I am Lauren Greer, Personal Trainer at Equinox 19th Street, NYC. I’ve been a Trainer since 2009 and have been with Equinox since December of 2010.
Over the past three months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ashley. In fact, you can read about some of our sessions on her blog:
Personal Training Check In: TRX
Personal Training Check In: A Month Later
My First Session With A Personal Trainer
Let me tell you, Ash is one tough chick who loves a challenge! Thus far, our training has focused on strength & conditioning, and stability & coordination. As Ashley’s marathon approaches, training will soon cycle into sport specific training that will have her ready for the big day. 
One of our more recent sessions involved the ViPR (http://www.viprfit.com/), which stimulated a discussion on fascial tissue. Thanks Ashley for this opportunity to share some important information with your readers! I hope this guest post finds all of you well! 
Out with the old, in with the new… Unless you’re seeking an Arnold Schwarzenegger build, forget training that targets specific muscles, train dynamically– train your fascia!
Head to toe, fingertip to fingertip, from the deepest to the most superficial layers of our bodies, we are covered by this fascinating fascia. Every cell, muscle, bone… is connected by fascial tissue, and based on this fact, it is essential for injury prevention and functional movement that we train our body as a unit.
Yes, this means stop with the bicep curls already, pick up a barbell, kettle bell, TRX, ViPR… and get your body moving through multiple planes of motion with numerous joint actions occurring. Our bodies are complex and are meant to move dynamically, not face down on the hamstring machine curling weight till our knees ache. Don’t get me wrong, machines have their place, but unless you’re rehabbing an injury, be kind to your fascia and do some kettle bell swings instead.
From IDEA Health & Fitness Association (http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/fascial-fitness), here are a few tips to help get your fascia, fantastically fit:
- Bouncing. When you land on the ball of your foot, you decelerate and accelerate in such a way that you not only make use of but actually build elasticity into the tendons and entire fascial system.
- Preparatory Countermovement. Preparing for a movement by making a countermovement—for example, flexing down before extending up to standing, winding up before a pitch, or moving the kettlebell toward the body before moving it away—makes maximum use of the power of fascial elasticity to help make and smooth out the movement.
- Whole-Body Movements. Engaging long myofascial chains and whole-body movements is the better way to train the fascial system.
- Adaptive Movement. Complex movement requiring adaptation, like parkour (see the beginning of the James Bond movie Casino Royale for a great example), beats repetitive exercise programs.
- Skin and Surface Tissue Stimulation to Enhance Proprioception. Rubbing and moving the skin and surface tissues is important to enhance fascial proprioception. One weightlifter is having good results scrubbing himself with a vegetable brush before going into competition.
Live Strong!
Lauren S. Greer, NSCA-CPT
Trainer at Equinox 19th Street
