What is Fascia: Why it's key in sports & fitness training
- Jessica R. Christensen
- Sep 1, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 5, 2024
Fascia, also known as connective tissue or 'soft tissue' can be a nebulous subject. And why does it matter? Fascial tissue has become a key concern for massage therapy, acupuncture, physiotherapy, and sports medicine - among other professions - and provides links to many previously unanswered questions surrounding anatomy, movement and muscular pain.
Fascia is everywhere in the body. In fact, most 'muscle tissue' is really only made up of 70% muscle fibres (the red cells) and 30% fascia (white tissue), and some areas have even more; your pelvic floor is comprised of 30% muscle fibres and 70% fascia.
So when you strain or "tear" a muscle, it's not actually the muscle fibres that tear; it's technically your fascia. It's been found that muscle fibres, when separated from their adjoining fascia layers, have 50 - 60% of elastic capability, whereas fascia will tear after only 22 - 26% of elongation under tension. Indeed, muscle cells are more elastic than fascia, which is made up of collagen fibres.
So what is fascia?
It was previously disregarded by anatomists as "muscle packaging", but we need to move away from the idea of fascia being like a stocking if we want to understand it better. More like layers and layers of anatomical spiderweb, fascia does so much more than merely group and shape our muscles; this is only the simplest of its functions. Dr Carla Stecco, professor of anatomy, uses the imagery of the grapefruit to show its structure, but you can also picture a loofah. If you "evaporated" the entire body except for the fascia, you would still be able to see the human form in a 3D model. Our fascia runs around and through each of our tissues, forming a critical part of our anatomy.
The fascia network penetrates the body's tissues both superficially and deeply, interconnected with muscle fibres to make the myofascia. Our tendons, ligaments, epimysium, endomysium, and visceral membranes are all considered part of the fascia network, as they are specialised tissues made up of all the same types of cells and fibres including collagen, elastin, fibroblasts, and extracellular matrix fluid (ECM) and fasciacytes, a specialised cell discovered by Dr Carla Stecco in 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29575206/
In addition to spiderwebbing, we can think of fascia as human "mycelium" - a live network that runs through the body, interacting with each tissue. It's below the surface, and you cannot see it from the outside. When it's stiff and dry, it’s not capable of withstanding tension or allowing movement. Similarly to a thirsty plant, dehydrated fascia in its extremes can become tough, fibrous, and brittle... making it more prone to tears, inflammation, and pain. But see it when it's properly hydrated - it connects and organises all the wonder of life.
Meet the fascia scientists & experts
Several researchers in medicine and veterinary science have been exploring and publishing findings for years, but anatomy books and sports science syllabi are still working towards integrating the new findings. This is not due to a lack of research, but rather the length of time it takes to gather evidence, build consensus, and the bureaucracy of the sciences to update with all the new findings.
It's a long, tedious process, and it is ongoing. Thankfully, we can learn from the fascia researchers and teachers directly, before it becomes mainstream, and we are proud to have learned first-hand, from leading experts such as Tom Myers and Carla Stecco, to help us update and develop our Sports Science syllabus at BBS Training Academy.
Tom Myers, Ida Rolf and the Stecco family have popularised teaching fascia in manual therapy, and scientific researchers include Carla Stecco, Robert Schleip, Jan Wilke, and John Sharkey. However, fascia is not new. The earliest studies of fascia training emerged from Vastalius in 1509, and contemporary leaders have now come together to form the Fascia Research Society.
Why does fascia matter?
In the West, sports medicine innovations are making a major shift from traditional biomechanics towards the tensegrity biomechanics model. While traditional biomechanics is concerned with measuring the movement of individual joints and isolated muscle groups (which is useful to understand the properties of these body parts), modern biomechanics uses the Tensegrity model of load distribution throughout our entire physical structure. Any professionals in the fields of sports, movement, and wellbeing should be prepared to progress into the new biomechanics models. However, traditional martial arts and some yoga forms have intuitively been training fascia for thousands of years, in the way that they approach movement.
Dr Carla Stecco said at the 2021 Fascia Day conference in Lugano, Switzerland, "Working with fascia is not alternative medicine - it is INTEGRATIVE medicine".
What do we need to know?
Fascia is involved in so many more functions that than was first believed:
Elasticity and recoil
Force transmission
Proprioception, coordination, and pain perception - fascia is strongly interlinked with the nervous system
Fascia is the most innervated tissue in the body. Chronic pain and discomfort are linked more and more to disturbances in the body's fascia when it becomes dehydrated and inflamed. As it is so densely rich in proprioceptors and nerves, it is crucial to consider fascia when looking to develop proper mobility, flexibility, and proprioception.
Fascia can become dehydrated due to excessively repetitive movement, excessive force, or joint immobility. Dehydrated (stiff) fascia creates kinks and forms "knots" in our Tensegrity model. This is very often the cause of imbalanced movement patterns which lead to chronic pain, injury, pelvic floor dysfunctions, digestive health disruptions, and generalised immobility. Conversely, lax or excessively compliant fascia can create joint instability, leading to unwanted movement and poor motion control.
We can work to rejuvenate our fascia at any age through balance, expansion, and better load distribution in the human body using the Tensegrity model of biomechanics, instead of focusing on excessive contractions and high loads. Ageing is closely related to fascia health and the integrity of our overall structure, creating excessive "pull" and causing us to lose the battle against the forces of gravity over time.
How do we train fascia?
It is essential that we understand fascia's properties and organisation before targeting fascia-specific methods into training - especially for loads and movement or flexibility training, to avoid injury or causing further damage.
Fascia can be trained for optimal elasticity and force transmission, though vigorous activities should be approached carefully, with further understanding gained through specialisation courses. Equally, after injury, movement therapists and rehabilitation training should be chosen with care (see our recommended list below).
For fascia to remain healthy, it should receive adequate hydration and undergo frequent movement and gliding, which we can achieve through foam rolling, myofascial release, visiting a massage therapist, and practising dynamic stretching or mobility training. Adding more movement opportunities throughout the day and reducing long periods of being sedentary will help to keep your fascia healthy.
New research also shows strong links between healthy fascia and enhanced plyometric training and explosive power, by training tension and harnessing the natural powers of recoil. It shows that excessive contractions can conflict the natural forces of transmission and elasticity of fascia and natural abilities of our bodies to move.
Existing methodologies that support training healthy fascia include Fascial Fitness, fascia pilates, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yin yoga, Rope Flow, Vinyasa yoga, and Natural Movement classes.
Final takeaways
There is new research being published constantly, so it's vital to keep an open mind and handle this information with care as researchers navigate through the next decade of discovery.
Various researchers are finding new "lines" of continuity that connect parts of the body and form patterns within the Tensegrity model of biomechanics. Please note that this is not all published, exact science yet - modalities and interpretations are reconstructed through laboratory dissections and new kinetic chains and connections are constantly being found. These patterns are incredibly useful for mapping the body in connection to movement, but keeping an open mind when discovering new "connections" is key to avoiding being fixated on a particular kinetic chain pattern.
Techniques in working with fascia can easily be taken out of context due to a superficial understanding and inaccurate information. Therefore, coaches and students should follow a gradual approach to understanding and training with fascia.
While some approaches are safe for most populations - such as self-myofascial release, natural movement, and dynamic mobility - other training modalities require much more experience and care. For example, heavy eccentric loading can lead to injury when momentum takes the joints out of alignment and fascia fibres are pulled outside of their elastic range. This ‘handle with care’ maxim, together with developing a safe, progressive approach to flexibility are key points of the BBS LONG & STRONG course methodology.
BBS Training Academy is proud to incorporate fascial training and knowledge into the BBS Training Method, with the goal of bridging the gap between traditional and new biomechanics and developing a more widely functional approach to training for sports and fitness. We use these basic principles to address flexibility, loaded movement training, and neuromuscular efficiency to prepare and develop the body for skill development. Each of our courses at BBS Training Academy refer to the expertise of various methods, approaches, trainers and research leaders in the industry.
Integrate fascia training into a functional flexibility approach with our BBS Training Academy course for coaches, LONG & STRONG Flexibility Training Foundations.
Further references and links to websites and courses available for fascia:
For suggested modifications, updates, and additional considerations to this article, please contact us via the message box below and include links to research and sources.
