If January is the month of new beginnings, March the month of renewal of life, and September the month of setting suns, then what does that make February? My guess: the month of aching hips and groaning knees. We enter the new year full of blazing righteousness, determined that this year will finally be our year– and perhaps, while it still will be, the days of cold, long winter seem to seep through our skin and right down to our bones. I must caveat, dear Reader, that even though I am currently in India– a tropical country– I still cannot seem to escape that seeping, dreary February chill.

The “Great Chill,” as I have aptly termed it in my head, is quite the source of misery. Tight muscles that do not want to unwind and feet that seem to be made of ice are some of the many symptoms of this affliction. And while it may seem that the “Great Chill” is only remedied by the warm, loving embrace of the summer sun, there may be another cure. 

I’d like to introduce you all to the dancer’s secret best friend: myofascial release. Before we discuss this magical technique of muscle relaxation, we need to first understand and discuss the composition of your muscle tissues.

What IS a Muscle?

Your body is composed of a wide and diverse array of cells. The cell is the basic unit of life, and cells are specialized for different functions based on their shapes and their characteristics. Muscle cells are a specific kind of cell with the unique ability to contract. While many other cell types can contract, muscle cells are specialized in their structure for contraction. Muscle cells, or myocytes, make up three kinds of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle tissue, where contraction as stimulated by the nervous system produces body movement, cardiac muscle tissue, which is only found in the heart and contracts involuntarily, and smooth muscle tissue, which is found in the hollow organs, blood vessels, eyes, and skin. Muscle tissues are made up of groups of cells organized together, and in this case, groups of cells that will generally contract together. This contraction is what produces movement. 

Muscles are generally governed by the Principle of Myoplasticity. Plasticity as a scientific term refers to the scope of change or flexibility present, and in this case, this principle states that the structure of a muscle will change based on its function. If our muscles are used more and with a greater load, the muscle fibers will change at a biochemical level to respond to this increased demand. This is why you notice changes in your muscle tone after continuous months of exercise, or conversely, if you experience a decline in movement. When our muscles undergo endurance training, these myocytes adapt to produce greater amounts of oxidative enzymes. This means that our muscle cells become better at breaking down sugars into energy– ATP– and will not fatigue as quickly. 

Let’s consider the following diagram: 

Each skeletal muscle fiber is a myocyte, and one skeletal muscle can be made up of hundreds to thousands of muscle fibers packaged in a connective tissue covering. This connective tissue “sheath” is called the epimysium. Similarly, fascia is also connective tissue, and it separates different muscles. The bundle of muscle fibers is called the fascicle, and is covered by a layer of connective tissue called the perimysium. Within the fascicle are individual muscle cells (or muscle fibers– used synonymously), and each muscle fiber is covered by another form of connective tissue called the endomysium. 

Why is there so much of this “connective tissue” packed into our muscles? This is because skeletal muscle cells are actually quite fragile! They need support and protection, and connective tissue offers just that. 

My rationale for including this lesson on the anatomy of the muscle is because so often, dancers will simply say “my quad is tight.” While it is great that you may be able to identify where you’re feeling muscle tightness, you don’t understand what is going on that causes that sensation. By understanding what makes up a muscle, you can understand where that sensation comes from, and how to stretch to address that source of pain. 

When we experience muscle tightness, it is generally not on a biochemical level. We do not have the sensation of tightness in the fascicle! The sensation of muscle tightness comes from a sneaky culprit: the connective tissues that support muscles. Recall that muscle fascia holds nearly every muscle, organ, and nerve fibers in place, and it is also incredibly sensitive due to the innervation of the fascia (non-jargon terms: lots of nerve endings, so very sensitive). Because of this, the fascia is prone to stress– and when it is stressed, it tightens up. 

This is not to say that connective tissues are the source of all pain and tightness in the musculature– rather, that it is often the culprit in cases of chronic muscle tightness. Injuries to the soft tissues, such as ligament sprains or muscle/tendon strains, can certainly cause muscle inflexibility. 

Now that you understand the anatomy of the muscle and its connective tissues, we can focus on how to address connective tissue tightness to ease chronic muscle tightness. As I always say, education is empowerment, and we can now translate this education into action. Check out the next article in this series to learn how exactly to release fascial tightness!