Over the past few years, especially in the last year, I’ve spent a good deal of time learning the technique of myofascial release. As a self proclaimed “anatomy nerd,” it’s right up my alley because it gives me a chance to learn more about the body’s structure and function. Myofascial release, or MFR as its called, is the technique of using tools like foam rollers and massage balls (MFR balls) along with other tools, to relieve tension and trigger points in fascia and muscles. These tools and techniques are specific to addressing fascia, the body’s interconnected web of connective tissue, but due to the interconnectedness of the whole body, they also address muscle and other related structures.
In my studies with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, research in their study texts suggest that one of the helpful uses for MFR in the course of personal training is that it it inhibits overactive muscles. More specifically, the idea of “inhibiting” overactive muscles goes hand in hand with the idea of “decreasing overactivity of neuromyofascial tissue.” (NASM, Corrective Exercise Training, First Ed. Revised). In the context of a personal training program, it’s important to start with these inhibiting techniques to allow for better range of motion in the body. Interestingly, after MFR, the next phase is “Lengthening,” because as the body’s nervous system is encouraged to relax through the MFR’s effect on muscle receptors that respond to pressure, the muscles then are better primed to be stretched safely. This is where you see the relationship with yoga, as in yoga, we are doing a great deal of lengthening muscles.
However, we do no MFR prior to taking students through active sequencing, which of course, includes stretching. It is quite clear from teaching yoga that our students (as well as us as teachers) display many muscle imbalances. A muscle imbalance is a “condition in which there is a lack of balance between certain types of muscles. This tendency seems to be fairly systematic. It seems that certain muscles are prone to shortening (tightness) while other muscles are prone to lengthening and weakness (inhibition). The combination of tight and weak muscles can alter normal movement patterns.” (NASM, Corrective Exercise Training, First Ed. Revised).
This is often one of the reasons why, when we try to provide corrective cueing to students in class, they don’t seem to respond. The reality may be that they hear the cue but their overactive muscles just don’t afford them the require range of motion in the nearby joint or related muscles in order to create the shape of the pose you’re suggesting. Without this knowledge on the part of the yoga teacher, you’re simply teaching “shapes” and “alignment” without the necessary understanding of what is happening both on an anatomical, biomechanical and nervous system basis.
In an article published in Janda V., “Muscles and Motor Control in Low Back Pain: Assessment and Management” in Twomey LT,ed. Physical Therapy of the Low Back, pp.253-278, a list was provided of muscles prone to shortening and lengthening. Some muscles of note that are typically tight/shortened are the gastrocnemius/calf muscle, the adductors/inner thigh muscles, the hamstrings, the psoas, the piriformis (external hip rotator) and erector spinae (muscles of extension of the back). There are more and there is a whole list of muscles that tend to be overly lengthened, like the serratus anterior, which keeps the shoulder blades connected to the rib cage (really important in High to Low Push Up).
So, why does all this matter? Because in all the examples above of muscles that are typically shortened, we are asking our students to lengthen these muscles in many of the yoga poses offered in typical classes. And, we’re doing it without any warm up (or MFR as it were) to inhibit the muscles. In fact, most people would think that starting class slow and trying to stretch these muscles would be enough but without the use of MFR tools, for many students, their bodies will just fall back into the same patterns of muscle imbalance they live with all day. This is why the actual technique of MFR can be so pivotal in helping students get ready to both lengthen muscles and strengthen others.
You can try it in your own practice or exercise regime. Before you go out for a run or step on the mat to practice, start out with some MFR. If you’re not sure about how to use the MFR tools, you can google quite a few videos online that will show you some quick techniques. You could search specifically for techniques for some of the typically shortened muscles mentioned above, do some rolling and other work on the muscles and related fascia and then practice or exercise and see if you notice any difference. In fact, notice the sensations you get when you use the tools. In every single workshop I’ve done teaching MFR, the reaction of students to using the tools is always quite dramatic. It is clear that due to lifestyle and postural habits, we’re all walking around with quite a bit of muscle tension and until we address it, we sometimes don’t even know it’s there. Or, perhaps we do and we just live with it.
So, what can you do as a teacher to help your students in this area if you cannot bring these tools into your classes? (In the image above, I’m demonstrating how to roll the plantar fascia at the bottom of the foot, an almost universally tight area for people). You can share the techniques with any student that asks a related question as a first step. I find that for every question about the body that I get after class, there is always an appropriate suggestion around MFR that I can offer. You can also bring techniques around MFR into classes by suggesting the tools to your students as part of any cues you give as in, “This might be a good pose to do with an MFR ball under you targeting the gluteus maximus.” (as in Bridge).
Of course the best way to integrate MFR into your classes is just to do it and bring in the tools. In order to make that work, you’ll need the support of the studio and can always ask them what they think. In your private sessions, bring these tools and use them to educate your students in this important self-care technique. And look for opportunities to learn this technique from teachers and then teach workshops yourself. My next workshop here in Boston in June is focused on the hips and will include MFR techniques for the hips. You can sign up here.Â
Learning the muscles, bones and joints is no longer enough for a good understanding of anatomy. We must include study of the fascia and the techniques of MFR fall right in line with understanding fascia, how it works and how to keep it healthy.
If you’d like to learn specific techniques on MFR, I have an entire chapter on it in my online course on anatomy called “Your Yoga Anatomy Blueprint” which you can view here.Â
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