Workout Wednesday- “Self Myofascial Release”

Myofascial means “fascia related to the muscles.” I have chosen this subject to write about because I am passionate about people knowing what it is and how to therapy and care for their own bodies. I am a big believer in preventative health care, and myofascial release can be helpful and sometimes necessary for those who are completely inactive, all the way to the super athlete.

First, you must know what fascia is. It is a strong connective tissue that surrounds the muscles, bones, and joints and provides support and protection to the body. It runs over and throughout the entire body from head to toe and has three layers, the superficial fascia, underneath the skin, the deep fascia, which covers the muscles and helps keep them divided and protected, and lastly the subserous fascia, which runs deep inside the body.

Many people suffer from aches and pains and injuries, that are a result of trigger points. Trigger points  can be defined as “areas of muscle that are painful to palpitation and are characterized by the presence of taut bands. Tissue can become thick, tough and knotted. They can occur in muscle, the muscle-tendon junctions, bursa, or fat pad. Sometimes, trigger points can be accompanied by inflammation and if they remain long enough, what was once healthy fascia is replaced with inelastic scar tissue.” Typically this is the result of repetitive movement, bad posture, body imbalances, trauma to the body, etc. If one does not care for their fascia by releasing it with trigger point therapy or myofascial release, they may suffer from a weakening, easily injured, and full of pain body.

Self-myofascial release is a great and pretty easy way  to alleviate pain by releasing trigger points. There are the basic pieces that one needs to do this, such as a foam roller or pipe roller, a piriformis release ball, a psoas release ball, and a tennis ball for in between the shoulder blades and to release the traps (at the top of shoulders and at the bottom of the neck). You can buy the foam rollers at Perform Better.com by clicking here. For more information on what to buy, where to buy it, and how to use it…please feel free to leave all questions and comments here for me on the blog! I am happy to help you. Also, if you are in the Los Angeles area, I teach a myofascial release class that is awesome, so check it out here!  Here’s to Your Health.

This is a video I’ve used before in a previous post about “rolling out.” I’ve posted it again for those of you who heaven’t seen it yet, in order to teach you all how to do this.