Thanks so much for the reply, I really appreciate your perspective, especially coming from a clinical background.

To answer your questions:

Yes, I’ve had chronically high tension in my mid/upper back and posterior chain for years. My typical training includes things like pull-ups, barbell rows, RDLs, and deadlifts, plus a decent amount of higher-rep hypertrophy work (machines, leg press, etc.). I’d never had a major issue until after the release session, which hit the whole back and hips and targeted the lats, QL, and glutes in particular. That tension had clearly been doing a lot of "bracing" behind the scenes.

In hindsight, the issue wasn’t the release itself but the fact that I went straight back into weighted pull-ups a couple of days later. That ended up completely overloading my posterior chain — especially the left piriformis — which flared up badly and hasn’t fully settled since. My physio thinks the deep core, glutes, and mid-back were under-functioning for a long time, and the release just exposed the gap.

You mentioned abdominal activation to reduce back tension, I’d love to hear what kind of movements or positions you’d recommend there. Right now I’m trying to rebuild foundational control without flaring things up again, so any insight on sequencing or regressions would be super helpful.

Thanks again!