Robert Schleip talks about Fascial Fitness

Robert Schleip: “.. Fascia is a sensory organ, if the fascia is in shape, I feel in my body is at home, if they are stuck together, I feel uneasy .”

Q: What is the most fascianating recent news from the world of the fascia research?

Robert Schleip: A recent study from Finland involved 20 physically active elderly men that were randomly assigned to either training (hopping) or control groups. The training group performed supervised short-contact hopping (5 x 10 sec) training with progressively increasing training volume. 11 Weeks of hopping training improves the performance of physically active elderly men. The jumping height increased by 50% and, tendon forces increased by 24%! I am not recommending that all elderly should start hopping, but given the right dose, this exercise can improve tendons utilization.

Q: Do Kenyan athletes and marathon runners have better connective tissues compared to Europeans?

Robert Schleip: In some aspects. Kenyan athletes, for example, tend to have a longer Achilles tendon and thereby more elastic storage capacity, which is better for the long-distance running, as less muscle work need to be done. In addition, their heel bone has a more favourable angle, which supports this elastic recoil action. These features are already present at birth.

Q: What recommendations do you have for marathon runners?

Robert Schleip: You should change your understanding of the body: it is not sufficient to view it as a structure of solid bones which are moved by red muscles, which are in turn controlled by the nervous system. It is also – and very importantly – a structure of the interconnecting connective tissues which respond in a viscoelastic manner to the imposed loads. If you always jog in a perfect posture, then the gelatinous fascia suspensions will always be loaded at the exact same locations and will respond to that by a temporary weakening process called creep. As a result, there is reduced elastic suspension and the bones start grinding and bumping on each other – as can often be seen at the final part of Marathons. That’s why Jeff Galloway recommended his Run-Walk-Run method – which incorporates regular short walk breaks in-between, tends to be more fascia friendly, although he does not specifically talk about fascia.

An essential basic principle is to understand that the fascial tissue is predominantly made up of free moving water as well as bound water molecules. During loading, the free moving water is pushed out similarly to squeezing a sponge. With a release that follows; this area is increasingly rehydrated with fresh water that comes from the blood plasma.

Involves fascia in your running, includes walk breaks and frequent variations in running style. The short walking pauses then serve to re-hydrate the tissue as it is given a chance to take up nourishing fluid. Therefore we recommend to frequently include variations in your running style: using more forefoot landing, then more heel rolling, etc. Not alternating at every step, but becoming respectful of the dynamic properties of their fascial “bodysuit” while exercising. Usually, a 30 sec break is sufficient for the previously loaded fascial elements to soak up fresh water and to restore its elastic springiness.

Q: What typical running injuries are due to overloading the fascia?

Robert Schleip: These are the runner’s knee or iliotibial band syndrome, painful plantar fasciitis, and achillodynia. Quite often it is not the Achilles tendon itself which is the problem, but the so-called paratenon –softer tissue trappings around it.

Q: What is this thing called matted fascia. What does it mean?

Robert Schleip: Healthy fascial envelopes tend to be arranged in a lattice-fashion like a woman’s stocking; you can drag it strongly, without tearing it. Lack of movement quickly fosters the development of additional cross-links in fascial tissues. The fibres lose their elasticity and do not glide against one another, become stuck together and form tissue adhesions, and in the worst case, they actually become matted together. An example would be an immobilized knee: after a few weeks, you can no longer stretch the joint because there is a chaotic growth of collagen fibres in all directions.

Q: Is muscular soreness after exercise related to fascia?

Schleip: That seems to be a strong case. New studies have shown that the hyper-sensitized nerve endings are mostly located in the fascial envelope of the muscle – the epimysium. If you imagine a muscle as a sausage, then the pain originates not so much from the meat content on the inside, but mostly from the semi-transparent sausage casing. It is mostly here, that the pain receptors are located which are then particularly sensitive. At this time we do not know to what extent this may be related to micro ruptures in this tissue layer itself or whether these nerve endings may simply be used as alarm signalling agents for ruptures and tissue swelling at deeper tissue levels.

To learn more about Fascial Fitness and FF Workshops in Sydney, Australia in October 2016, visit here.