How muscle imbalance can effect your fascia.
Fascia is a connective tissue that intertwines and binds every muscle, organ and soft tissue structure in your body.
Fascia is the interconnecting structure from your head to your toes, linking your body together as one system of functional parts. Because of the way fascia is so deeply integrated within your muscles, bones, organs etc, if you have a muscle imbalance for example a tight piriformis, this will possibly affect other areas of your body due to the way this connective tissue is integrated within your body.
There are two types of fascia. Superficial fascia lies near the surface of your body and connects your skin to the muscles and other structures within your body. To visualise superficial fascia think about when you pull skill from a chicken you have a membrane between the meat and the skin, this is fascia.
The second type of fascia lies deep within your body and is called, wait for it! Deep fascia, this binds together muscles and plays a crucial role in holding the nerves, blood vessels and organs in place.
When we walk, run, cycle fascia springs into action with its elastic properties to absorb ground reaction forces and help deal with gravitational pulls on your skeleton by redistributing shock. A well-functioning musculoskeletal system means fascia lengthens like a bungee cord during movement to reduce stress. If, however, you have any muscle injuries, scar tissue or inflammation this effects the way the fascia moderates’ tension.
Did you know emotional and psychological stress can impact your fascia!
The fascia systems follow the paths of your muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons as they travel up and down your body, resulting in an inseparable link between the musculoskeletal system and fascia.
Around a muscle we call the fascia system myofascial, you may have heard of myofascial release which is a type of massage to help release tightness in the fascia surrounding muscles. The purpose of the myofascial systems is to help with movement in all planes, forward, backwards, side to side and in rotation. Musculoskeletal imbalances can disrupt these systems causing more imbalance and pain, both at the site of the imbalance and elsewhere in the body.
As fascia has such a huge impact on your body’s movement patterns this means the long term remedy for muscle imbalances is to improve the functioning of the body as a whole. This is something that Pilates is known for as it addresses posture, mobility and strength throughout your body. My aim is to help you build a strong and mobile body, capable of getting up to adventures whatever that may mean to you.
I am really keen to help if you are struggling with muscle pain, so please do get in touch with me at hannah@beyondthemud.co.uk for any help.
Come and join my ondemand studio for seven days for free.
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