In this blog I am again looking to explore one of the Fascial Fitness concepts in more detail, the Catapult mechanism.
This blog also introduces Myolastic Movement Protocol.
The Catapult mechanism, the body’s storage capacity and MMP.
‘The catapult mechanism’, a unique ability of Fascia, and was discovered by scientists in 1998. Kram and Dawson were investigating why Kangaroos can jump further than can be explained by the force of the contraction in their leg muscles alone. They discovered that the tendons and fascia of the Kangaroo’s legs are tensioned, and it is the release of this stored energy that enables the Kangaroos to jump so high. Investigation of other ‘jumping’ animals such as gazelles showed that these other animals use the same mechanism. With the use of high-resolution ultrasound technology (Sawicki et al, 2009) it has been possible to show that humans also use this mechanism, and that our fascia has the same elastic storage capacity as kangaroos and gazelles and that we use the catapult mechanism not just to jump but in our everyday locomotion and movements.
Just this discovery alone is quite remarkable. We have all watched on television the amazing jumping ability of high jumpers and long jumpers at events such as the Olympic Games, but for most of us to be able to train to jump so high and far is beyond our imagination, but is it beyond our capabilities?
What is elastic storage capacity? How does the fascia hold this energy? How can we increase the capacity? These are just some of the questions, which spring (sorry about the pun) to mind.
First of all we have to look at, ‘what is meant by elastic?’. Contrary to commonly held belief the elasticity of a substance is measured not by how much we can stretch it but by the strength and speed the material returns to it’s normal size, be it length, width or capacity. When it comes to elastic capacities we have to look at materials such as stainless steel as well as rubber, it’s all about how much elastic energy the material can hold.
The laws of Physics tell us that energy cannot be destroyed so that elastic capacity has to be stored until it is released, the bigger the storage capability the bigger the release.
If we take a length of stainless steel wire, and coil it, it becomes a very efficient spring, if left as a length it has less capacity to hold energy and has less capacity to release that energy in the form of forward or upward motion. The research suggests that the fascia is like that length of stainless steel, it is very strong and if young and healthy the collagen fibers within it display a crimp like structure (Staubesand et al, 1997) very much like a spring. By keeping this spring like quality we can maintain or even increase the elastic storage capacity of the fascia, which means it can store and hold energy, which can then be released when we jump, hop, run or walk. If we lose this crimp, we lose capacity to hold energy and cannot jump or hop so high or run and walk so fast or for so long.
Science has also given us the perfect answer to how to train the fascia to maintain or improve this crimp like structure, regular oscillatory exercise.
This leads me to ask many questions:
How do we translate all this fascinating information into out movement practice?
Is there a way to feel the power of this storage capacity?
Can we observe this increased capacity?
Can we use this unique ability to store or absorb this energy?
Is it a good thing to hold this energy in our tissue?
Can it be released safely and upon demand?
However the first question we have to ask is:
Is it possible to be objective about how a tissue feels as everyone has different references and experiences?
Lets look at some of the answers given by fascia research for these questions.
There are some very expensive gadgets, which can measure the tissues ability to spring back to shape. Most of us do not have access to these machines but we can say our legs feel strong or they feel full of spring. We all know the difference between legs, which are tired and feel heavy and fresh legs, which float along under us as if we have no weight at all. Is this how we can measure the quality of the elastic storage capacity of our fascia?
Another, almost magical, way of demonstrating the storage capacity of the body is the simple parlor game - floating arms, where pressure is applied to a muscle which when released takes on a life of it’s own and floats upwards. The game perfectly demonstrates how the body could hold energy, painlessly and without an external change in shape or colour or weight, is this about the storage capacity of fascia, we do not know but it feels like an explanation of storage.
The training of the human body’s catapult system was considered in the research paper written by Schleip and Muller in 2011. They suggest that by re-introducing child like bounce into our exercises you can encourage the retaining or re-creation of a ‘youthful’ crimp structure in the collagen fibers of our Fascial network. This crimp will act like the storage capacity of springs. Research done on rats seems to suggest that this is possible.
This ‘bounce’ is easy to add to any movement; indeed it is already in our language to describe healthy movement and the feeling of happiness. Pulsing in exercise has gone out of favour, so we must look at quality and quantity, rhythm and rest periods amongst many other considerations, or perhaps it is just as simple as adding bounce into our movement and taking out heavy footed, noisy movements.
What happens when energy cannot be released, or cannot be easily moved around, where it becomes trapped or stuck? We all recognize these words and can associate them pain, a trapped nerve or stuck tissue. The body cannot move efficiently and effectively. As we age the crimp naturally becomes matted as we slow down, the tissue is not active, it is not hydrated or heavy and thickened, the tissue becomes like a mat, an area of stagnation, like a darn in a sock, where stretch and movement is inhibited. If not attended to this area of stagnation begins to grow unless there is a change in habit, a change in movement pattern or an intervention by a manual therapist, to re-open the tissue and release the stored energy usually in the form of heat.
Regular whole body, intelligent movement is, in my view, a simple answer to improving crimp, opening tissue to allow toxins to drain and avoid stagnation. Improving our Fascial health and general well being.
This is not a new idea, movement systems such as Qigong and Tai Chi, which open ‘energy pathways’ and promote health, have been practiced in the East for thousands of years.
In 2012 the Fascial Fitness Training programme was introduced by The Fascial Fitness Association to encourage Fascia friendly movement. I became one of the first Fascial Fitness trainers in the UK.
In 2013 I made the decision to find new ways to investigate and test this research and to bring my findings to a wider audience. This is a huge task, fascial research is still very much a new science, and there is still so much we do not know about this tissue, which makes up so much of our body. There are also so many misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding fascial training.
I started by tearing up the rulebook and turning the existing ideas of Fascial Fitness training on its head. The current training looks from the top down, I want to come from another direction, taking away preconceived conceptions about how or what we should move, asking questions and letting the fascia (our body) suggest the answers, this requires the formation of a new language and a very open mind.
Dance is a perfect medium to start this interrogation its free form comes from the body listening to itself and suggesting the next move or shape to make. In this way Myolastic Movement Protocol (MMP) was conceived, I asked the questions and Laurie Booth- a very experienced choreographer translated the question into movement/dance and we waited for the answer to make itself understood within our own body, in a language our body understood. Laurie and I have spent years talking about Fascia and what it means, debating and coming up with ideas, this idea seemed to make perfect sense. We took the plunge and started a MMP class to see if others, who did not have any fascial research background, could find answers and understanding through movement, and they did.
We have now taught two, 5-hour workshops to provide time for the questions and answers to be formed, developed and answered, and they have been very successful. The wonderful creativity and the bringing together of ideas and thoughts has been beautiful. A truly experiential workshop.
Research, which is so intellectual and often difficult to explain can be translated into movement and understood even if that understanding is still difficult to put into conventional language.
I love asking questions, often the answer is another question and so it continues, curiosity and a desire to acquire knowledge and understanding is what makes us human, sometimes we already have the answers we just need to find a way to listen. Perhaps like Fascia the answer has always been there, and like Fascia it has been overlooked or ignored, we have lost the ability to listen to our in-tuition or inner-tuition.
We have more workshops scheduled (check out the Facebook page and look out for the new website).
We are recording reactions to the work. I see this as a way of creating research. Coming full circle from research to movement and then back to research, and if it informs people to be healthier and happier along the way, then that is perfect.
Tracey Mellor
November 2013
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