The fascinating world of Fascia!

Fascia is the incredible mesh that holds every aspect of our bodies together and in place. It's been largely misunderstood until recently, but we're slowly realising it's hidden potential and the importance in it's role in a healthy, well functioning and injury free body.

Stretch - it's a real science!

When our fascia is healthy, it is slippery and glides easily over itself, creating fluid movement and ease in the body. At optimal health, it is supple and allows us to move with full range of motion, always returning to it’s normal state afterwards.

First things first...

I will preface this article by saying; I’m not a medical professional. I am an experienced yoga teacher but that’s about it! I think fascia is fascianating (see what I did there) and is still only recently being studied and understood especially in regards to its relationship with runners. So this post is really a collection of my learnings from research and personal experience!

What is it?

Connective tissue – providing the complete framework for our entire bodies – it envelops muscle, organs, blood vessels and nerves, it runs from the tip of our toes to the top of our head! It creates separation between all these things and allows them to slide past each other as we move around. As a vegetarian I’ll steer clear of the steak similes, its like looking at the segments of an orange, the clear ‘casing’ that holds those juicy delicious fleshy bits in place – that’s the same inside our bodies.

Fascia doodle

How’s it made?

There are different types of fascia, which all play different roles in the body but are all fundamentally made up from collagen and ground substance. Collagen (yes, the good stuff that makes us look young and fresh faced) provides the structural content of the fascia, the mechanics are made up of compact bundles of undulating fibres that pull tight when under tension. The thick viscous substance, a little like egg white is the ground substance that fills the gaps between the collagen bands. It provides supports, lubricates and transports nutrients to our fascia.

What happens when it goes wrong?

When our fascia is healthy, it is slippery and glides easily over itself, creating fluid movement and ease in the body. At optimal health, it is supple and allows us to move with full range of motion, always returning to it’s normal state afterwards. However when it is repeatedly shorted over an extended time period, (either due to minimal activity or repeated repetitive action – read: running) it will adapt and tighten as a new state of ‘norm’. This experience of tightness rapidly leads to a thickening of the collagen fibres and restriction in our movement and even pain during daily activity such as sitting, standing, walking and running. Adhesions can form within the thickened fibres, leading to restrictions that can even affect our organ function and bodily systems like our digestion.

As runners, we may experience this in our plantar fascia (bottom of your foot, yup, the dreaded plantar fasciitis) or iliotibial band (ITB – think runners knee, weak glutes etc) – Yay! *Face palm*

Spend time in the poses that target your tightest areas.

Management & treatment should be part of our daily routine.

Our body is exceptionally good at developing compensation strategies to ‘get by’ when things aren’t 100%, which is great…until it isn’t. This coping mechanism is only a short-term band aid and eventually, if we aren’t careful, this adaptation lays down new movement patterns which in turn can lead to injury. Personally this is how my plantar fasciitis flared up… ignoring the tightness and niggles in my heel, changing my running pattern to compensate and BAM I’m in a night splint, strapping, physio and NSAIDS. Awesome.

The good news is that this amazing super webbing that encases out entire body is very receptive to the good as well as the bad, it’s adaptable and the damage and tightness is reversible. Here’s a couple of really important aspects of our daily routines that will help maintain and repair this super tissue.

1. Good Posture

As I sit here slouching… good posture allows your spine to to stay in neutral alignment which helps prevent asymmetrical tightness of the fascia in our body.

2. Self Release Techniques

Stretching, yoga, foam rolling, spikey balls, massage sticks, are all different ways you can bring length back into your fascia, start to breakdown the adhesions that build up and also help develop a sense of self awareness in our bodies. Best advise I can give in relation to any of these methods: take your sweet a** time. Fascia contracts and stretches more slowly than muscle, so holding a stretch for 3-5 minutes (Google Yin Yoga), foam roll or massage slowly for a deeper affect on the fascia.

It doesn't have to be complicated. Tune in to your body and focus on those areas of tightness.

3. Drink!

Our bodies are roughly 60% water (massive averages there… depending on what you read, your age etc) so just like every other tissue, our fascia is made up of water. So it stands to reason that it works and feels better when it is hydrated – so drink up!!

4. Frankie Says Relax!

If you’re anything like me, relaxing isn’t really on your radar. Problem is, pushing through this repeated tension, small nagging injuries and tightness will develop new biomechanics; which can ultimately put you in a cycle of injuries and pain. So if you are injured, coming back form an injury, or lead a Type A life style (raises hand sheepishly), make time for downtime. Things like an Epsom salt bath followed by 10 minutes of light activity will promote softening in the fascia and stop blood from pooling in the muscles. When coming back from injuries, it’s so important to take the time necessary to not only allow the injury to heal properly (hello ego!) but also take the extra time to re-establish correct movement patterns to prevent more issues arising and finding yourself in these ridiculously frustrating injury patterns. GAAAAHHH!!

Happy Fascia here we come!