Fascia training
Fascia training is a specialized form of sports training that focuses on the fascia tissue, a critical component of the body’s connective tissue. The fascia consists of multiple layers that provide support and structure, enveloping organs, muscles, and other bodily systems. It plays a significant role in muscle function, movement coordination, and injury protection, making its maintenance vital for athletes and active individuals. Key aspects of fascia training include stretching, strengthening exercises, proprioception (awareness of body position), and fascial release techniques.
Stretching is essential in fascia training as it aims to enhance the mechanical properties of the fascia, promoting flexibility and elasticity. Proprioceptive training helps individuals develop better movement awareness, which can be crucial in preventing injuries. Fascial release, often performed using techniques such as massage or tools like foam rollers, is another important element that alleviates muscle stiffness and enhances tissue health by facilitating fluid movement within the fascia. By incorporating these practices, fascia training seeks to optimize athletic performance and improve overall physical function.
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Fascia training
Fascia training is a type of sports training that involves manipulation of the fascia tissue in the body. The fascia includes three layers of connective tissue that aid in overall muscle function and mobility. Fascia training involves maintaining the optimum structure of fascia in order to enhance athletic performance. Elements of fascia training include stretching; strengthening; proprioception, or conscious coordination; and fascial release.
Overview
Fascia is a component of connective tissue made up of elastic and collagen fibers associated with loose connective tissue. It consists of many layers that glide along each other, constituting superficial, deep, and visceral layers. Sheets of fascia are continuous and supportive, running throughout a person's entire body. Fascia wraps around organs, nerves, blood vessels, bones, and muscles to give the body form and structure. It is considered a sensory organ because it contains many nervous-system sensors that control movement, tension, pain, pressure, and position. Fascia plays a major role in the body's ability to stay strong and protect against injury. It is also important for motor coordination of muscle groups, serving as a synergist in creating movement.
Each layer of fascia is separated by a lubricating substance that allows the layers to glide over one another. This lubricant's consistency can change when the body's internal conditions are disrupted by situations such as change in blood pH, inflammation, and traumatic injury. These instances can make the lubricant become almost glue-like, which makes fascial movement difficult and can cause pain and muscular dysfunction. Such changes in fascia lubricant consistency are called densifications. Resulting muscular dysfunction can lead to problems such as joint damage.
Fascia's role in muscular function was not seriously considered until the early twenty-first century. Sports medicine professionals paid particular attention to the emerging studies in fascia. Many were convinced that the fascia needed special consideration when it came to sports training. Soon, exercise science began incorporating new knowledge about fascia into muscle training activities. Fascia training was designed to optimize a physically active person's performance by improving muscular function via careful attention to the fascial connective tissue. These tissues included ligaments, tendons, and joints.
Fascial training involves several elements. Fascial stretching is a major component of fascial training, and is thought to enhance the mechanical properties of fascia. These stretches often incorporate an entire fascia chain, which could run from the top of the head to the soles of the feet. Fascia training also works to improve tissue elasticity, in turn strengthening the bodily structure while reinforcing elastic fiber storage capacity. Fascia training also focuses on making a person more conscious of their movements so they may coordinate actions that are most beneficial to overall movement. Training the mind to be aware of its movements helps prevent sudden injury. Fascial trainings final and arguably most important component is fascial release, also known as myofascial release. It involves massaging the skin surface and underlying fascia with the hands or other tools, such as foam rollers, tennis balls, or rubber balls. This pressure releases fluids into the tissue and removes metabolic substances. These actions can also relieve muscle tension and stiffness.
Bibliography
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Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body: The Science and Clinical Applications in Manual and Movement Therapy. Edited by Robert Schleip, Thomas W. Findley, and Peter Huijing. Churchill Livingstone, 2012.
"Fascia Training: What’s the Point and How Do You Do It?" Runtastic, 8 Nov. 2015, www.runtastic.com/blog/en/fascia-training-whats-the-point-and-how-do-you-do-it/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2019.
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Schleip, Robert, and Amanda Baker. Fascia in Sport and Movement. Handspring Publishing, 2015
Schleip, Robert; and Divo Gitta Müller. "Training Principles for Fascial Connective Tissues: Scientific Foundation and Suggested Practical Applications." Journal of Bodywork Movement Therapies, vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, 103-115.