Review of the book Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers. Anatomy upside down or body as a single system

Why trains and why anatomical? Thomas Myers in his book describes the force loads that are distributed throughout our body. You lean to the left, and your body compensates for the load, preventing you from falling. There are also moments when the body cannot keep up with the movement.

To maintain balance, the load is instantly distributed along the lines of force, and keeps us from falling. Conventionally, if you move the big toe of your right foot, your left shoulder muscles will engage to carry out this movement. The author of the book calls these connections anatomical trains, which allow you to finely organize the work of the body.
In my opinion, this book is intended primarily for people whose specialty is helping others. These are fitness trainers, rehabilitation therapists, chiropractors, osteopractitioners and osteopaths.

Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers is a comprehensive description of the musculoskeletal system.

It can be compared to how primary school teachers give children organized knowledge and explain how our world works through the sciences and humanities.
How does the musculoskeletal system work? How is it connected to bones? How is it connected to organs, ligaments, vessels, nerves?

By looking at a person, you can determine whether there is poor posture or other problems, but you cannot determine whether he has, for example, a spasm of the iliopsoas muscle. Unless you have a system that allows you to detect not only spasm, but also its relationship, say, with pain in the knee joint.

The book is beautifully illustrated, so the reader will be able to feel and experience these anatomical trains. The author examines the body as a whole, and tells where these anatomical trains begin, what they connect along the way, and where they end.

We are in the business of getting rid of symptoms, but Thomas Myers's approach turns everything upside down. Pain can manifest itself, for example, in the hand, but its cause can be in a completely different place – the thigh, where the muscles are in spasm.

Different leg lengths, shoulder asymmetry, stoop… The book answers questions about where the sources of problems are hidden. Where there is tension, clamps in terms of bones, muscles, ligaments.
I would like to note that the author studied not only the problems of patients, but also the pathologies of already deceased people. Everything described in the book is confirmed by research results.

You can do a simple experiment:

• Stand straight on both legs and try to touch the floor with your toes as far as possible;
• Take a silicone ball (with or without spikes) or a tennis ball, roll each foot for a couple of minutes (don’t touch the heel);
• Repeat the bend and see how much lower you can bend.

The posterior fascial line runs from the foot throughout the back of the body: along the legs, buttocks, lower back, back, neck, skull and ends at the attachment above the eyebrows.

We “rolled out” the feet and removed the blocks and tension there. The line has become softer and more elastic, so the range of movements in the bend has become greater.

This is how Thomas Myers' anatomical train concept works. It is not the back or lower back that prevents full tilt, but the whole problem of the entire system as a whole.

In the body, everything is connected to everything; there is not a single small muscle that simply works separately. Movement in one place causes a response throughout the body.

Who else might benefit from the book:

• Medical students. Classical anatomy is very complex, and Thomas Myers talks about the human body from the point of view of function in a concise and digestible form;
• People with a sedentary lifestyle – IT specialists, office workers. A book about movement. This is not only life, but also a medicine that helps you quickly find a way to solve health problems.

Finally, I’ll tell you a story.
A professional athlete was asked to repeat the movements of a three-year-old child. The athlete repeated the movements of a child and by the end of the day was exhausted, as if unloading freight cars. The baby continued to move and play.

Small children do not follow rules, they have no patterns; the entire system is involved in movement: muscles, fascia, bones, ligaments. And all this is in excellent condition. And the athlete’s body gets used to strictly defined actions. Any deviation causes stress on those parts that are not accustomed to them.

This story is about how you need to use movements comprehensively, analyze and listen to your body. Otherwise, all this leads to “sores” due to an inappropriate diet for movement: the same shoes, lack of barefoot walking, “patterns”. As a result, there is a clamp in one place, a stretch in another, and even the most harmonious system breaks down.

Thank you for reading to the end. I hope my review will help you choose this book to read next.