Fascia is vitally important for athletic performance and overall health. Here’s the lowdown on what it is and how to keep it healthy for continued gains.
In the gym, we tend to be focused on reps. Up and down. Repeat. Is that 10 yet? Certainly, this is an important part of the equation for building a leaner, more athletic physique, but if you pack up your gym bag after that last rep and head home, you’re missing out on a vital part of the fitness equation: care of your fascia.Fascia serves as one of the unsung heroes of every positive result you could hope for up to and including muscle gain, flexibility, range of motion and general health. It is a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other. Here, we walk you through what is really is, why it matters and what it takes to keep yours healthy and supple.
What is Fascia?
Fascia is a three-dimensional, collagen-based stability system. The fascial system consists of more than 70% water, which gives this system its volume and integrity. Fascia regulates the flow of fluid in the extracellular matrix, which gives fascia remodeling capabilities. Its unique architecture supports, protects and stabilizes all elements of our body from our skin to our bones. It’s the environment all structures, bones, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, organs, skin, and even our brain rely upon to remain efficient in their functionality. Fascia provides the supportive environment required for movement to exist without pain.
What Does Fascia Do?
Fascia is a responsive tissue in that it adapts to daily living including, but not limited to, our postural habits, exercise, emotional state, chemical, environmental, and physiological influences. For those of us who engage in weight training or even basic, daily exercise, fascia takes on an extremely powerful role and is also altered daily by our attempts to strengthen our muscles. There have been no specific research studies thus far as to how intense weight training affects this system, however, we do understand that exercise at any capacity has the ability to change and adapt fascial integrity – some benefit the system, and some can cause what would be considered negative effects. Excess muscle or fat can alter fascia in many ways and change how the extracellular matrix behaves in regard to fluid movement and absorption of nutrients into other cells.
Fascia and Fat
Fat loves to live in our superficial fascial layers – those attached to our skin. When more fat is stored than used, excessive fat alters the fascial matrix and gets “stuck” in the microvacuoles or “fluid space holders” causing a disruption in the matrix. This is what causes cellulite and ultimately stretch marks, damaged looking, sagging skin. Gaining and then losing weight repeatedly – as some physique athletes will do – is what causes these types of shape changes.
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Drink Water Consistently
It’s not the volume but the consistency of water many of us do not manage well. We guzzle water after a hard workout but then could go hours without a sip. When you sip water frequently you help keep your cellular system hydrated, mobile and stable all at the same time.
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Watch Your Diet
Don’t eliminate food groups entirely but do watch how much sugar you intake in a day. Sugar is a factor in how your cells ultimately absorb nutrient and transport it through the extracellular matrix. Eat a healthy diet, with water filled foods and many vegetables daily in order to keep your fascia healthy.
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Move Daily
Even if you exercise for 60-90 minutes a day, if you then sit at a desk the rest of the day, you defeat the benefits your movements can create when it comes to fascia health. If you sit at a desk daily, every 30 minutes, just stand up and move your joints. Your body will thank you for it
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Think Fascia Forward
We know fascia adapts to tension and compression. If you pull or compress the tissue for long periods of time it pulls the vital fluids out of the matrix and decreases the potential for sliding surfaces to keep moving, thus your body gets stiff in the muscle layers, compressed or/and hypermobile in the joints. But if you pull or compress your tissue for short periods of time and don’t cause pain while you do it, you aid your entire body to adapt in positive ways for your lifetime. Just 10 minutes of a system like The MELT Method, which I created and which is less painful than traditional self-myofascial release (SMR), will show you how you can move with less ache in your joints and have more bounce and energy in your step.
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Use a Fascia Expert
Your best defense can frequently be the eyes and hands of a skilled body worker. From basic massage to structural integrative specialists, craniosacral therapist to corrective movement specialists, I can honestly say good hands go a long way in keeping a body balanced.
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Act Now
Finally, be more proactive rather than reactive. Doing preventative maintenance on your body and caring for it’s aging process instead of waiting to feel pain or get old to then reverse a problem is something we should all consider if we want to live an active, healthy, pain-free life – and look good while we do it!
In the gym, we tend to be focused on reps. Up and down. Repeat. Is that 10 yet? Certainly, this is an important part of the equation for building a leaner, more athletic physique, but if you pack up your gym bag after that last rep and head home, you’re missing out on a vital part of the fitness equation: care of your fascia.
Fascia serves as one of the unsung heroes of every positive result you could hope for up to and including muscle gain, flexibility, range of motion and general health. It is a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other. Here, we walk you through what is really is, why it matters and what it takes to keep yours healthy and supple.
What is Fascia?
Fascia is a three-dimensional, collagen-based stability system. The fascial system consists of more than 70% water, which gives this system its volume and integrity. Fascia regulates the flow of fluid in the extracellular matrix, which gives fascia remodeling capabilities. Its unique architecture supports, protects and stabilizes all elements of our body from our skin to our bones. It’s the environment all structures, bones, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, organs, skin, and even our brain rely upon to remain efficient in their functionality. Fascia provides the supportive environment required for movement to exist without pain.
What Does Fascia Do?
Fascia is a responsive tissue in that it adapts to daily living including, but not limited to, our postural habits, exercise, emotional state, chemical, environmental, and physiological influences. For those of us who engage in weight training or even basic, daily exercise, fascia takes on an extremely powerful role and is also altered daily by our attempts to strengthen our muscles. There have been no specific research studies thus far as to how intense weight training affects this system, however, we do understand that exercise at any capacity has the ability to change and adapt fascial integrity – some benefit the system, and some can cause what would be considered negative effects. Excess muscle or fat can alter fascia in many ways and change how the extracellular matrix behaves in regard to fluid movement and absorption of nutrients into other cells.
Fascia and Fat
Fat loves to live in our superficial fascial layers – those attached to our skin. When more fat is stored than used, excessive fat alters the fascial matrix and gets “stuck” in the microvacuoles or “fluid space holders” causing a disruption in the matrix. This is what causes cellulite and ultimately stretch marks, damaged looking, sagging skin. Gaining and then losing weight repeatedly – as some physique athletes will do – is what causes these types of shape changes.
Drink Water Consistently
It’s not the volume but the consistency of water many of us do not manage well. We guzzle water after a hard workout but then could go hours without a sip. When you sip water frequently you help keep your cellular system hydrated, mobile and stable all at the same time.
Watch Your Diet
Don’t eliminate food groups entirely but do watch how much sugar you intake in a day. Sugar is a factor in how your cells ultimately absorb nutrient and transport it through the extracellular matrix. Eat a healthy diet, with water filled foods and many vegetables daily in order to keep your fascia healthy.
Move Daily
Even if you exercise for 60-90 minutes a day, if you then sit at a desk the rest of the day, you defeat the benefits your movements can create when it comes to fascia health. If you sit at a desk daily, every 30 minutes, just stand up and move your joints. Your body will thank you for it
Think Fascia Forward
We know fascia adapts to tension and compression. If you pull or compress the tissue for long periods of time it pulls the vital fluids out of the matrix and decreases the potential for sliding surfaces to keep moving, thus your body gets stiff in the muscle layers, compressed or/and hypermobile in the joints. But if you pull or compress your tissue for short periods of time and don’t cause pain while you do it, you aid your entire body to adapt in positive ways for your lifetime. Just 10 minutes of a system like The MELT Method, which I created and which is less painful than traditional self-myofascial release (SMR), will show you how you can move with less ache in your joints and have more bounce and energy in your step.
Use a Fascia Expert
Your best defense can frequently be the eyes and hands of a skilled body worker. From basic massage to structural integrative specialists, craniosacral therapist to corrective movement specialists, I can honestly say good hands go a long way in keeping a body balanced.
Act Now
Finally, be more proactive rather than reactive. Doing preventative maintenance on your body and caring for it’s aging process instead of waiting to feel pain or get old to then reverse a problem is something we should all consider if we want to live an active, healthy, pain-free life – and look good while we do it!
