Fascial Fitness

Fascial Fitness is a new approach for fostering a remodeling of more resilient (stronger & more elastic) collagen tissue network through adequately tailed exercises. It does not attempt to replace conventional sports training, but to complement it with recommendations for specific loading exercises, dynamic stretching as well as 'bouncing' movements that utilize and strengthen the elastic recoil properties of collagenous tissues.

In sports education, the emphasis has been on muscular strength, cardiovascular conditioning and neuromuscular coordination. Emerging research on fascia – the body-wide connective tissue net, reveals a ground breaking understanding of the essential role this network plays in a powerful, moving body.

If the 'fascial' body is well trained – optimally elastic and resilient – it can be relied on to perform effectively, to allow peak performance, to foster the coordination of supple, elegant movement and to offer a higher potential for injury prevention.

This is significant since most injuries in sport, as well as the loss of mobility, flexibility and strength in an ageing body, do not occur in the muscle fibers or in the bony skeleton. The weak point in our soft tissue system is the structure of the connective tissue as in ligaments, tendons or joint capsules when they have been loaded beyond their capacity. This course enables physical therapists, professional sports trainers, sports coaches, as well as movement therapists, to understand how Fascial Fitness Principles can be integrated into their practice.

The workshop consists of theory (50%) and practice (50%) addressing all major aspects of Fascial Fitness, including:

- Slings & springs: myofascial chains as elastic springs; factors influencing their kinetic storage capacity
- Connective tissue stretching: which protocol effects which intra- or extramuscular tissue elements?
- Optimal pre-tension and preparatory counter-movement
- Loading variations and recovery times
- How to train for a resilient, strong and elastic fascial body
- And many more...

This cutting edge approach has many applications for bodywork, rehabilitation, injury prevention, sports medicine, yoga, Pilates, dance, martial arts, and movement therapies.

Fascial Fitness has been developed by Robert Schleip PhD, Divo Müller and other bodyworkers in cooperation with sports experts and movement therapists such as Thomas Myers (USA), Wilbour Kelsick DC (Canada), and others. It is a new approach for fostering a remodeling of more resilient (stronger & more elastic) collagen tissue network through adequately tailed exercises. Fascial Fitness does not attempt to replace conventional sports training, but to complement it with recommendations for specific loading exercises, dynamic stretching as well as 'bouncing' movements that utilize and strengthen the elastic recoil properties of collagenous tissues.

Divo Muller's Fascial Fitness class from the Pilates Anytime library is included in this workshop as a supplement to Dr. Schleip's workshop, as it directly relates to the topics discussed by Dr. Schleip. It is, however, free for all Pilates Anytime subscribers to watch.