Getting to know your fascia
Hold on tight and pay attention to this one!
You workout hard and you improve your nutrition for optimal training and performance. You train your muscles, stretch them, feed them right, hydrate them, you do anything to get them the best oxygen transportation. If you think that it is all about your muscles* then you are WRONG! I was one of you out there till I faced a dreadful injury that put everything on hold for more than a year.
As a scientist and as an athlete trying to resolve my mysterious injury (after excluding any possible injury or pathology), I had the chance to educate myself a little deeper.
FASCIA: What is it?
Fascia is a connective tissue network that basically surrounds muscles, bones and organs all over our body. Initially thought to play a passive role, fascia is considered nowadays one of the most powerful part of our body! It is designed to protect and lubricate organs, tissues, bones and muscles. It has strong biomechanical properties, it can contract, elongate, stretch, repair, protect and also transmit signals (including pain!) through various signaling processes. Amazing right? Organs, muscles, and bones are all inter-connected within the big network called fascia. Have you ever wondered for example, why a trigger point in your back may bring you a headache? Or how come and a muscular inflammation in the glutes may radiate to the knee? Or a back pain may shoot towards the abdomen? It's all about your fascia!
There is good scientific work that has recently started being produced on fascial biology. For the more scientific oriented readers, here is a good review:
"The fascia of the limbs and back-a review", Mike Benjamin, (2009) Journal of Anatomy, Vol. 214, Issue 1
You can also watch this amazing video here: Fascia Magnified
If you have a nagging pain (and your primary physician has excluded any muscular injury or other pathology), then it could be fascia related.
What can you do with your fascia?
* For the purpose of this article here, we do not take into account hormonal, phsychological or other parameters that may affect training and performance.
You workout hard and you improve your nutrition for optimal training and performance. You train your muscles, stretch them, feed them right, hydrate them, you do anything to get them the best oxygen transportation. If you think that it is all about your muscles* then you are WRONG! I was one of you out there till I faced a dreadful injury that put everything on hold for more than a year.
As a scientist and as an athlete trying to resolve my mysterious injury (after excluding any possible injury or pathology), I had the chance to educate myself a little deeper.
FASCIA: What is it?
Fascia is a connective tissue network that basically surrounds muscles, bones and organs all over our body. Initially thought to play a passive role, fascia is considered nowadays one of the most powerful part of our body! It is designed to protect and lubricate organs, tissues, bones and muscles. It has strong biomechanical properties, it can contract, elongate, stretch, repair, protect and also transmit signals (including pain!) through various signaling processes. Amazing right? Organs, muscles, and bones are all inter-connected within the big network called fascia. Have you ever wondered for example, why a trigger point in your back may bring you a headache? Or how come and a muscular inflammation in the glutes may radiate to the knee? Or a back pain may shoot towards the abdomen? It's all about your fascia!
There is good scientific work that has recently started being produced on fascial biology. For the more scientific oriented readers, here is a good review:
"The fascia of the limbs and back-a review", Mike Benjamin, (2009) Journal of Anatomy, Vol. 214, Issue 1
You can also watch this amazing video here: Fascia Magnified
If you have a nagging pain (and your primary physician has excluded any muscular injury or other pathology), then it could be fascia related.
What can you do with your fascia?
- You can stretch it (foam rollers, yoga, tai-chi, etc.).
- You can lubricate it (stay hydrated!).
- You can see a fascial specialist (visit a rolfer and/or a deep tissue massage therapist that is certified: this is money well spent!).
* For the purpose of this article here, we do not take into account hormonal, phsychological or other parameters that may affect training and performance.
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