Olympic Cupping: Octopus Attacks Elite Athlete’s Fascia

Source: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Olympic athlete cupping marks, everybody is buzzing about them.  What’s with them, and why on earth would anyone intentionally be attacked by an octopus to perform better?

Great questions, and I can’t express how overjoyed I was to hear the Sports Anchor say the words “Myofascial Decompression” during a national broadcast.

As a myofascial therapist, I love anything that informs the public about fascia, as it makes my job explaining it so much easier.

Many of the stories I’ve seen or read went on to describe cupping from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  TCM cupping is very different in intent than Myofascial Decompression Technique (MDT), the technique being employed by Team USA. MDT uses superficial lift (suction) to lift superficial fascia from deeper structures and active neuromuscular reeducation (movement) to free myofascial restrictions, increase circulation and hydration, while training the nervous system to move better.  I’m super intrigued by MDT and the idea it represents to me, of “adding more hands” to my myofascial therapy.  I might have to go there : ).

All this inspired me to make a video about fascia and my favorite and most current way I think about it, take a look and enjoy: