Muscle strength is central to performance, rehabilitation, and long-term movement capacity. In sport and clinical practice, strength has traditionally been understood through a muscle–tendon model: muscles contract, force travels through tendons, and bones move. While this model remains useful, it is increasingly clear that it is incomplete. Fascial tissues, particularly the connective tissues surrounding and
Foam rolling is now common in sport, rehabilitation, and fitness settings. Many therapists, trainers, and sports professionals use it to improve flexibility, reduce pain, speed recovery, and prepare people for exercise. But an important question remains: do these beliefs match the evidence? A recent international survey study explored exactly that. The authors first reviewed the
Chronic pain is more than pain that simply lasts a long time. It is now recognized as a condition in its own right, often shaped by physical, emotional, and social factors. One of the most common forms seen in manual therapy is myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), where patients present with localized pain, tight bands in
Frozen shoulder is often treated as if it is only a stiff and painful shoulder joint. But the newer view is much broader. For therapists, the key message is that frozen shoulder is not just a local mechanical problem. It is a whole-person condition in which inflammation, fibrosis, pain processing, metabolism, sleep, stress, and psychological
Muscle strains remain one of the most stubborn problems in sport. They are common in recreational, trained, and elite athletes, and in many sports they are among the leading causes of missed training and competition. What makes them especially frustrating for clinicians is that, despite decades of prevention work, injury rates have not fallen as
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems affecting weightlifters. Studies report that between 54% and 85% of weightlifters experience low back pain within a year, making it a major challenge for both performance and long-term athletic health. During heavy lifting, the lumbar spine is exposed to enormous mechanical loads, often
Headaches are often thought of as problems of the brain or blood vessels. But some headaches actually begin elsewhere — particularly in the neck and surrounding muscles. One such condition is cervicogenic headache (CGH), a type of headache that originates from dysfunction in the cervical spine and nearby soft tissues. Recent research is shedding light
This large meta-analysis examined how much of the benefit from common physical therapy interventions for musculoskeletal pain (mobilization, manipulation, soft tissue techniques, taping, dry needling, exercise therapy) is due to the specific treatment effect versus nonspecific and contextual factors (often labeled placebo effects). Sixty-eight studies were included in the review (participants: n = 5238), and
Understanding how manual therapy works depends not only on research evidence but also on the beliefs of both therapists and patients. Two recent studies—one surveying German physical therapists and the other interviewing patients in the United States—offer an interesting contrast. Together, they highlight an important clinical reality: therapists and patients often think differently about what
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare is translating research into everyday clinical practice. We have growing evidence about how manual therapy works at a biological level, but it’s not always clear whether this science shapes what therapists believe—or how they explain treatment effects to patients. A recent national survey of 569 German physical therapists