Guts are not for standing
I don’t care for this article — “SERIOUS WARNING – If you do any releases to your Psoas or Abs, you MUST READ THIS” — but I sure do agree with its main point. Standing on guts to release the psoas muscle is a Very Bad Idea.
The article is mainly a cautionary tale of an appendix rupture, which may well have been caused by amateurish, aggressive “release” of the psoas muscle, deep in the belly. It’s poorly written and full of sloppy clinical reasoning, and all the vague talk about releasing muscles — as if that’s actually a meaningful clinical concept — grated on my nerves so badly it was hard to get through the piece.
But these are quibbles. The main point is sound. It is indeed a “disturbing trend” that coaches and trainers are “helping people release by stepping on them,” including stepping on abdomens to target the iliopsoas muscle. I wasn’t aware that this was happening. If it actually is, it’s insane. Sadly, I don’t have much trouble believing it.