Fascia - The web without a weaver
Do we really have 600 muscles Or is it just one big muscle, a body stocking, with 600 pockets of Fascia?
While everyone learns something about bones and muscles, the origin and disposition of the fascinating fascial net that unites them is less widely understood. Although this situation is changing rapidly as increased research broadens our knowledge, the vast majority of the public – and even most therapists and athletes – still base their thinking about their own structure and movement on the limited idea that there are individual muscles that attach to bones that move us around via mechanical leverage.
“The muscle – bone concept presented in standard anatomical description gives a purely mechanical model of movement. It separates movement into discrete functions, failing to give a picture of the seamless integration seen in a living body. When one part moves, the body as a whole responds. Functionally, the only tissue that can mediate such responsiveness is the connective tissue”. - Schultz and Feitis
The view on the Fascia has gone from “something that was just there” to “being everything”
When we began to realize that the Fascia may have a function after all, we began research. With new technologies such as ultrasound and cameras that can shoot live tissue under the skin the understanding of the Fascia’s function gradually increased – and with it a greater understanding of the body as a whole began to emerge.
“For several hundred years, anatomists and surgeons like me have neglected this tissue (Fascia) since it does not seem to be something that is there. But the fact is that it is not just something – it is everything! “- Dr. Jean Claude Guimberteau
Fascia is a network of connective tissue that envelops everything in the whole body, from muscles and bones to organs and cells. It is the “suit”, “body stocking” that keeps all parts of the body in place, which facilitates movement, posture, balance, and allows us to cope with the pressure of gravity. The most recent information on fascial tissue indicates that there are not fascial layers, but polyhedral microvacuoles of connective tissue, which connect the body systems and, by hosting specialized cells, permit several functions. These microvacuoles (a repetition of polyhedral units of connective fibrils) under internal or external tension change shape and can manage the movement variations, regulating different body functions and ensuring the maintenance of efficiency of the body systems. Their plasticity is based on perfect functional chaos: it is not possible to determine the motion vectors of the different fibrils, which differ in behavior and orientation; this strategy confers to the fascial continuum the maximum level of adaptability in response to the changing internal and external conditions of the cell. This is the starting point for an intellectual voyage taking us into the largely unknown world of fractals and chaos.
“Fascia does not only envelope the whole body, it turns the way we look at it upside down” – Tom Myers
From the insides of individual cells, to the networks of cells, to the structure of bones and organs, all the way to the entire human form: It’s just webs inside of webs, a fractal pattern on different scales which form the entire body. A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. The Fascia facilitates all communications between every single body part. There are 6 times more nerve receptors in the Fascia than in the muscles, Fascia exists in solid form, in liquid form (extra-cellular fluid) and communication in the Fascia is 15 times faster than in the nervous system. This is where we have our entire intelligence, intuition and feeling, an extension of the brain, if you will – this is what makes the body one whole, and not a lot of parts.
connector
Fascia is a fluid-like tethered net that covers you from head to toe, between the layers of your skin and muscles while being continuous with tendons and ligaments. Fascia literally is the fundamental connector that allows structural and functional systems to be physically grouped into a unified package. Without it, the body is a dissociated mass of dying cells. This connective tissue plays a critical role in body health and disease, but ironically is is so pervasive that it is easily overlooked in the study of anatomy, in the maintenance of health, and in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The fascia envelops specific structures and segregates one structure, organ, or an area from another; enhancing the function of the muscles, while simultaneously providing protection, support, and separation from other muscle groups. This pervasive connector helps to regionalize the body and also connects region to region. Such a dualism is apparent in many physical manifestations of both health and disease. The body, so often represented as a group of discrete regions or functional systems, is in reality an integrated whole. The integration of the body region to region and system to system is accomplished by a series of connectors.
TENSEGRITY
In order to complete our picture of the fascial system in action and its dynamic relation to gravity we need to add another piece to view the body’s architecture in the light of ‘tensegrity’ geometry. While we have successfully applied geometry to galaxies and atoms, the geometry we have applied to ourselves has been generally limited to levers, vectors, and inclined planes, of the Newtonian-based ‘isolated muscle’ theory. Though we have learned much from standard view of mechanics that underline our current understanding of kinesiology, this line of inquiry has still not produced convincing models of movements as fundamental as human walking.
‘Tensegrity’ comes from the phrase ‘tension integrity’. It refers to structures that maintain their integrity due primarily to a balance of woven tensile forces continual through the structure as opposed to relying on continuous compressive forces like any common wall or column. Tensegrity describes a structural relationship principle in which structural shape is guaranteed by the finitely closed, continuous, tensional behaviors of the system and not by the discontinuous and exclusively local compressional member behaviors. There are but two ways to offer support in this physical realm – via tension or compression. Brace it or hang it. No structure is utterly based on one or the other. All structures mix and match these two forces in varying ways at different times. As long as the two sets of forces are balanced, the structure is stable. In a body, we can see the bones as primary compression members and myofascia as the surrounding tension members. Because tensegrities distribute strain throughout the structure along the lines of tension, the tensegrity structure may give at some weak point far removed from the area of applied strain, or it may simply breakdown and collapse. Discovering these pathways and easing chronic strain at some remove from the painful portion then becomes a natural part of restoring systemic ease and order, as well as preventing future injuries.
MOVEMENT
If fascia facilitates muscular movement, it also has the capacity to respond to lack of movement as well. Movement, pressure, loading and friction are all elements that will maintain the environment of the connective tissue. Without movement, the chances are that stiffness and thereby lack of fluid flow will result. The outcome is the stiffness that most of us will have experienced at some stage or the other but which if left to continue will get worse.
An extreme example is that of Amar Bharati a sadhu, who over 40 years ago decided to raise his arm above his head as a tribute to Shiva. Over the years the pain that he first experienced, subsided to numbness. The collagen fibres surrounding the muscle tissue and the joint will, most probably, have become fibrous and hard. The effort of holding the arm up will have ceased to be an effort, with the fibres taking over the task of holding the arm in that position.
The rest of him keeps doing a good job. We can see him squatting on the ground demonstrating great flexion ability through his knees, hips and ankles. It’s a perfect demonstration of how continued movement leads to continued ability to move and how stillness leads to stiffness.
posture
Your actions build your body! Over the years, we develop postural habits and compensation patterns that are built around the way we live, work, and play. Our actions (or lack thereof) get hard wired into our bodies, and in a sense begin to define who we are. Soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) in our bodies respond and build themselves around the demand that we put on them. The more we physically do something whether it be practicing Yoga or slouching in front of a computer, the more our bodies will mold around that demand. For example, Yoga (if done correctly) can encourage lengthened muscle tissue, deep and full breathing, flexibility, and a sense of 3 dimensional movement. Sitting in front of a computer (if done incorrectly), can encourage a collapsed chest, shallow breathing, rounded shoulders, a forward head posture, and will most likely be a ”pain in the neck".
The integrity of our structure and its function lies in a proper balance between the tensional forces of our soft tissues. If there is an area that holds a high level of tension, not only will the local tissue in the area hold that thought” and adhere itself to that tension, but it will also affect the surrounding neighbor tissues and bony structures. Over time, compensations form on top of compensations and the tension becomes a body-wide issue. When tension is a body-wide issue it is a structural issue. Since structure and function are intimately related, a structural issue is also a functional issue.
Functional issues in the body result in more than just physical pain and discomfort. Our ability to move through the world, to respond to the stressors of life and to carry out our life’s work are effected in a big way by how we inhabit our bodies. A more balanced and resilient body will result in a more balanced and resilient person.
FASCIAL TRAINING
With all the recent attention paid to fascia in fitness circles, it is important to emphasize that training fascia is not new. Our connective tissue web has always been with us. We cannot avoid training it, stretching it, and allowing its job of repairing itself and providing a substrate for the muscles to work on skeletal and articular framework. Of course trainers and physical therapists have been considering it all along – as individual tendons, ligaments, and attachments considered as separate parts. The fascia as a whole body system has been less considered by the rehabilitation and performance field. All methods – dance, martial arts, yoga, strength conditioning, or any of their modern offshoots – train our fascia one way or another. The emerging picture from the research suggests that we can do a better job if we are conscious of the fascial properties and responses in addition to nutritional support, neurological coordination, and muscle strength and balance. Fascia however is not a miracle or the answer to all training problems. Simply put it’s a versatile and variable tissue that handles a variety of movement demands within the generous but not unlimited confines of what a biological fabric is able to do. As always with a newly minded concept, the less informed enthusiast may make exaggerated claims.
Nevertheless, the developing research suggests a fairly radical rethinking of our Newtonian biomechanics, ushering Einstein’s relativity into the world of movement training and rehabilitation medicine. The key in the efficient fascial training is the varied vectors of loading. Exercise machines help you train particular parts of the fascia but neglect the fascia adjacent to those parts and thus predispose it to injuries. Activities employing varied vectors of loading are going to prepare your fascial system for life. Life doesn’t always come at you at the same angle as the machine does. While the machines serve their purpose and pose the value in different ventures such as rehabilitation, the value of the machines is a lot less when it comes to training fascia for life. The bottom line is, hydrating all our tissues, needs circulation that can only come from movement. Whatever movement means to you, keep doing it, and don’t forget to vary the vectors of your training.
Benefits of keeping fascia healthy
improved body symmetry and alignment
increased blood flow, which means faster exercise recovery
reduced appearance of stretch marks and cellulite
scar tissue breakdown
reduced risk of injury
less day-to-day pain
improved sports performance
The state of your fascia can determine how hydrated you are, how much tension you have, and even affect your emotional well-being. Fascia experts point out that many of our physical limitations and pain are the result of fascial scarring and the accumulation of dense, dry fascia around muscles and joints, and even in your skin. This is often at the center of chronic pain, illness, injury, and the limited mobility many people associate with aging. Words like sticky, clumpy, tight, fuzzy, stuck, fluffy, flaky… are interchangeably used to describe the condition of the fascia. The unhealthy fascia forms restrictions, adhesions, and distortions. Conversely, healthy fascia is a Fountain of Youth. When fascia is healthy, it is smooth and supple and returns to its original shape after being twisted and squeezed. Treating your fascia can take time, but the relief is instant. That doesn’t mean that your fascia will turn from unhealthy to 100 percent healthy right away. The term Myofascial Release has become very popular in health industry in recent years. There are many techniques that are geared toward achieving this goal and often enough packaged and sold in the form of a simple foam roller or tennis ball to encourage "self" myofascial release. While foam rolling does have a place in therapy and is a useful tool for potentially alleviating trigger points, myofascial release process involves much more than just creating a compression on the skin surface. There is a much larger influence on improving the quality of the fascia and that's by bringing balance to the tensegrity model in which our bodies work. This is best achieved through the facilitation of the neurological system while creating tensions throughout the fascial chains in order to improve the fascia's ability to slide and respond both superficially and at the deeper levels. This is where Anatomy Trains Structural Integration (ATSI) is most successful in the treatment of the fascia. This unique modality of treatment is practiced as an old-world craft with a 21st century comprehension of how your body structure works. The ATSI concentrates on doing deep, lasting, and significant work, with anatomical precision, blended with movement and sensitivity to the unfolding individual experience. This hands-on bodywork method of reorganizing the body restores the functionality as well as the quality of this omnidirectional matrix system.
With the ongoing researches our understanding of Fascia is constantly growing and with it our eager interest to learn more about this fascinating fabric.