So what is your fascia?? Your fascia is a network of densely woven, incredibly tough connective tissue that surrounds every organ, muscle, nerve, bone and vessel in the entire body. Imagine the fascia in your body like a spiders web. It is a single structure that exists from head to toe. In this way, you can begin to see that each part of the body is connected to every other part by the fascia, like a spiders web. Fascia also connects muscle to bone (tendons are considered a part of the fascial system), and bone to bone (ligaments are also considered a part of the fascial system), slings your organ structures, cushions your vertebrae (yep, your discs are considered a part of this system, too), and wraps your bones. What does your fascia do?? In a normal healthy state, the fascial system maintains the body in equilibrium through a balance of tension and elasticity. With the proper amount of tension, it helps support the alignment of your bones while being elastic enough to permit full, unrestricted movement. However, in response to physical trauma or inflammation, it begins losing its pliability. Sports, workouts, slips and falls, whiplash, surgery, or just poor posture create fascial restrictions that accumulate over time. Once these restrictions start exerting abnormal pressure on bones, joints, nerves, blood vessels and even organs, they unbalance the system, creating pain both locally and in seemingly unrelated areas of your body. Why do I know nothing about Fascia?? It turns out fascias everywhere-ness is one of the reasons it was overlooked for so long. That is why in dissections for study and for research, most of it was scraped away and thrown in a bucket. Poor, misunderstood, and underrated fascia. Fortunately, research is catching up to what turns out to be a remarkably communicative sensory and proprioceptive tissue. What fascia researchers are discovering is pretty amazing not just for fascia nerds like me, but for anyone who wants to put their body to good, healthy use. Like all of us at LP Fit! The problem for everyday Joes?? The problem most of us are dealing with is that after warming up and making sure that each and every muscle is loose we are still having trouble, aches, and pains. This is happening because we are stretching, warming up, and taking care of our muscles but we arent taking care of the tissue that connects all of those muscles and bones (tendons, ligaments, etc). Because we are not taking care of the Fascia, our bodies arent able to move athletically and functionally without causing inflammation. It is time to spend more time with your foam roller, lacrosse ball, rubber band. Next week we will chat about treating the problem. Remember, juicy fascia is happy fascia. The best analogy I can give is of a sponge. When a sponge dries out it becomes brittle and hard. It can easily be broken with only a little force because of how crispy it has become. Next week we will learn how to keep your fascia juicy and spongy. Stay tuned :) breakingmuscle/mobility-recovery/the-top-5-ways-fascia-matters-to-athletes
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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