Fascia training is a new trend in the fitness world that focuses on the connective tissues around your muscles, rather than the muscles themselves. But first, what exactly is fascia?
Fascia is a type of connective tissue that covers your entire body, surrounding your muscles, organs, and bones. It’s actually the largest sensory organ in your body, even bigger than your skin. It has four main functions, and when it’s healthy, it’s flexible and resistant to injuries. However, if fascia becomes tight or restricted, it can cause pain, limit movement, and create other problems in your daily life or exercise routine.
A good fascia exercise program can help improve your strength and flexibility while reducing pain and injuries caused by tight or restricted fascia. You might have seen people at the gym using foam rollers or rubber balls on their muscles. While these tools do help, fascia exercise involves a bit more.
There are four main ways to exercise your fascia, and a well-rounded program will include all these methods, considering other factors too.
1. **Stretching Your Fascia**: Popular ways to stretch fascia include yoga and Pilates. Yoga involves full-body movements, even if a pose focuses on one area. You can start with simple yoga poses at home. If yoga isn’t your thing, try Pilates. It also focuses on the whole body but has a more core-centered and challenging approach. For a gentler option, Tai Chi is another great way to stretch your fascia.
2. **Dynamic Movements**: Your fascia needs to stretch and then return to its normal length, like a slinky. Include dynamic exercises in your routine such as plyometrics, skipping, hopping, taking the stairs, or even dancing. These activities train the elastic storage capacity of your fascia, preventing tightness that can lead to pain. Try a dynamic warm-up with high knees, butt kicks, speed skaters, and plyometric pushups.
3. **Proprioception Exercises**: This is about understanding your body’s position in space. Strengthening this awareness helps your fascia support and communicate better, improving your coordination. Proprioception exercises should be done slowly and with control, and they should challenge your balance or stability.
4. **Fascial Release**: This is the most known aspect of fascia exercise, often done using foam rollers or other tools for myofascial release. These tools apply pressure to your fascia, helping stimulate fluid exchange and remove metabolic waste. Foam rolling should be done slowly. For areas you can’t reach or for a more thorough treatment, consider getting a myofascial massage from a therapist.
Everyone’s body is different, so it’s important to focus on how these exercises feel for you, rather than comparing yourself to others. Staying hydrated is crucial for fascia health. Even if you’re doing all the exercises, dehydration can lead to restrictions in your muscles and fascia. Rest and recovery are important too, allowing your fascia and muscles to repair and strengthen themselves.
Nutrition plays a significant role as well. Eating less inflammatory foods helps your body move better and reduces pain. Limit intake of red meat, sugar, and refined carbs, and ensure you’re getting enough vitamin C and collagen for healthy connective tissues.
Incorporating fascia exercises into your routine has many benefits both in and out of the gym. Once you start feeling the improvements in movement and reduction in pain, you won’t want to stop.