Alachua Personal Trainer Addresses Tissue Quality As Part of a Proper Fitness Program

Jan. 18, 2011 - PRLog -- Even if you have experience with fitness, chances are you are lacking flexibility or mobility somewhere that can put you at greater risk for chronic pain or injury when you commit to a rigorous exercise routine. Most injuries, short of a freak occurrence, are preventable. Almost all chronic joint pain or overuse injuries are caused by tightness and restrictions in the muscles above and below the joint in question. In other words, it's not about PAIN SITE… it's about PAIN SOURCE!

•   Knee pain is often caused by restrictions in the tissue of your calves and front/inner/outer thighs.

•   Back pain is often caused by restrictions in your glutes and hamstrings.

•   Shoulder pain is often caused by restrictions in your thoracic spine (T-Spine), chest and lats.

Tissue quality is the term used to describe the general health of your muscles and the interconnected web of fascia that surrounds them all.

What is Fascia?
Fascia is a tough, cobweb-like sheath that envelopes every muscle, tendon, ligament, nerve, vein and artery of the body. It supports your organs and joints from head to toe, acts as a shock absorber and is extremely rich in nerve supply. In its natural state, fascia is elastic, pliable and relaxed. However, we develop scar tissue, adhesions, knots and trigger points due to injury, poor training programs, overuse, and extended periods of sitting.

Fascia shrinks when inflamed and is slow to heal because of poor blood supply. When fascia tightens, it creates great pressure on the tissue it surrounds, inhibits motion and flexibility, and becomes a significant source of tension in the body. Your strength, flexibility and fitness performance depend on its health. The best way to address this is to self-massage sore, tight, and restricted muscle groups of the body with a foam roller to regenerate tissue, promote injury reduction, and allow for a smoother, more productive workout.

What is a Foam Roller?
Foam rollers are one of the most versatile, affordable and easy-to-use pieces of rehab and training equipment on the market today. They come in a variety of sizes, materials and densities and are used in stretching, strengthening and stability exercises. Foam rollers are the preferred tool for use in therapeutic exercise, physical therapy, training and conditioning.

The 5 to 10 minutes you make for foam rolling will pay fantastic dividends. Your body will be able to move again more fluidly and freely. Foam rolling is great for pre-workout preparation, tune-ups between workouts, and relief from sore muscles and adhesion build up. Foam rolling is an excellent way to treat your fascia and improve its quality on a daily basis. Healthy fascia is a critical element in releasing your potential. Imbalances in your fascial system need to be addressed directly, and with daily, consistent effort, foam rolling will restore your fascia to its pliable and relaxed form.

Know that a tight muscle may cause discomfort. This usually means the area needs the attention. Work at it slowly. Roll back and forth in small movements to create a release. Each time you use your foam roller makes the next time a little easier. And don't forget to breath!

In addition, self-massage with a foam roller before stretching allows for a better, more complete stretch by smoothing out the knots. You should always precede flexibility work with tissue quality for best results.

In my personal experience, I have found the following 5 self-massage exercises to be of the highest priority for the general population (use a foam roller, tennis ball, softball, and/or massage stick where best applicable):

1.) Quad/Rectus Femoris: Tightness in the middle of the front thigh is a primary cause of anterior knee pain, often referred to as jumper's knee, or general patella-femoral issues like chondromalacia.

2.) Mid Glute/Piriformis: Restriction in the outer hip often causes tightness in the lower back and in extreme situations leads to sciatica, that burning sensation one feels from their back all the way down to their leg. Since we sit on our butt all days at work, it's critical to release the glutes before an intensive workout.

3.) ITB/Vastus Lateralis: Restriction and over-development of the outer thigh causes an unwanted lateral tracking of the patella that leads to lateral knee pain, often referred to as runner's knee, and wearing of the knee cartilage. By and far, people will experience the most pain with this area of the body then any other upon introduction to foam rolling. From a personal standpoint as someone with a history of knee pain, I NEVER skip massaging this area before a workout.

4.) Pec Minor: The pec minor (small chest muscle just inside the shoulder) is like the hip flexor of the upper body and when it gets tight/overactive it leads to excessive internal rotation of the humerus which leads to shoulder impingement syndrome or shoulder biceps tendinosis.

5.) T-Spine: When the upper/mid back is restricted, it leads to poor posture and a host of issues including shoulder, back and neck pain. Plus, being in a hunched position at a desk all day makes this exercise an absolute must to best counteract kyphosis (excessive rounding) of the upper back.

I'm a big fan of a relative pain scale when it comes to self-massage, for example:

- Using a relative pain/restriction scale of 1-10, "1" being no pain/restriction and "10" being the worst pain/restriction in the world, make a note of the self-massage exercises that cause pain/restriction that is greater than a 5 out of 10

- Your fitness homework is to religiously perform all self-massage exercises that are a 5 or greater on the pain/restriction scale both pre-workout and several times post-workout every day

- For best results and injury prevention, tissue quality should be addressed on a daily basis or at least before and after workouts using a foam roller, tennis ball, softball, and/or massage stick where best applicable

Massage is one of those counter-intuitive things whereby you are actually actively searching for pain. In fact, it's the only time to ever do so when it comes to proper training.

The best analogy I can give you is this:

If it hurts that much when you put pressure on your muscles, just imagine how bad your joints must feel!

Any fitness program that does not address tissue quality with its clients is doing them a great disservice and is most likely using out-of-date methodologies.

Nathan Trenteseaux, YFS1, USC1, YNS is the owner and instructor for a local Alachua group personal training fitness facility that features high-intensity bootcamp-style workouts. Underground Fitness Revolution specializes in 30-minute EXPRESS metabolic workouts for busy men and women. To book Nathan to speak at your local Alachua company, club, or organization, please contact him by email at nate@UndergroundFitnessRevolution.com or by phone at 352.682.3310. For more information, please visit www.UndergroundFitnessRevolution.com.

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Underground Fitness Revolution specializes in 30-minute EXPRESS group workouts for busy men and women designed to get you in the best shape of your life regardless of your current fitness level.