https://www.coshtherapyrooms.com/

AC Sports Therapy and Massage, 13 Canonbury Street, Berkeley (2026)

05/05/2026

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle sitting just beneath your lungs. Every time you inhale, it contracts and flattens, creating space for your lungs to expand. When you exhale, it relaxes and returns to its dome shape, helping push air back out. Simple—but incredibly powerful.

But the diaphragm doesn’t just help you breathe. It plays a key role in:
🟣Core stability
🟣Posture
🟣Circulation and lymphatic flow
🟣Nervous system regulation (especially calming responses)

When the diaphragm becomes tight or restricted—often due to stress, shallow breathing, prolonged sitting, or pain—it can change how your whole body moves and feels.

What a “tight” diaphragm can feel like:
🟣Shallow or upper-chest breathing
🟣Rib stiffness or discomfort
🟣A feeling of not getting a full breath
🟣Neck and shoulder tension
🟣Increased fatigue or anxiety

Here’s where it gets interesting…

if the diaphragm isn’t doing its job well, other muscles jump in to compensate.

Accessory breathing muscles like the scalenes (neck), sternocleidomastoid, upper traps, and even lower back muscles start working overtime. This can lead to:
🟣Neck and shoulder pain
🟣Headaches
🟣Poor posture
🟣Reduced breathing efficiency

Over time, this pattern reinforces itself—less diaphragm use → more compensation → more tension.

Restoring proper diaphragm function isn’t just about breathing better, it’s about helping your entire system work more efficiently.

Slow, controlled breathing, rib mobility, and posture awareness can all help bring the diaphragm back online.

03/05/2026

We DON’T treat both sides of your back at the same time in a sports massage or deep tissue treatment.

It might look efficient and feel good… but clinically, it’s a red flag.

Your body isn’t symmetrical in tension, movement, or dysfunction.

Each side of your back has different muscle tone, trigger points, and neurological input. Treating both sides simultaneously means you’re likely applying a generalised approach rather than a targeted one.

Neuromuscular focus matters…

Effective sports massage relies on assessing and responding to tissue feedback. When we work one side at a time, we are looking to:

🟣Identify asymmetries
🟣Adjust pressure and technique in real time
🟣Track how tissues respond (tone, resistance, referral patterns)

Working both sides at once removes that precision.

If your treatment always mirrors both sides at the same time, it’s likely that you are getting a set routine rather than individual assessment with limited clinical reasoning and less focus on your specific problem or dysfunction

Your body isn’t a template — your treatment shouldn’t be either.

02/05/2026

The plantar fascia is a thick, fibrous band of connective tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot. It stretches from your heel bone to the base of your toes, forming a key part of your foot’s support system- think of it as a tension cable in your foot to:
🟣Support the arch of your foot
🟣Absorb shock when you walk, run, or jump
🟣Store and release energy to make movement more efficient

Your foot isn’t just bones—it’s a coordinated system of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The plantar fascia is central to this system:

🟣When your toes bend upward (like when you push off while walking or running), the plantar fascia tightens.
🟣This tightening pulls the heel and toes closer together.
🟣As a result, your arch lifts and becomes more rigid.
🟣This creates a stable lever so you can push off the ground efficiently.

So, it’s constantly switching between:

🟣Flexible (to absorb impact when your foot lands)
🟣Rigid (to help you push off and move forward)

Pain in the plantar fascia is commonly called Plantar fasciitis, and it usually happens when the tissue is overloaded or irritated:

🟣Repetitive strain (running or training)

* Activities like running put repeated stress on the fascia.
* If the load exceeds what it can handle (too much mileage, poor footwear, tight calves), tiny micro-tears can develop.
* This leads to inflammation or degeneration, causing pain—often near the heel.

🟣First steps in the morning

* Overnight, your foot is relaxed and often slightly pointed downward.
* This allows the plantar fascia to shorten slightly.
* When you take your first steps, the fascia is suddenly stretched again.
* That quick stretch on a sensitive, irritated tissue causes sharp pain.

🟣Stiff surrounding tissues

* Tight calf muscles or limited ankle movement increase tension through the plantar fascia.
* That extra pull makes it work harder than it should.

🟣Poor load distribution

* Flat feet, high arches, or weak foot muscles can shift more stress onto the fascia instead of sharing it across the whole foot system.

If that “string” is overused or irritated, every step—especially the first ones of the day—can feel sharp or sore.

30/04/2026

Pain isn’t just structural—it’s neurological. Cupping provides novel sensory input that can “turn down” pain signals (think gate control theory), while improving tissue oxygenation.

When tissues are better hydrated, less congested, and able to slide more freely, range of motion improves. That’s why people often feel “looser” immediately after.

The marks are not permanent or painful. They fade away daily.

29/04/2026

Fascial scraping isn’t just for muscles—it can be applied to the scalp to influence the underlying connective tissue.

We use it to…

🟣Improves microcirculation
Mechanical stimulation may increase local blood flow, supporting oxygen and nutrient delivery to hair follicles.

🟣Affects fascia + tissue mobility
The scalp contains a dense fascial layer (the galea aponeurotica). Scraping helps reduce adhesions and improve tissue glide.

🟣Neurological input
Stimulation of cutaneous mechanoreceptors can alter sensory signaling, reducing tension and promoting relaxation.

🟣Inflammatory response (controlled)
Mild, transient inflammation may trigger a healing response and tissue remodeling.

The scalp isn’t isolated—it’s part of a continuous fascial network that links the head to the rest of the body.

The scalp fascia (via the connects into the posterior chain:

neck → upper back → spine → hamstrings → calves.

Changes in scalp tension can subtly affect how force and tension travel down this line.

27/04/2026

Addressing a really common theme in clinic at the moment…

Pain during training is often interpreted as damage—but in most cases, especially with non-traumatic injuries, it’s actually a sign of load intolerance, not structural failure.

The body adapts to stress. When that stress is removed completely, the system doesn’t “heal stronger” it deconditions.

What happens if you just stop?

🟣Rapid loss of strength and tissue capacity
When training stops muscle strength, power, and mass begin to decline, sometimes within weeks.

Even bone density and tendon quality can reduce over time without loading.

🟣Reduced load tolerance ➡️ higher re-injury risk
Your body becomes less prepared to handle the same loads you were previously doing.

So when people rest completely, then return to normal training, they often create a spike in load on a deconditioned system—a perfect setup for recurring pain.

🟣Loss of positive adaptations across systems
Detraining doesn’t just affect muscles:

↓ cardiovascular fitness
↓ tendon stiffness and resilience
↓ neuromuscular efficiency
↓ endurance and work capacity

….the whole system becomes less robust.

The solution isn’t rest alone.

It’s better load management + progressive adaptation.

27/04/2026

Our focus is simple: helping you move better and with less pain.

That doesn’t always mean your issue started with an injury. Often, it’s dysfunction — small imbalances or habits that build up over time without you even noticing.

Sometimes the cause is something simple, subtle, and completely fixable once it’s understood.

Our treatment room is a safe space. A place to talk, to vent, and to discover your body in a different way.

Because better movement starts with better awareness. It’s why we ask pointed questions and challenge what you think is normal!

22/04/2026

Why Regular Tissue Maintenance Matters 👇🏼

Your muscles, tendons, and fascia are living tissues—they constantly adapt to how you move, load, and recover.

🟣Without regular maintenance:
• Micro-damage accumulates
• Tissue hydration decreases
• Collagen fibers become disorganized
• Load tolerance drops

Over time, this increases stiffness, pain, and injury risk.

🟣With regular tissue maintenance:
✔ Improves blood flow & nutrient delivery
✔ Supports collagen remodeling
✔ Maintains tissue elasticity & glide
✔ Enhances movement efficiency

🟣Research shows that consistent mechanical loading (mobility work, strength training, manual therapy, recovery strategies) helps tissues adapt, repair, and stay resilient.

Bottom line:
You don’t “maintain tissue” only when you’re in pain—you do it to stay pain-free.

19/04/2026

When was the last time you properly checked in with your body?

A “Body MOT” is a full assessment of how you move and function — not just when something hurts, but to catch issues early.

Why book one?

Your body adapts to daily stress, posture, and movement habits. Over time, this can lead to small imbalances in muscles and joints that often go unnoticed — until they start causing problems.

What’s being assessed?

A thorough check looks at your biomechanics (how you move), neuromuscular control (how your brain and muscles work together), and how well your body handles load. Subtle restrictions or compensations can build up long before pain appears.

You might benefit if you have:
• Ongoing stiffness or minor aches
• Reduced mobility
• Hit a plateau in training
• A desk-based routine or repetitive job
• Previous injuries (even if they feel fine now)

The benefits:
• Early identification of issues
• Improved movement efficiency
• Reduced injury risk
• Better performance in sport and daily life
• A clear, personalised plan- to suit what you need, and that doesn’t need to be training or performance related.

Looking after your body shouldn’t be reactive — stay ahead of it.

Book your Body MOT ❤️

14/04/2026

Flat feet also known as fallen arches aren’t just about how your feet look—they can affect your entire body.

What does “flat foot” mean?

🟣A flat foot occurs when the arch of the foot collapses, causing the sole to make full (or near full) contact with the ground. This changes how forces are distributed when you stand, walk, or run.

Why does it matter?

🟣Your feet are your foundation. When that foundation is unstable, it can lead to a chain reaction up the body:
• Overpronation (excess inward rolling of the foot)
• Increased stress on ankles, knees, and hips
• Altered functional structure, therefore potential knee pain, hip discomfort, and lower back strain
• Reduced shock absorption leading to higher injury risk during activity.

The arch acts like a spring. When it flattens, muscles and ligaments must work harder to stabilize the foot, often leading to fatigue and overuse.

That’s where we come in…

• Strengthen intrinsic foot muscles (e.g., short foot exercises, toe control)
• Improve ankle and calf mobility
• Use supportive footwear when needed
• Consider orthotics (short-term support, not a permanent fix)
• Address movement patterns—how you walk and load your body matters

🟣Flat feet aren’t always a problem—but when they are, the solution isn’t just “support.” It’s about restoring strength, control, and alignment from the ground up.

14/04/2026

Another little update, I’m currently heading from Tokyo to Hakone to see Mount Fuji.

After that I have got Kyoto and Nara to see then im heading home!

Back in clinic for the 20th April, as you can imagine I am stacked out, and taking bookings into the back end of May (regular clients you are covered and don’t need to worry about your May slots, I have saved spaces).

Meanwhile Georgia Burrluck BSc (Hons) is in charge and being kept pretty busy - thank you!

See you all soon!!

14/04/2026

🟣Muscle scraping, also known as instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, is a technique that targets the fascia, a web-like connective tissue that surrounds and supports muscles. Fascia can become tight and constricted due to exercise, injury, or strain, which can lead to pain, soreness, and decreased range of motion.

🟣 This allows for increased blood flow, oxygenation, and nutrient exchange within the affected area, which can speed up healing and promote tissue regeneration.

🟣IASTM is beneficial in treating a wide range of conditions, particularly those relating to muscular pain and mobility limitations. Here are five conditions that IASTM can help treat:

1. Plantar Fasciitis: This condition, characterized by heel pain, often results from inflammation of the fascia in the foot. IASTM can help relieve this pain by breaking up scar tissue and promoting healing.

2. Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis): This is a common injury among players of racquet sports and weightlifters, and IASTM can help alleviate the discomfort by encouraging blood flow and tissue regeneration.

3. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: This nerve condition often results from repetitive motions, such as typing, and can cause pain and numbness in the hand. IASTM can help relieve these symptoms by reducing inflammation and promoting healing in the wrist and hand.

4. Shin Splints: This common running injury can cause pain along the shin bone. IASTM can aid in the recovery process by increasing blood flow to the affected area, promoting faster healing.

5. Scar Tissue and Adhesions: Following an injury or surgery, scar tissue and adhesions can form, limiting mobility and causing discomfort. IASTM can break up this tissue, improving flexibility and reducing pain.

Book below 👇🏼

https://ac-sports-therapy-and-massage.selectandbook.com/

📲07407301768
📧 Acsportstherapyandmassage@gmail.com

AC Sports Therapy and Massage

05/05/2026

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02/05/2026

30/04/2026

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27/04/2026

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