On 26 and 27 March 2021, the Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. med. Horstmann, hosted the third Congress for Connective Tissues in Sports Medicine ‑ CONNECT2021. In cooperation with the Fascia Research Charity Association, under the guidance of Dr. Robert Schleip, and the Section Sport- and Rehabilitative Medicine of the University Hospital Ulm, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Jürgen M. Steinacker, the congress was organized in an online format due to the current pandemic.

Prominent scientists from eight countries provided valuable insights to their research in the field of connective tissues in 12 live sessions. In addition, 15 research groups presented their projects in short presentations. In the end of each congress day Dr. Tanja Boßmann moderated a panel discussion, in which Prof. Thomas Horstmann, Dr. Robert Schleip, Dr. Kurt Mosetter, Bill Parisi, Prof. Jürgen Steinacker, Prof. Werner Klingler and Prof. Thomas Findley discussed the Application of fascia research to athletic training and the most important aspects and new insights of the preceding CONNECT2021 congress. „I am very glad to see that there is still a forward movement in the field of fascial research”, Dr. Schleip concluded.

Participants were encouraged to participate in active breaks, for which ten movement videos provided by professional personnel were available. Further, 20 participants took part in the workshops Functional rehabilitation by Dr. Eyal Lederman on 25 March 2021 and Zoga Movement by Woijtek Cackowski on 28 March 2021.

The extensive program, which is still accessible for subscribed persons online, was highly appreciated by the 581 participants from all over the world (see figure below).

We would like to thank again all the speakers, participants and sponsors who made this event to such a great and versatile experience!

Figure: Participants from all over the world enjoyed the CONNECT2021 congress hosted by the Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics (TUM)