25/10/2025
The way I teach movement has a reason why I have adapted certain exercises. Here are some of the reasons.
🧠 1. Fascia is a continuous, tough connective tissue
Fascia is a dense, collagen-rich network that wraps and connects muscles, bones, and organs throughout the body.
It’s extremely strong — comparable in tensile strength to steel — and cannot be “released” manually with hands or tools.
Manual pressure doesn’t physically separate or break fascial fibers; that would require far more force than is safely possible in therapy.
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🧬 2. Manual therapy changes fascia indirectly
What hands-on methods (like myofascial release, massage, or foam rolling) actually affect is the nervous system, hydration, and tissue viscosity, not the fascia’s structure itself.
These inputs can change tension, tone, and fluid dynamics, which makes the fascia feel looser or more mobile — but no physical “release” occurs.
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💧 3. Most of the effect is neurophysiological
Manual contact stimulates mechanoreceptors (like Ruffini endings and Golgi organs) in the fascia.
This alters muscle tone and pain perception through the central nervous system, producing the sense of ease or freedom.
The result is a change in perception and function, not a literal ungluing of tissue.
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🔬 4. Research shows fascia adapts over time — not instantly
Structural remodeling of fascia (e.g., collagen fiber reorganization or length changes) occurs over weeks to months, through movement, load, hydration, and metabolic factors.
Short-term “releases” seen in sessions are due to fluid shifts and nervous system modulation, not actual tissue breakdown.
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🏃♀️ 5. Movement is the real “fascia work”
Fascia responds best to dynamic, loaded movement, stretching, and hydration — these drive long-term adaptability.
Therapists and clients can influence fascia by improving glide, elasticity, and proprioception, but they do not “release” it.
