10 Ways to Keep Your Fascia Healthy

Have you ever wondered why you can’t touch your toes? Or why your organs don’t knock around inside you when you jump rope? Have you ever wondered how your muscles stay attached to your bones? Or why you have cellulite? It’s not a mystery anymore. The answer to these under-the-radar questions about your body is your fascia (pronounced fah-sha). But why haven’t we heard more about it in the same breath we talk about acupuncture, cryotherapy, or keto?

The problem, says fascia therapist Ashley Black, author of “The Cellulite Myth: It’s Not Fat, It’s Fascia,” is that fascia is an incredibly important-for-your-well-being concept that’s often explained in vague descriptions like:

• “It’s like the white stringy goo on a raw chicken breast.”
• “It’s basically muscles.”
• “It’s like a spider web in the body.”

And because it’s misunderstood, its importance to our health and wellness goals often gets overlooked. But fitness gurus like Black are all about fascia because of how interconnected it is to our entire system.

As Black defines it: “Fascia is the body’s connective tissue. It’s a head-to-toe, inside-to-out, all-encompassing, and interwoven system of fibrous connective tissue found throughout the body. Your fascia provides a framework that helps support and protect individual muscle groups, organs, and the entire body as a unit. It’s everywhere.”

Fascia means “band” or “bundle” in Latin. It’s mostly made of collagenTrusted Source. Ideally, your fascia is healthy and therefore malleable enough to slide, glide, twist, and bend, pain-free.

Black recommends thinking about it like a bed sheet. If you pull the bottom of the sheet, it’s going to affect the placement of the top edge of the sheet, causing it to crinkle.

Unhealthy fascia can cause a host of problems

When it’s unhealthy, fascia is sticky, clumpy, tight, and flaky and forms restrictions, adhesions, and distortions (think: muscle knots).

Black also claims that cellulite is a symptom of unhealthy fascia: “Cellulite is normal, but the appearance of cellulite is from the pockets of fat pushing up through the connective tissue. So, if you treat and manipulate the fascia, the symptom known as cellulite will disappear.

“But I tell people to remember that just because you don’t have cellulite doesn’t mean that your fascia is good — there are other symptoms of unhealthy fascia,” says Black. Unhealthy fascia can also lead to muffled or muted signals from the nerve endings.

Meaning: You might feel uncomfortable in your own body, or the signals get interpreted by your brain as pain and discomfort.

Treating your fascia can take time, but the relief is instant. That doesn’t mean that your fascia will turn from unhealthy to 100 percent healthy right away.

“You’re going to feel like you’re literally pulling yourself open — it’s a good feeling. Fascia work will make you feel open and able to move in a way you never have,” explains Black.

FASCIA HEALTH TESTChoose any part of your body and do what fascia therapist Ashley Black calls “The Pinch and Poke Test.” Example: On the back of your hand, try to pinch together your skin using your thumb and forefinger. “Pinching will tell you how “fascia bound” the area under your skin is. You should be able to pinch the skin easily. If not, you have unhealthy fascia in those areas.”

Here’s what our two fascia experts say you can do to improve your fascia health.

1. Stretch for 10 minutes a day

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Stretching that elongates your muscles can help you release tension in your muscles, which is one element of fascia, explains Grayson Wickham, physical therapist, DPT, CSCS.

For best results, he recommends holding stretches for 30 seconds to 1 minute, but don’t force yourself into a deepness or position that causes pain.

2. Try a mobility program

Mobility is a fitness modality that, in its most basic terms, is the ability to move well. It’s movement that isn’t inhibited by lack of agility, flexibility, or strength, explains Wickham.

“Mobility work addresses the body’s fascia,” says Wickham. “Things like foam rolling, myofascial work, and manual therapy will help break down the fascia and therefore help a person move more fluidly. However, you can also work directly on your mobility, and reap positive reward for your fascia.”

Wickham’s program, Movement Vault, is one mobility-specific program. It provides online sequence and routines that specifically set out to improve the bodies mobility. RomWOD and MobilityWOD are two others companies that offer daily videos designed to help you move better.

3. Roll out your tight spots

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By now, you’ve likely heard about some of the benefits of foam rolling. Foam rolling is a great way to check in with your body to pinpoint where exactly your fascia is tight and holding tension. Just get onto the roller and let your muscles talk to you, suggests Wickham.

While foam rolling, when you hit a trigger point or tight spot, sit and work on that spot for 30 to 60 seconds as it slowly dissipates. Over time this will help restore the fascia* to optimal health.

4. Visit the sauna, especially after the gym

“Fascia loves both internal and external heat because it increases circulation and also puts the fascia in a more pliable, receptive state. The internal heat is exercise, and the external heat is something like a sauna, sauna suit, shower, steam room, or heating pad,” says Black. “In a sauna, the fascia gets into a more supple state and then is able to become more open to what you’re doing to it.”

Going to the sauna has always been popular, but thanks to emerging research pointing toward the health benefits, saunas are more accessible and widely used than ever before.

In a study published in SpringerplusTrusted Source, researchers found that both traditional steam saunas and infrared saunas decreased delayed onset muscle soreness and improved exercise recovery. The researchers suggest that infrared saunas may penetrate the neuromuscular system to promote recovery.

Another study published in the Journal of Human Kinetics found that sitting in the sauna for 30 minutes increases women’s levels of human growth hormone (HGH), which helps our bodies break down fats and build muscle.

Black’s suggestion: Revamp your workout warm-down with a sauna session, but just remember that you’ll need to rehydrate even more than usual after. If you don’t have access to a sauna, other forms of heat therapy will work, too.

5. Apply cold therapy

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“Cryofreeze and cryotherapy are good after a workout because they reduce the inflammation of your entire body by restricting swelling. The fascia* is right below your skin. The last thing that you want is to be inflamed. So the coolness can help with inflammation,” explains Black.

Black’s suggestion: If you don’t have access to a cryotherapy tank, use a cold compress for 10 minutes, and then remove it for at least 15 minutes. She says that you can repeat this until you begin to find relief.

6. Get your cardio on

“Aerobic exercise is one way of heating your body from the inside,” says Black. She recommends incorporating exercises without weights, like running, biking, swimming, and rowing to get the muscles moving and increase the blood supply to the muscles.

As a bonus, these exercises support symmetry in the body, which also aids in the health of your fascia.

7. Try fascia yoga

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“When you go to a physical therapist and lay on the table, the expert maneuvers your leg, and you’ll feel a very specific pull in the fascia of the hip or the shoulder. With the use of stretching and a specific tool called the FasciaYoga ball, I’ve designed a way to help you get that pull or that traction on your own,” says Black, explaining her recent creation, Fascia Yoga.

While Black teaches Fascia Yoga classes around the country, she also has a fascia yoga app which will allow you to stretch your body in entirely new ways.

While “yoga” is in the name, the program looks and feels more like a soccer practice warm-up with a stability ball than a typical yoga class.

8. Keep you and your fascia hydrated

“Think about how different your skin looks and feels when it’s hydrated versus when it’s dry,” says Black. It’s similar for fascia*.

“If you’re hydrated, your fascia is going to have more of a Jell-O, malleable feel to it. If you’re dehydrated, it’s going to be crusty and flaky. That’s why hydration is super important to your fascia,” she explains.

“A go-to hydration tip is to drink at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water,” says Wickham.

9. Massage it out with a FasciaBlaster

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The FasciaBlaster is another Ashley Black innovation that’s designed to loosen up the fascia* all over your body, kind of like foam rolling with a much more rigid, plastic exterior. Fascia muscle rollers range from $10 to $90.

While there are no clinical trials to verify this product, users and writers have reported that it helped their cellulite. If you’re looking for an alternative to this, experts agree that foam rolling can provide similar benefits.

10. Get professional help

If you’re chronically stiff and sore, or you have a muscle injury that just won’t heal, Black suggests consulting a specialist to see what would be right for you. Because fascia is so interconnected, one area can affect other areas.

“Massage therapists, PTs, chiropractors, and sports masseuses are all types of fascial* therapy that may help melt away a person’s stiffness.”

What are symptoms of tight fascia?

Fascia work is not something that you do once a month. As Wickham says, “Fascia makes everything continuous, so you also have to treat the body as a whole.” If you’ve ever had a knot or pain in your shoulder that seemed to travel after you massaged it, that’s likely because of your fascia*.

Certain symptoms may be a sign that you should pay more attention to your fascia health.

“It’s a daily thought. It’s something you have to keep up,” reminds Black. Her recommendation: For every hour that you spend doing impact exercise, spend thirty minutes doing work to improve the health of your fascia.