The issue is in the tissue . . FASCIA !!

When people think about the skin, they only really go with what they see . . no idea what’s going on underneath the skin.

That’s where the fun part begins!!

Fascia is a tough, thick inter connective tissue that runs throughout our WHOLE body.

Think of a MASSIVE long roll of glad wrap . . one ongoing piece that wraps around all our muscles . . individual muscle fibres . . tendons . . ligaments . . nerves . . blood vessels . . from the tips of our toes . . up the legs . . around the hips . . through the arms . . all of the face . . even creating a little sack of a protective bag around our organs so they can move freely in one piece, all attached to each other . . one little happy family.

So because of this one solid piece, no matter WHAT movement you do, if you have an issue with your lower back . . you’re probably going to have a problem with your hamstrings . . your calves . . all the way down to your ankle . . all along that kinetic chain of the backside.

I’m all about testing theories out for myself so check this out . .

Stand up nice and tall, now keeping the legs straight try to touch your toes as far as you can get, it’s ok if you can’t go all the way !! this isn’t a flexibility test dude . .

Now stand back up, grab a tennis ball or something round that you can stick under one of your feet, roll around into tight areas and trigger points, hold for 10-15 secs, roll around some more  . . until you feel your feet become a bit free and relaxed.

Now do the test again!!

Has your range of motion increased??

YES !!

But how can that be ?? Because what happens is the fascia that is around your feet has loosened up a little . . allowing the muscles along your backside . . including your hamstrings . . to loosen up that little bit more too . . it’s kind of like a domino affect . . or if you see those friends that have the same haircut . . they all copy each other . . same kind of thing with the fascia . . everything affects everything else.

What’s AMAZING is that the fascia is a communication network throughout our bodies . . the tissues, our fascia sends electrical messages to the muscles and THAT is what causes the muscles to contract on the fascia.

Research has been proven that shows the fascia is actually an emotional network.

It transmits our emotions!!

So if you’re dealing with some kind of trauma . . some kind of suffering that you’re not handling, it manifests itself through the fascia into the body, trying to force you to pay attention to this problem . . and until you do . . the fascia will get mangled in the body like your blanket in the middle of the night!

If you have an athlete that is dealing with some sort of injury, and they’re stressed out that they won’t be able to recover in time for the next game, or they won’t be able to play for the rest of the season, this stress manifests itself, preventing or slowing down recovery. That’s when the fascia is REALLY crucial.

And even when you’re feeling sick, you’re going through a stressful time . . that causes an imbalance in the fascia network. The way it manifests itself is by shortening or tightening of the tissue, which makes your body feel extremely tight.

When your fascia becomes shortened, it loses flexibility, your range of motion is not 100%, and your muscles are not able to completely relax.

When the fascia is lengthened, the more physical space is created in between the muscles . . and the tendons . . and everything feels free flowing.

So how do we loosen up all that glad wrap !!!!???

Through various stretching techniques . . trigger point therapy . . dynamic warm ups . . cooling down properly . .

You don’t HAVE to spend your life savings on a physio dudes. . you can do self massage with anything round . . a golf ball  (be warned this is not for the faint hearted). . a lacrosse ball . . or a rubber band ball that you can make yourself . . here are some tricky spots you’ll find with the ball . . I did post a couple of videos in my post yesturday . . include them as part as you’re stretching if you’re particularly tight in the upper back. Today i ‘ll show you a couple of lower body . .

BRING ON THE PAAAAAAIN !!

Oh, and one last thing . . very important . . because we’re using the ball to hit various angles  in the search for those hot spots . . and we’re pressing relatively hard . . you want to be careful that you don’t hit a nerve . . so if you feel any tingling in the hands or the pain is just unbearable . . simply just stop and find another area . .

And NEVER, EVER fall asleep on the ball . . not cool.

Mind/Body connection.

The issue is in the tissue !!

Let’s do it . .