Bet you never thought that your muscles could get stronger by softening and letting go. ”I explain to my clients that in order for muscle to maximally contract, produce power and hypertrophy/grow, it is essential that the muscle is not constricted or constrained by external forces, such as tissue restrictions, chronic stress, and subconscious bracing patterns.” Phil Tavolacci, MSPT, Owner of Tavo Total Health in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
In physical therapy school, Phil and I and every other student on the planet learned how to make a muscle stronger by training it properly with weights and resistance. We got good at contracting, constricting, building, tightening, compressing and ultimately at producing a body that was strong, but we were missing a piece. A really, really important piece.
This missing piece, researchers are finally figuring out, might even be a link to helping to understand things like the cure for cancer, and how to grow body parts! Oh my gosh, I never thought I would live to see that day! The missing piece has to do with a connective tissue in your body called fascia. We are starting to see some research articles now that mention the extracellular matrix. Another word for extracellular matrix is fascia.
Check out this TED talk about that:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/mina_bissell_experiments_that_point_to_a_new_understanding_of_cancer.html
After I graduated from physical therapy school I started taking courses where I learned about the fascia. The John F. Barnes Myofascial Release courses taught me, and Phil, and now a quickly growing bunch of us, how to understand this amazing connective tissue, how it was related to restriction, pain and dysfunction, and how to treat it with techniques that were aimed at softening, letting go and releasing the tissue. Making a muscle stronger by lifting weights had nothing to do with helping to facilitate healing in most cases. And in some cases I saw improved strength and function just by helping the body let go. Just by getting softer.
If you have been laid up in a hospital bed for weeks and have lost your muscle tone and strength, or if you have made couch potato an olympic sport in your house, you might need to lift a few weights. And keeping your muscles strong through a proper exercise and strengthening is important. What I am talking about here is when you have tightness, restricted movement, pain, tension, stress or injury, and you want to facilitate better healing. So rather than thinking “I need to get stronger,” I want you to dabble with the idea that you might need to get softer. Things that are too rigid, break. Things that have good mobility, flexibility, movement and give, they have a strength that goes beyond what you get from a thousand bicep curls. Through the softness comes the strength.
We, as myofascial release practitioners, help people to release their fascial restrictions with several hands on kinds of techniques. And we also teach our clients how to self treat. Self treatment is really important. Start thinking about all the different ways you can treat yourself, using massage balls, rollers, your own hands, etc…and get some help if you are not sure what to do. When you get into a routine of good self treatment you can prevent injury. Go to www.myofascialrelease.com for some ideas, and your local practitioner for a session!
Next time you hit the gym or head to your class to do your routine, think about adding some self myofascial stretching. Grab a mat and a roller or a body ball and have fun exploring all the parts of your body that are in desperate need of some softening and lengthening. The benefits will include preventing workout soreness, tightness, and even possible injury. By releasing the myofascial tissue you will even allow for a better flow and absorption of water and nutrients, making your healthy eating work better for your body. Release, soften, let go, and restore your muscles – they will thank you and you will be smiling well into the later decades of your life as you land that axe kick, and run or swim or ride those miles, while everyone else is shopping for their therapeutic chairs.
RESOURCES : My friend Maggie does body ball workshops in Bethesda: www.yogaplus.com
The Body Rolling Ball is my favorite self myofascial stretching toy:
http://www.optp.com/Balls-for-Body-Work-Series.aspx
And my next favorite is The Grid: http://www.optp.com/The-Grid.aspx
My favorite self treatment book is: Myofascial Stretching, A Guide to Self Treatment
And if you want a hands on session to experience myofascial release and/or to be taught self treatment – call me!
