Flexibility Training

At BeMoore we deliver training to develop healthy flexibility by training all properties of the muscles and fascia. 

The most common reasons for private coaching include –

  • Obtaining comfortable seated positions
  • Obtaining comfortable laying positions
  • Hamstring flexibility
  • Hip Flexibility
  • Releasing back tension
  • Increasing shoulder mobility
  • Pre and post athletic performance routines

Please WhatsApp me to see enquire about any public and online classes I am running, or to book bespoke private coaching.

What is fascia?

Fascia can be described as the fabric of our form. It joins every single part of us together. It is often described as white connective tissue. Fascia is made up of collagen and elastin fibers bound together to form a variety of tissues. 

Fascia has the power to transmit force throughout the whole body from one end to the other. In movement, our fascia connects in lines throughout the body from one end to the other. Through each line of connected fascia, we meet various muscles. According to Tom Myers (Anatomy Trains), the lines include; front and back, lateral, spiral, deep front, functional, and arm lines. For a healthy balanced body structure, it is wise to strengthen and lengthen along all the lines.   

Properties of Muscle and Fascia 

For maximum balanced health and results it is wise to prepare the body and train all the properties of the musicals and the fascia.

For this reason, we create heat and separation of the muscles and fascia (through glide movement), elasticity (for rebound and the prevention of injury), and plasticity (to lengthen muscles).

Heat:

The muscles and fascia hold property like silly putty or blue tack. If you pull silly putty when it is cold it will snap or tear, if you pull it when it’s warm it will lengthen. For maximum results and safety, the body should be warmed up before stretching.

Glide movement:

In between the muscles and fascia, we have a “sticky” solution. When we wake up in the morning we might feel stiff, this is the sticky stuff that has stuck the muscles and facia together overnight. We can release this stickiness and get to our natural maximum flexibility through glide movement before attempting to lengthen beyond its natural maximum flexibility through plasticity (longer holds of 30-60 seconds). 

Factors that can increase the sticky/stiffness feeling include – 

  • Illness 
  • Lack of movement 
  • sub-optimal nutrition
  • Consuming inflammatory foods
  • High caffeine intake
  • High sugar intake 
  • Alcohol intake
  • Dehydration

Habitual postures and trauma can also impact the fascia’s ability to glide and slide, compensatory patterns of movement can then occur resulting in more stress on the fascia.  Fascial dysfunction is associated with pain, stiffness, tissue fatigue, and reduced performance and function. Fascia can shorten, solidify and thicken in response to:

  • trauma
  • anything physically or emotionally injurious to the body
  • or anything that causes the body to lose its physiological adaptive capacity

Elasticity:

The body’s ability to bounce back. This is incredibly important for the prevention of injury, and any movement that requires power.

Like collagen, this is a property that the body can lose as it gets older but it can be retrained through “mini bouncing” movements, or movements of 0.8 – 1.2 seconds.

The body does not have to be taken to an end range when bouncing, in fact, it will yield the same results taken to a range of 70%. The body will also receive less degradation and take less time to recover, repair, and reform, and can be trained again sooner.

The level of degradation that the fascia goes through can be detected by the level of “discomfort” we might experience after training. The more “discomfort” we feel the more time we should leave for recovery. Taking the body to 70% of its maximum range will reduce discomfort and recovery times.

Plasticity:

Beyond elasticity is a point where reformation is no longer possible. The material doesn’t spring back when you let go and it retains the shape of the deformation. This is where we finally lengthen the muscles and fascia. It should be noted it is important to combine elasticity and plasticity for overall health.

Poses/ exercises/ positions should be held for 30 seconds to one minute.

The highest results with repetitions of 3-5 at 30 – 60 seconds each

Conclusion

A great formula for overall balanced flexibility could be suggested as –

  1. Dynamic glide movement movements of between 5-25 seconds to create heat and glide between the muscles and fascia – 30-60 seconds per body part.
  2. Bouncing movements of around 1 second to develop elasticity – 30-60 seconds per body part.
  3. Jumping to strengthen bones, and joints and enhance rebond  – 30-60 seconds per body part. (only if your body is ok with impact, otherwise stay with bouncing)
  4. Longer holds of 30-60 seconds to develop plasticity, lengthening the muscles beyond their natural maximum flexibility – 30-60 seconds per body part for 3 – 5 repetitions.