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Fascia #4 Viscoelasticity

Viscoelasticity

The human body's ability to mold to the stresses applied upon it is one of our biggest strengths. Your body's ability to remodel tissue in response to activity is largely explained by the viscoelastic properties of fascia.

🗺️ A quick summary of definitions for you:

Fascia:a sheet of connective tissue covering or binding together body structures (such as muscles)

Keep in mind that this simplified definition is constantly expanding with our understanding of fascia and only serves as a starting point.

**Viscosity:1: the quality or state of being viscous : a sticky or glutinous consistency2: the property of resistance to flow in any material with fluid properties

Elasticity:1: the quality or state of being elastic: such asa: the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation : SPRINGINESSb: RESILIENCE sense 2c: the quality of being adaptable

Viscoelastic:having appreciable and conjoint viscous and elastic properties.**

So all in all, fascia can exhibit both viscous and elastic behaviors. These properties combined allow fascia to create the athleticism we see in top athletes and animals in the wild.

Elastic

Elasticity is the material’s ability to stretch when a force is applied and also its ability to return to its original state when the force is removed. It is a measure of the stiffness or resistance the material inherently possesses to avoid deformation when forces are applied on it.
Elasticity is the material’s ability to stretch when a force is applied and also its ability to return to its original state when the force is removed. It is a measure of the stiffness or resistance the material inherently possesses to avoid deformation when forces are applied on it.

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Viscous

Honey, a fluid with high viscosity results in a lot of internal friction between neighboring particles (big sugar molecules in water) that are moving at different velocities
Honey, a fluid with high viscosity results in a lot of internal friction between neighboring particles (big sugar molecules in water) that are moving at different velocities

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This knowledge of the viscoelastic property of fascia is so critical in providing a rationale for various manual and movement therapies. For e.g., the sensation of tightness/restriction that we experience when we keep stretching the life out of our hamstrings, is actually a message that is being conveyed to us that the fasciae/fibers around the area have reached their physiological upper limit and begging us not to push it any further. If they are stretched beyond this upper limit, then the strong bonds that are holding the already stretched & stiffened collagen fibers could break, and for the cells to replace these damaged fibrils with new ones could sometimes take up to a year!!
Not just hamstrings, but any muscular area not complying to give an optimal range of motion (specific to the individual) requires a detailed understanding of the role of extra-muscular fasciae & myofascial chains in muscle function.
Source
Viscoelasticity of living tissues plays a critical role in tissue homeostasis and regeneration, and its implication in disease development and progression is being recognized recently. Source

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Divo G. MĂĽller, Robert Schleip

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The latest fascial research combined with the knowledge of ancient civilizations who already knew these things by trial and error allows to be on the pioneering edge of sports performance.

Conclusion:

The property of viscoelasticity changes that allow your feet and body to be more connected. Viscoelasticity explains why people have morphed feet. The foot acts as the neurological catalyst to remodel the viscosity of fascia so that the function determines the form. Following the form without the function won't get the result.

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  • Now, you have a slightly more informed view of what's happening in your fascia and what viscoelasticity allows the correct training to do. It is possible to rework the intrinsic function foot and this research helps us understand how.

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  • Applying this to football, every sprint, jump, pass, ping, shot, and even tackle you make is molding you through fascia's viscoelasticity. This also goes a way to explaining why copying someone's technique is a hopeless venture. You can try to copy the form all you want but that won't create the function. That happens through viscoelasticity.

Further Reading:

Simplifying Viscoelasticity for Fascia Nerds - TranscendFit

Viscoelastic properties of the human lumbodorsal fascia - PubMed

Viscoelasticity in natural tissues and engineered scaffolds for tissue reconstruction

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