Key Point

• By analyzing movement, you can determine where to focus your myofascial release on the held or fascially adhered areas or your proprioceptive awareness/training work on the weak or “forgotten” areas. 

I became the “cartographer” of the Anatomy Trains myofascial meridian map way back in the 1980s. I published a book on these linkages in 2000, and since then, many good folks have challenged me six ways from Sunday to prove this revision of musculoskeletal function.

Building these myofascial meridians is not so difficult: String the muscles together into functional complexes that run in more-or-less straight lines at the same myofascial layer. The fascial net we have been hearing a lot about connects the “tracks” from muscle to muscle across the joints. Of course, these Anatomy Trains are not the only fascial connections in the body by any means, but understanding them is totally relevant to how humans stand and move so precariously (Image 1).

We identified 12 of these more-or-less vertical myofascial meridians (Image 2). We have been in the dissection lab many times the past two decades demonstrating these connections. We have done pretty well—I stand by the set of 12—but, in some cases, I have had to modify my beautiful theory to fit the troublesome facts that were staring me in the face.  

Ah, well, as my teacher Ida Rolf said, “The body is the authority.” Not the anatomy books. Not even mine. From the first edition to the current one, we have implemented many corrections and added clinical strategies to the Anatomy Trains book and video library based on the new findings.

By now, I figured I had pretty well plumbed this system for its Easter eggs, but the idea outlined in this article just came to me this year, with a Homer Simpson forehead slap—how had I not seen this before? 

The stimulus to the idea was a collaboration on the golf swing with professional instructor Michael Jacobs, who became one of the top 10 coaches by getting really nerdy about the mechanics of the swing, which you can see at jacobs3d.com.  

A golf swing happens so fast, it is hard to see all the parts in relation. Video can slow it down for us, but that’s still not enough. First, Jacobs got an engineer into his inquiry, which yielded some surprising results about body use in golf. Then, he got me into it—I otherwise find golf a frustrating experience—and here are the results of our thinking, which we hope is useful, whether golfers number among your clients or not.

Here is why: The golf swing is one big rotational movement, with a lot of small rotations within it (Image 3). At the middle of the swing, when the clubhead connects with the ball, a No. 1 driver “weighs” about 100 pounds (50 kilograms—due to angular acceleration). Limitations in any of the small rotations will affect the whole swing and, of course, the trajectory of the ball. Jacobs uses these three rotational systems to identify limitations in his top-flight professional students. Massage therapists and bodyworkers can also use this concept, so here we go. 

Rotation Is a Human Thing

The golf swing is a larger-than-life example of what humans do commonly—rotate. We rotate in many sports and forms of movement, such as throwing footballs, playing tennis, practicing yoga, running, and walking. Quadrupeds like a horse or dog or cheetah use very little rotation when they run, but humans count on it. We do not lope or canter with just flexion/extension, nor do we swim like a fish with lateral flexion—we twist our spine right and left to get through the world. Sure, we use a little sagittal “dolphin” or coronal “fish” movement in our spine in gait, but mostly we rotate around the vertical axis, with the shoulders twisting one way while the pelvis twists the other.   

So even though this insight came from golf, apply it to all your athletes and weekend warriors—right down to anyone who walks.

Now, for any muscle to exert a rotation into our body, the angle of the muscle must be horizontal or at least diagonal. A vertical muscle can pull us into flexion, extension, or side-bending, but not into rotation. So, if we are looking into the rotational systems, we are going to look into those muscles that are angled into the skeleton like a branch, either upward from the center like an oak tree branch or angled down and out like pine tree branches. Either angle works, but only angled or horizontal muscles can produce rotation.

If we go through the Anatomy Trains lines thinking in this way, we can see what we call the “cardinal” lines—north, south, east, and west of our central spine—or Superficial Front and Back Line and the Lateral Lines in Anatomy Trains jargon. These lines lie so close to the vertical axis they can’t exert a rotational moment on our body (Image 2). Therefore, these lines are primarily stabilizing during the golf swing, and they will not enter this discussion.  

Likewise, the Arm Lines—four stripes of myofascia going from chest to hands (Image 2)—will be presumed to be a rigid triangle with both hands grasping the shaft of the club. This is an oversimplification—the golfer needs to be aware of many tiny adjustments in the arm—but will serve our limited purpose here.

That leaves essentially four lines: the Front and Back Functional Lines, the Spiral Line, and the Deep Front Line. These lines delineate these three rotational systems, so let us do that from outside to inside (Images 4–7).

The Three Concentric Spirals

If we take a slice through the waist, we can see these three concentric rotational systems represented in the three circles (Image 5). The outermost system runs from limb to contralateral limb across the front and back of the body (Images 4A and 4B). The middle system not only rotates the trunk, principally the ribs on the pelvis, but also reaches up into the neck and adjusts down into the legs (Image 7). The innermost system surrounds the spine closely to keep the lumbar spine stable as it eases through the innermost rotation (Image 4C).

All three of these systems have to work together for a successful swing—or, for that matter, successful standing, walking, and running. Obviously, the outer system, farthest from the fulcrum, will move the most, and thus mobility and power attend this outer system—the Functional Lines. The intermediate system—Spiral Lines—moves less and stabilizes more, all the way from the head through the trunk and into the legs.  

The core system—Deep Front Line—moves the least and offers the most segmental stability. Yet, any deviation in this core system definitely has a restrictive effect on the efficiency of the other two. In other words, restriction in the outer two systems may or may not reach down to disturb the Deep Front Line core, but core difficulties will always exert their effect throughout all three.

By analyzing movement, be it gait or a golf swing or any other rotation, you can determine where to focus your myofascial release (on the held or facially adhered areas) or your proprioceptive awareness/training work (on the weak or “forgotten” areas).

Let’s outline the three levels of rotation, and then offer some treatment tips.

The Limb Rotational System

Joining each limb to its contralateral opposite—right hip to left shoulder and vice versa—allows a human to extend the speed and the power of a throw or punch or reach by using the trunk as an additional lever rotating around the opposite hip. Usually, it is the more mobile shoulder moving on the more stable hip with humans, but in either type of football, for example, the hip power in a punt or goal shot is augmented by countermovement in the opposite shoulder and arm. For the remainder of this article, however, we focus on shoulder movement off more stable hips as in any kind of throwing, or the golf swing that got this started.

The Front and Back Functional Lines start in about the same place (Image 6B). Track the latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major tendons in from the front and back of your armpit to arrive on the medial shaft of the humerus around the biceps tendon, and—ouch!—the brachial plexus. These two tendons—pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi—are thick, tough bands in your armpits, but then spread out as triangular muscles that reach all around the torso with multiple functions.

In the front, the lower slips of the pectoralis major are fascially joined to the upper end of the rectus abdominis, which runs in its fascial sheath down to the pubic bone. Here fibers demonstrably cross the pubic symphysis with the pyramidalis muscle to the adductor longus on the other side. Thus, in three “myofascial units,” we have joined the humerus on one side to the femur on the other. Contraction along this line adds flexion and rotation to the trunk and thus to the opposite shoulder—as in an overhead tennis smash.

Of course, as you can see in Image 6A, there is an equal and opposite anatomy on the other side. Because we humans almost universally have a dominant hand, however, one of these lines is generally more “equal” than the other. Try throwing a ball at a target with each of your hands to assess this difference.

Across our back side, we go out of the back of the armpit with the middle of the latissimus into the superficial lamina of the thoracolumbar fascia, which has been shown to communicate across to the fascia of the gluteus on the other side. The force continues around the thigh under the iliotibial band in the form of the vastus lateralis muscle, attaching to the tibial tuberosity at the knee.  

Again, with just a few structures, we have joined the contralateral limbs. And again, the anatomy is the same on both sides, but the configuration often shows signs of our handedness. This line would be used to retract an object for throwing or directly in any backhand shot. The nondominant side counterbalances.

This outer rotational system, just beneath the skin, imparts significantly more momentum to whatever is being thrown. This massive X pattern across the front and back of the body has been recognized before. For our purposes, the whole set comprises the outer rotational system.

The Trunk Rotational System

Tucked within this Functional Line system is a second system of oblique muscles that wind around the trunk, working together to stabilize and rotate the trunk while the limbs are being managed by the outer system. This system is called the Spiral Line in Anatomy Trains mapping, and it forms a double lattice from the head around the neck and trunk to the pelvis. This myofascial line continues down the leg, around the arch, and back up to the sacrum (Image 7).

Follow this line behind the head and neck with the splenii muscles, the rhomboid muscles, and the serratus anterior. The two lines together form an X from the mastoid process (ear) to the sixth rib on the opposite side (similar to where bra straps commonly go), crossing at the base of the neck (Image 8). You can assess the balance in this line by mentally drawing these lines in back to see if they are about equal.

From the ribs, this line crosses the midline again at the navel, using portions of the external and internal oblique muscles to the opposite hip at the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). This X, like the one in back, can be easily measured by drawing an X across the belly to see if the two measure the same.  

This Spiral Line integrates the rotations in the legs and feet as well, accommodating the pronation/supination cycle in the foot, medial and lateral rotation in the knee, and even the twist in the hips. The stabilizing/modulating function of the lower Spiral Line is fascinating in gait, in free movements like the golf swing, or in loaded movements like kettle bell snatches.

The upper Spiral Line keeps the head, ribs, and pelvis aligned while our long and slender body rotates through its range on just as long, stilt-like legs. It stabilizes the root of the shoulder while allowing the scapula to move on the ribs. It keeps the ribs over the pelvis, turning the whole organ system around its axis and keeping it safe.

We often separate muscles into stabilizing muscles versus movement muscles, but the golf swing shows us clearly that every muscle complex we are discussing here is involved in both movement and stability. We do not need rigidity in some places and unfettered mobility in others; we need the ability to maintain relationships (dynamic stability) while moving through the range of movement required by the task.

And that movement, if it involves rotation, needs to be coordinated among these three complexes. It is amazing that it works at all, and totally unamazing that a golf swing—seemingly so simple—can call so many folks for a lifetime of refinement.

The Spine Rotational System 

While these two outer lines that run rotation for the limbs and the trunk are the “obvious” sources for the power of rotational movement, there is a third rotation system within these two. The rotational system closest to the spine moves the least but is the most important in lumbar stability—and, thus, your longevity in the game.  

If this system is out of kilter, it will not only affect the other two in terms of power and accuracy, but also a deep imbalance can set the low back up for a long-term injury. Such injuries are often “the last straw” type of injuries, where a small aberration builds up over months or years, finally making itself known as a disc problem or joint cyst. These injuries often show up without a “precipitating event”—a specific fall or twist—and can be difficult genies to put back in the bottle.

This inner system surrounds and protects the spine. The lumbar spine does not rotate much in itself. More rotation takes place at the bottom of the lumbar spine—the lumbosacral junction between L5 and S1—or up at the thoracolumbar junction around T12. While these motions have to take place for successful rotation (a rigid lumbar spine would not serve a golfer, baseball batter or pitcher, or you), too much motion in one area can set the athlete up for disc degeneration or other inflammatory reactions.

Two sets of muscles are given the job of modulating the lumbar’s stability/mobility equation: the psoas major on the front of the spine and the multifidi muscles on its back side (Image 9). Each vertebra is somewhat like a cross, or more like the Egyptian ankh, creating two “gullies”—one in back between the spinous and transverse processes, and one in front between the transverse processes and the bodies and discs of the vertebral column.

The multifidi muscles are all angled up and in, from transverse processes toward the spinous processes above. The multifidus and smaller rotatores, crossing over between 1 and 4 segments, all slanting in this “pine tree” branch fashion. In this way, they can be very refined in monitoring and modulating the lumbar stability in rotation. Originating on the sacrum and sacral fascia, they reach into the vertebral lamina and function to both allow and limit the motion of the lumbars on each other. These muscles are well-supplied with muscle spindles that inform the brain and the rest of the body how the rotation is going near the spine.

On the other side of the spine is the psoas major, filling in the gully on either side of the bodies and discs. While the multifidi in back originate on the sacrum, the psoas reaches up from the leg to grasp the lumbar spine and provide the inner rotation that supports the other two rotational systems (Image 9).

We usually think of the psoas as going from the spine to the leg, and therefore a strong hip flexor, a muscle we check via the Thomas Test. (Check out the test at physio-pedia.com/Thomas_Test.) But consider the action of the psoas in the other direction. If we think of it as originating from the lesser trochanter in the inside corner of the 7-shape of the femur, then we can see each psoas as a 5-fingered “hand,” reaching up from the leg to put a finger on each other lumbar vertebrae.  

In a golf swing, for instance, the legs are the more stable limb, and therefore the spine rotates on the hips. (It is not quite that simple, but serves our purposes here.) The psoas major modulates and fine-tunes that rotation, maintaining, with its friends the multifidus on the other side, the precise relations required for a stable lumbar, while simultaneously allowing the 5 or so degrees of rotation to proceed smoothly.

The psoas (a “deep front” muscle) helps create coordinated, sustainable lumbar movement in all three planes—lateral flexion and flexion/extension, as well as the rotational component we emphasize here. The multifidi (the deepest of back muscles) are doing the same posteriorly. The role of the psoas in supporting the spine in athletic movement is under-studied. Athletes with incipient low-back complaints should draw your attention to the psoas—are the two balanced? Are they sufficiently strong? With some practice, you can distinguish and treat each of the “fingers” of the psoas separately to free and stabilize each of the lumbar vertebrae.

Applying the Concept to Gait

Watch your client walk, outside if possible, where they can get up the speed necessary to get to their brisk walk, rather than the amble you often get in the treatment room or in a museum. As you watch, what gets included in their movement? Watching what body part seems to move “too much” can often lead you to what is held, more still, or less aware.

First, look at the movement of the shoulders relative to the hips—does one move farther forward or does the other require more arm movement? Try evening out the superficial layers of pectoralis and the abdominals in front and the latissimus and low-back fascia in the back.

Second, look at the trunk alignment in gait when they walk straight toward you. To which side, onto which leg, do the ribs/head/eyes move? This will tell you which Spiral Line is more fixed and stable, as opposed to adaptable.

Third, look at the lumbar spine movement specifically. Walk closely behind your client as they walk, looking down their spine. Are they twisting at the waist or rigid? Does the spine display a tendency to twist or lean more to the right or left? In that case, the psoas and deep muscles of the back are likely involved.

Applying the Concept for Athletes

For athletes who throw, or for those with injured shoulders, watch them throw with both their dominant and their nondominant hands. Even if the injury is on the dominant side, the movement on the nondominant side is often instructive. Often these injuries come from centering the motion in the shoulder or elbow rather than in the spine. Teach your clients to move with all three systems, centering their movement in the spinal core, the Deep Front Line, rather than more peripherally in the limbs.

The middle system is the most complex to treat because, in any complex sports movement, the Spiral Line crosses so many joints. Do your client’s three major weights—head, chest, and pelvis—stay in line through the movement or twist in sequence when rotated? This extends to hip-knee-ankle connection as well. Visible differences in scapular position on the ribs can reside at this Spiral Line level. Again, watching the movement from both sides—dominant and reverse—will reveal the “still” places the fastest.

While the core movement is the hardest to see directly, it can be inferred by tuning into the sacrum/lumbar spinous processes/lower ribs waist area—again looking down from behind is the best position to see preferences and reluctances from side to side—and treat accordingly.

In a process familiar to golfers, getting these three rotational systems to work together requires a lot of “tinkering.”  Work in one of these layers will reveal the restrictions at another layer—feel free to work back and forth among the systems, with smooth and even movement as the goal. If you can see into and work among these three rotational systems, you will be ahead of the curve in solving not only your golfers’ swings, but all your clients’ rotational issues—and all of us humans depend on rotation. 

For treatment options based on these principles, check out our ‘Deeper Ground’ course online and look for our new app coming soon. For all the information on upcoming trainings, visit anatomytrains.com.