What are the benefits of fascia release in Pilates?

Fascia release balls and Pilates.

If you have attended Pilates classes at our studio or elsewhere you might have used release balls of various size and shape. I’m going to explain why we use these during class and what the benefits are to your body. 

Firstly you might be thinking, well what is fascia?

Fascia (pronounced fah-sha) is “the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body, forming a whole-body continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support.  It interpenetrates and surrounds all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibres, creating a unique environment for body systems functioning.” Findley Schelip 2007

Our fascia is the reason that our internal organs don’t jump around when we run, the reason we might not be able to touch our toes and why we have cellulite. Until fairly recently experts thought that fascia was passive, and therefore hadn’t understood its importance. After all it’s the white bit of the chicken that we just cut away right?

What does Fascia do?

It basically holds us together by surrounding our muscles, organs and blood vessels. It can be both stretchy and stiff, for example the plantar fascia in the foot stabilises the arch of the foot and is extremely tough. Thomas Myers uses the image of a grapefruit to illustrate the way that fascia holds the entire body in shape. The pulp of the grapefruit is enclosed in small detachments of  white skin and on the outside it is again surrounded by solid white skin that fits snugly to the peel.

If you were to remove all the pulp and leave only the white skin, you could reconstruct the entire fruit and its shape on the basis of this structure alone.  The same principle applies to fascia and its function in the human body.  It is possible to see how a person looks based solely on the connective tissue, without the flesh and bones.

It’s important that our fascia is healthy so that is can do its job properly, in order for fascia to be healthy is needs to glide, slide, twist and bend without pain.

What can cause unhealthy fascia?

If our fascia can’t perform its functions, it can have far-reaching consequences for our entire body. Muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints and organs are affected and we lose flexibility. Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, joint pain and tendon irritation or inflammation will often occur. Diastasis Recti where the fascia along the abdominal wall loses its function as well as Plantar fasciitis are both common conditions where the fascia can’t perform its function or becomes inflamed.

Diastasis Recti or tummy muscle separation, are terms which describe the widening and thinning of the connective tissue which runs down our mid-line, dividing the six pack muscles into two halves. This connective tissue is called the linea alba and it runs from the bottom of our sternum to our pubic bone. As the tissue widens the two halves of the six pack muscles move further apart.

“In many cases, back pain is caused by damage not to the vertebrae or intervertebral discs, but rather to the fascia”. Fascial Fitness, Robert Schleip

When fascia is unhealthy it sticks together, it creates adhesions, knots and distortions. If you imagine a table cloth, if you pull one corner it disturbs everything else on the table. Fasica is just like this, if you overtrain a muscle then it’s likely the surrounding fascia will become unhappy. Fascia is incredibly responsive to our environment  so unhealthy eating habits, lack of sleep, stress, sedentary lifestyles, poor posture and over-use or injury of muscles can all lead to unhealthy fascia.

OK so how can I make my fascia healthy?

Movement!

Stretching is one way you can help, stretching elongates muscles and helps to reduce tension in the fascia. Mobility is also crucial, and is an important principle in Pilates, the ability to move without restriction, with agility, with flexibility and with strength. Release is also helpful, if you have ever had a massage in one area of your body and then the pain has travelled to another place in your body afterwards it’s likely a fascia issue, or if you have had a c-section and you get pain in the shoulder, it could also be a fascia issue. This is because we are completely interconnected so in order to  get the most out of our fascia we might need to do some release work first.

Fascia release in Pilates

As I already mentioned, in Pilates one of the goals is mobility so if we want to do a successful roll down (I chose this as this one can often be our nemesis, me included!), then it’s going to harder if we are tight in our thoracolumbar fascia ( the diamond shaped connective tissues which runs from the bottom of the pelvis to the bottom ribs). By spending some time laying on your back on a hedgehog pod, overball, foam roller or Franklin balls you are giving the fascia and spinal muscles chance to release and let go which means you may find more ease and mobility in that elusive roll-up you have been working on!

In short, if you want to keep your fascia healthy, find ease in your movement and be pain-free give your fascia movement, try and get good quality sleep, hydrate yourself and commit to a mindful movement practice like Pilates which focuses on flexibility, mobility and breathing.

At Lauren Hilton Pilates we often use small release balls in our classes, 1:1s and group apparatus classes because we passionately believe in their benefits. We have been educated by the work of Fascia experts Robert Schleip, Tom Myers and Eric Franklin through our continuing Pilates education, so that we can bring an embodied approach to our teaching with the intention of our clients feeling their best when they leave our studio.

 References

https://www.verywellhealth.com/thoracolumbar-fascia-297293

https://complete-pilates.co.uk/diastasis-recti/

Fascial Fitness, Robert Schleip 2017

Fascia: What it is and why it matters, David Lesondak