One word that causes the cringe face: “Smashing” as it is a term used to help break up the myfascial tissues that are tight in your muscles. The use of foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and PVC pipes are more common than ever and many athletes use these tools to take a swing at treating their own pain and dysfunction.
One thing that people need to learn about myfasical release is how to do it properly and what you are really doing. Sure taking a foam roller and finding a tight point is easy enough but do you really know what is happening when you feel that discomfort spot? Fascia is the basic term used to describe the connective tissues of the body. This tissue is an amazing creation of nature that fulfills many structural and chemical functions of mammals and is largely responsible for the huge freedom of movement possessed by human beings in particular. Collagen is the primary structure of fascia. Collagen protein is designed to primarily resist tensile stress and is the stuff of skin, tendons, and ligaments, as well as the coverings of muscle tissues and their different constituent parts.
Our collagen changes fiber density and arrangement based on structural stress, genetic make up, and tissue memory. Fibroblasts which are the cells that make collagen actually exhibit the propensity to remember their function. In a healthy musculoskeletal system the fascia supports free movement of our muscles and bones through the huge variety of shapes that we see in sport, performance art, and life. When this tissue becomes dysfunctional it is a force to be reckoned with and can be a great cause of movement restriction and pain.
So if you are feeling discomfort and pain you might be feeling mal-alignment of tissue due to trauma and injury, poor motor patterns, and emotional distress.Many times dysfunctional areas of fascia are referred to as knots, ropes, gristle, adhesions, and scar tissues. If you feel any discomfort or pain you want to be aware of the following issues that might call for more attention!
Pain is often defined as unpleasant sensation accompanied by the tendency to withdraw and/or a reactive regional tension. These tensions can sometimes express themselves as trigger points. Trigger points are defined as an area of dysfunction refers sensation to another area of the body. This often happens in predictable patterns, but not always.
Inability of skin (epidermis) to slide over subcutaneous tissues. Not only can this cause a disruption of long-term chemical processes in the area, but restriction like this can contribute immensely to inefficient gross movement patterns and cause joints to move off axis and contractile tissues to work much harder to attain the ranges of motion crucial to sport. Many times this leads to inflammatory responses in tissues that are over stressed, and if left unchecked can result in excessive calcium and fat deposits.
Dense areas of tissue.These prevent full expression of range of motion and keep neighboring tissues from sliding past one another. When dysfunctional these areas are often gristly, hard, and do not move well.
Many athletes experience these issues when training. Don’t get discouraged but be aware of what your body is doing and how you can eliminate these issues by using different techniques to release the tension. Try out the following techniques and see which ones are the best to benefit your muscles in the long run !
Tack and stretch can be used along with the pressure wave in order to encourage broad motion to deep layers of tissue. Once we have a good sense of pressure on the tissue, we move through the range motion that is restricted and encourage new range through repetition, not force. Remember fascia is designed to transmit force so applying too much force can bypass the area you’re targeting. Don’t move so far through range that you lose your pressure on the tissue. If the restriction stops you from achieving the full movement pattern you’re working on, then stop at the point of restriction and repeat.
The VooDoo Floss band allows for athletes to tack down stiff tissues like the tack and floss but here we’re able to move through full-range movement patterns and use fewer correlates. The tack and floss technique will only allow you to bend and extend being able to perform a full range-of-motion of the corresponding movment is possible with the band. Therefore, we can practice the exact (or closer to the exact) movement we are trying improve. This way we create a strong neurological relationship while simultaneously addressing tissue motion.
How can you tell if doing these techniques are helping you with your mobility and getting into the affected area?
Always do a test and retest. Perform a movement prior to self-treating and then perform the exact same movement after. This we way we have a comparison to see if we are making real change. Take a picture and compare them side by side to see if there is a difference in movement patterns.
Some things to look for past appearance are:
- Pain reduction
- Feeling of ease and smoothness in motion
- Increased range of motion
- Reduced inflammation
It is important whenever we are deciding to use self myofascial release tools that we always maintain context and ask the important question why did this tissue become this way? Your body is a system of systems and there is no one cure-all answer to any problem. So, we can best support any mobility work we do by optimizing movement patterns and preventing problems from occurring in the first place. You should always be working towards healthy movement patterns that decrease the risk of injury throughout your body!