Hello Benjamin,

Same story here in the United States my friend. Social media and the interwebs have evolved into a breeding ground for bashing others and their techniques. While some of this conversation has been productive in clarifying the science/research, it is largely just people ego bashing each other. There is still a lot of grey area when it comes to these kind of interventions, but I certainly believe there is a time and place for soft tissue/mobility work. The research has consistently shown that soft tissue and mobility work does in fact improve ROM and helps modulate pain/symptoms. Several studies have also shown that soft tissue work combined with exercise was more effective than exercise alone as an intervention for rehab . In terms of performance, if using these techniques help you access better shapes and positions for your sport and/or movement practice then by all means I say keep using it! There should be no real risk of damaging or having long term negative effects on tissue health using these techniques and remember if it feels sketchy, it’s sketchy! We always advocate seeking out a medical pro if something feels sketchy and after taking a crack at it yourself you are not seeing any improvement. Hope that helps! Cheers from the US!

Mike
TRS Staff