If you forget this during exercise, it’s like your work is in vain! Are you taking care of your fascia?

Everyone knows that the human body needs water, and we should replenish it whenever we can; but did you know that the body's fascia needs water even more, otherwise it will "dry up" and begin to cause the loss of various body functions?

Kangaroos can jump very high because their fascia and muscles work together!

First, let’s review what “fascia” is! There is actually a thin layer of connective tissue between your skin and muscles, which runs through your entire body inside and out. The peripheral nerves on the fascia are 6-10 times that of the peripheral nerves in the muscles, and they also have tension and strength. Therefore, your body can have strength and mobility. It is not only the muscles that do the work, but the fascia also plays a big part!

The human body has many fascia lines, running from the soles of the feet through the entire body, some are in the deep layer, some are in the shallow layer, so "fascia is connected and coherent"! And many times when you feel that you are exerting force, it is actually the force coming from the fascia, not just the muscles!

Imagine the superficial fascia as the plastic wrap on a plate of fresh meat, and the muscles are the food on the plate; when the plastic wrap is too tight and sticks to the food, the food will not be able to slide smoothly on the plate. Back to the real world, when the fascia starts to stick, the mobility of the muscles will be limited!

But using plastic wrap as a metaphor is not quite appropriate, because…

Fascia is mainly composed of 2/3 water + collagen!

In the past, people had never discovered fascia during human dissection because when life dies and water is lost, the fascia will dry up and stick to the muscles. It was not until medical science became more advanced that the appearance of fascia was captured through many photographic techniques, and then the fascia of the human body was dissected out with more powerful anatomical techniques.

The fascia must remain hydrated. When water can flow freely between the fascia tissues and exercise stimulates collagen proliferation, the overall structure of the fascia will be neatly arranged and more elastic.

In order to maintain the health of fascia, you must "move often"! In addition to exercise that can stimulate collagen proliferation, fascia is like a sponge. After being squeezed and pulled, it can absorb water better. When you have healthy fascia, you will have better athletic results and a beautiful body!

For those who sit for a long time, you can often do roller fascia muscle relaxation!

Sitting for a long time will cause your fascia to gradually become "dry"! When you stand up after sitting for a long time, do you often feel your body is stiff or even unable to straighten up? In fact, part of the reason is that the fascia begins to dry out, the tension becomes worse and tighter, and begins to stick to the muscles. Therefore, sometimes even getting up and moving rashly can cause injury and inflammation!

In addition to remembering to stand up and move your whole body every once in a while, you can also use a roller to relax the fascia, stretch your muscles, and restore the mobility and tension of the fascia so that it can absorb sufficient water; and increasing activity can stimulate the collagen in the fascia to proliferate and gradually return to its best condition.

For those who sit for a long time, we can often do the following to relax:

Relax your hip flexors

Place the roller on your hips and lift your feet straight up to 90 degrees.

Hold the thigh of one foot with both hands (avoid hugging the knee to avoid putting pressure on it) and bring it as close to your chest as possible.

Press your other foot down to touch the ground. Continue the movement for 15-60 seconds before switching sides. You can also do a dynamic stretch with your straight leg, swinging it back and forth and up and down.

Relax the back fascia and chest muscle stretch

Place the roller on your back at the shoulder blade level and roll it back and forth several times, keeping your hands straight and pointing upward.

Then stretch your arms back and touch the floor to stretch your chest muscles.

Then roll the roller down a little and repeat the above rolling and stretching movements.

Divide your back into three sections, roll down, and repeat the chest stretch. Roll from top to bottom, then from bottom to top and repeat.

Back and chest muscle stretch, side trunk fascia stretch

Assume the following position, with the roller positioned over your forearm, closer to your wrist for greater stretch.

Keeping your hips in position, roll the roller forward and lower your body down the roller. When your palms face up, you'll stretch more of your lats.

With your palms facing inwards and rolling forward, turn your palms outwards to stretch more of the lateral torso fascia.

Remember, good fascia connection resilience comes from "training"! As babies grow, they continue to "do their own functional training" by crawling and twisting, allowing their fascia and neuromuscular development to become stronger and stronger. As you grow older, you move less and less, and your fascia will dry up and degenerate!

The half-life of fascia tissue (simply explained as metabolic replacement) is 6-12 months! So whether it is exercise or massage, you must persevere and be patient, so that a healthy and good body will accompany you for a long time!

This article comes from: Muscle Mom Blog

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