appearing in the second edition of the Anatomy Trains book, due out in 2008.

So, welcome to the first documentary evidence of the ‘anatomy of connection’. These are just a few of the many striking figures we took of the Anatomy Trains lines; many more will appear in the future editions of the book, and some more are available on our website (see end of article).

The question of whether these myofascial continuities in the body really exist can now be answered firmly in the affirmative. They are real, and palpable and dissectable. It would appear that the reality of the Anatomy Trains is now proven conclusively. However there is a second question that cannot be answered in an embalmed cadaver - this is outlined on page 18.

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