Fascial Fitness is based on the work of Robert Schleip Phd. Advanced Rolfer and lead of the Fascial Research Project at the University of Ulm School of Neurophysiology. It is involves exercising in a gentle and specific way to improve the resiliency and “fitness” of the fascial system.
Schleip calls fascia the Cinderella of body tissues due to the fact that it has been systematically ignored, dissected out and thrown away as unnecessary (Schleip 2003). However, fascial tissue is the container and connector for every organ (including muscles) in the body. If you’ve ever taken the skin off a chicken you’ve seen fascia, it looks like a greasy film, hard to delineate where it starts and stops, therefore rendering it impossible to categorize for anatomy books. Because fascia is so hard to visualize in pieces its overall role in bio-mechanics have been ignored.
Rolfer’s have been aware of the role of fascia as the integrating factor between the mechanical and biological aspects of the body, choosing to call it the fascial web (Shultz & Feitis 1196). Rolfer’s have taught for years that there is no separation of the body into parts, that it is unified by fascia the organ of form. Every cell in our body is hooked into the tensional web of fascia (Ingber 1998). If we alter the way we move–mechanics–the cells will change function in response (Horwitz 1997). This presents us with a new way to see physical training, from the view point of a Rolfer, to what could be called “spatial medicine” (Myers 1998).
Fascial Fitness is a unique blend of the knowledge gained from Dr. Schleip’s Fascial Research and his training as an Advanced Rolfer. Jim Pascucci was Certified to teach the Fascial Fitness by Tom Myers, in 2011 MyersIDEA . As a Board Certified Structural Integrator and Advanced Rolfer, along with his CrossFit credentials, Jim is uniquely qualified to create an exercise program that is fun, while at the same time effective. The Fascial Fitness program is a return to the Play Ground of our youth, and a rejuvenation of our body.
Fascial Fitness is based on the premise that a lack of movement causes fascia to become dry and brittle which we erroneously attribute to the natural aging process. Dr. Schliep has determined that this drying out of fascia can be reversed through the application of specific movement protocols; basically the movements we use in life: bending, twisting, hopping, jumping… the movements we used in the playgrounds of our youth. Mirroring the playground movements, in an organized program will all start the process of re-hydrating the fascia.
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