What is Fascia? Movement, Massage & Making Happy Muscles

Fascia is a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other.

If fascia is not “melted” by stretching, foam rolling or bodywork like massage, it will get contorted, dense and unhealthy. Unhealthy fascia will then bind to muscles, limiting movement and overtime leading to pain and injury. Fascia not only can literally be a pain in the neck when left without some routine TLC, but it will hold on to emotional pain which only compounds the stress on your body.

 Listen to master trainer Todd Durkin talk about fascia on the Underground Wellness YouTube Channel. 

For those that can handle a more graphic description watch this video by Gil Hedley, Ph.D. on how Fascia works.   

Want to get your fascia working for you? 

These are the F5 recommended Step for Healthy Fascia:

1. Foam roll a minimum of 3 times per week. F5 trainers foam roll before their workouts and often in between workouts!
2. Stretch after every workout! Flexibility is necessary to athleticism.
3. Get at the minimum a monthly massage. You deserve it for working so hard!  Really tight clients will need weekly massages until they can be on a monthly maintenance plan. Schedule a massage with F5 Therapist Alexander Grosvenor today.
4. Take Tyler’s Sunday Recovery & Mobility Class!  It will make your fascia so happy :)

8 May 2012 ·

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• massage
• recovery
• fascia
• pain-free
• strethcing

Work vs Rest

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, rest is just as important as work - but you can’t have success without both.

How much work? How much rest? That’s where people get confused.  Personally I love working out, so 5-6 days a week of physical activity sounds good to me, but that is not a set in stone rule for fitness success.

Here are my TEN WORK/REST COMMANDMENTS

1) Enjoy your workout. If you don’t like working out, find a sport of physical activity you do like. Finding a trainer that loves fitness so much and can inspire you to love it is also helpful. They do exist I know many, but they are not always the norm.

2) Start slow and build. If you came from nothing, no activity and are thinking of starting a fitness routine, aim for 3 non-consecutive days a week. After that you can try the method of 3 days on 1 day off. Or you can do what I often do training M-F and taking the weekends off.

3) You can have too much of a good thing. Conversely if you came from training 6 days a week and you’re not getting the results you want you may be over-training or training incorrectly, have a poor diet, have a hormonal imbalance or other imbalance in the body. All these should be evaluated by a health and/or fitness professional.

4) Rest means rest! Don’t run around like a mad person on your rest day stressing out and trying to get everything on your to-do list done. There should be one-two days a week where you’re only job is to relax and enjoy your life. (I need to pay attention to this commandment the most!) P.S. Relaxing and enjoying your life does not mean staying out til 2am getting trashed on Redbull & vodka. That is not recovery.

5) Work means work. You rest hard so you can work hard. 10-20 minutes of pushing it hard is much more beneficial than 1 hour or being lazy and not getting out of your comfort zone. 45 minutes is plenty for a workout, warm up included if you are actually working hard. If you are not familiar with High Intensity Training (HIT) or lifting heavy stuff, or some sport that requires intensity then get with a trainer that is and learn how to really work out. It’s not easy… but if it was easy everyone would do and be happy with their healthy bodies.

6) Variety is the spice of life… and the spice of exercise too. Don’t you dare do the same boring routine every week. Not only will that make you bonkers but you will never challenge the body and therefore never see results.

7) Fuel up!  Don’t work out on an empty stomach, you body will burn muscle for fuel if you do which defeats the purpose of your workout. The best time to work out is about 2 hours after a balanced meal, but if you are hungry you can have a small snack about an hour before and probably be okay.

8) Recover in 60 minutes. Don’t wait to replenish your body. If you are not hungry for a meal right after a workout opt for a small snack that is mostly protein and a small amount of carbs like a scoop of whey protein (w/ water) and a pear or banana. Faster recovery means better muscle building and more energy for your next workout.

9) Sleep for success. You body needs 7-8 hours of sleep a night. The best hours to sleep are 10pm-6am. You will recovery better mentally and physically if you aim to be in bed by 10pm.

10) Listen to your body. It’s good to push yourself and being a little sore going into the next workout is not horrible, but if you feel pain during a workout, stop and get is evaluated by a health professional. You need this body to work well for you the rest of your life. Treat it well.

24 June 2010 ·

• Tags
• exercise
• recovery

The 80/20 Principle

Most people cringe at the word diet. I know I do, that’s one reason I don’t endorse diets as a realistic, successful, healthy approach to weight loss and optimal health. I support a long term (life long really) diet changes that one can maintain 80% of the time. The numbers are simple, eat well, exercise hard, rest hard and play nice 80% of the time. Then 20% of the time you can indulge in your favorite treats, and play “naughty” (whatever that means to you).

If you did the no grains no sugar diet you realized just how much of those two things are in EVERYTHING! That was one point of the challenge. You also probably felt better. So now you have more of an incentive to eat like that… but let’s be realistic a life without the occasional cupcake, martini or chips and guacamole is not realistic. Let’s explore the 80/20 principle:

FOOD

If you adhere to this basic diet 80% of the time you are probably eating a healthy diet: Meat, veggies, some fruit, little starch, no sugar and adequate fats to support activity levels (olive oil, coconut oil, butter, raw milk, avocado, bacon etc.) WATER, WATER, WATER - Nothing replaces water. Drink more.

The 20% (or three meals out of the week you can indulge a bit) waffles, ice cream, pizza, pick your poison, if you eat well 80% of the time and exercise you can get away with 3 cheats a week (NOT 3 cheat days, 3 single well portioned meals OR dessert treats).

EXERCISE

Keep it simple - exercise 3-6 days a week and hit it hard when you do. Then REST hard. You make gains in your rest. You don’t rest, you don’t see results. If you don’t have the energy to hit it hard that day, then do something more relaxing like a stroll in the park, stretching, yoga, Pilates, sauna, etc. 3-4 days a week of hard exercise 30-60 minutes is plenty for the average person. Love it?  Then do it some more, but get more rest! YOU NEED 8 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT TO RESTORE YOUR MIND AND BODY. You cannot lose weight with out sleeping more. Sleep well 80% of the time and you can get away with a night of 6 hours every now and then.

PLAY

I definite “playing nice” as being good to yourself and treating others with respect. Smile more (it boosts good brain chemicals that increase health and well being) stop and smell the roses, MOVE around throughout the day, take walks, skip, take the stairs, enjoy the sun (you need more Vit D), give more, listen to others, write down your goals, get inspired to do great things and inspire others. LAUGH and try not to take it all so seriously. Without a spiritual, positive emotional component to life one cannot achieve optimal health. Often road blocks in weight loss are a result of a lack of attention to the “PLAY” lifestyle factor of one’s life. Aim to play nice 100% of the time and then forgive yourself when you fall short of that goal 20% of the time ;)

We are all on a journey to be the best we can be. Fuel the body/mind with good fuel (whole foods), challenge the body/mind with physical exercise, restore the body/mind with sleep and recovery and inspire the body and mind with playing nice.

4 March 2010 ·

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• play
• food
• exercise
• inspiration
• 80/20 principle
• recovery
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