Moving Through Myofascial Lines
- Danny Foley- MS, CSCS,D*
- May 7
- 7 min read
Human movement is fluid, it’s harmonious. Proficient movement is inextricably reliant on coordination and timing, it requires synergy. We are not simple machinery, we aren’t just some mechanical assembly of interchangeable parts that can be described or defined by simple constructs or independent lenses. The human body is a symphony of individual components performing very specific functions that all coalesce as a unified system while being governed by a central conductor.
The human body is vexing, our anatomy is immensely complex, and we’re still only just beginning to understand some of these deeper aspects of how we function. Despite this sophistication and complexity, we still see so many people work tirelessly to oversimplify what we know about our anatomy. Particularly the human performance industry, we have gravitated towards always working from lowest common denominators, bell curves, and espousing grossly dogmatic philosophies and perspectives that only dilute the vastness of our bodies.
Even the most mundane tasks we perform- walking, breathing, sitting- all require extensive complex interactions, requiring precise contributions from an enormous number of structures and subsystems down to the cellular level. No two bodies are the same, and therefore, no two movements are either. Stressors are not received equally across different individuals, and there are several factors that should be accounted for when observing or prescribing movement. Appreciating the individuality and uniqueness of movement is not something to be glossed over, but rather, should encourage an immersive investigation as to why the body moves or behaves the way it does.
It's complex, it’s an incomplete understanding, it’s beautiful.
Relationship of Structure and Function
The primary structural elements of the human body include the bones, muscles, and a variety of connective tissues that promote structural integrity and, in tandem, produce motor actions and affordances. Relating this back to the points on biotensegrity the bones represent our “struts” (compressive elements), while the tissues function as our “cables” or tensional elements.
A principle function of a biotensegrity structure is that the total system is constantly shaping and adapting to promote optimal distribution of stressors. Our bodies are evolutionarily designed to self-preserve and self-organize, meaning, everything is always working collaboratively to achieve balance and establish security within the system. While the independent functions of these structures and elements is vital, it is the coherence and interaction between these structures that uniquely gives us human life and function.
Structure dictates function, and function promotes outcome. Intrinsic factors, such as the way our foot is shaped, the length of the tibia bone, the tensile properties of the Achilles tendon, among many other factors all play a role in the collective outcome of gait or sprint mechanics. A common constraint within human performance is biasing our observations or inputs to these singular components, typically doing so with a lack of regard for their collective interaction. This creates the opportunity for myopic viewpoints on how to program or prescribe exercises for athletes, ultimately resulting in an incomplete understanding for how move.
Fascia: Our Resonance System
Fascia, our dynamic, global connective tissue that interconnects and intersperses all aspects of our biology, functions as a global resonance system. As evidenced in the graphic below, the structural roles of fascia are instrumental, providing a direct pathway and interconnectedness between prominent muscle groups throughout the kinetic chain. The collagenous matrix that is fascia works to support and synergize musculotendinous structures through tensile rigidity, or mechanical stiffness. The (pre)tensioning of fascial tissue removes slack from the musculotendinous tissues, promoting an improved opportunity for the contractile structures to lengthen and contract rapidly. A loss of intermuscular connective tissue stiffness compromises the efficiency and potentially the effectiveness of movement outcomes.
Beyond the structural integrity, fascia plays an instrumental role in sensorimotor signaling, as it is highly concentrated with proprioceptive and mechanoreceptive bodies. The sensorimotor function of fascia speaks directly to the resonance aspect, reinforcing that the body is not just an assembly of bones and lifeless tissues. Through this sensory network, the fascial tissue illuminates our biology, providing electrical synergy throughout the body.
These receptors, which are omnipresent throughout fascial tissue, are constantly detecting internal and external stressors and transmitting corresponding signals to the brain. These signals then prompt resultant actions such as activating or/and inhibiting specific tissues (muscular compartments) that account for the perceived demands placed on the body.
Resonance is defined as a phenomenon that occurs when an external force matches an object or systems resonant frequency. Consider fascia in this regard of essentially providing the human body’s resonant frequency, which through the biotensegrity network, is constantly detecting and adapting to balancing stressors. This, once again, is a harmonious process. Think about sprinting or jumping for a second, think about how much is actually occurring during these tasks- biologically, biomechanically, bioenergetically and otherwise. Although we perceive sprinting and jumping as being common tasks in performance, we cannot mistake these for being simple. The outcome of sprinting is a result of countless biological events occurring in the right time, amount, and sequence.
Fascia is our biological resonance system, is integral for coordinating this cascade of micro biological events. If we only train the component parts while ignoring their integration, we will never have a complete solution to mechanical or movement limitations.
The Five Primary Myofascial Lines
The primary myofascial lines include the spiral, lateral, posterior, anterior, and intrinsic lines. These lines each play specific roles throughout the gait or sprint cycle, each facilitating or feeding the other. It’s important to reinforce that while we are observing these myofascial lines independently here, these are also inextricable from one another, and directly influence on another.
Collagen is produced, or remodeled, based on where stress is experienced throughout the body. This remodeling process is influenced by the intensity, frequency, duration, and direction of the stress applied. If we consider the basic mechanics of locomotion and primitive patterns, we can see a clear relationship between limbs and extremities- being bimodal, humans organically move in a contralateral patterning, requiring coordination and connection between opposing sides of the body (left to right AND front to back). When the extremities swing, the trunk counter-rotates to balance and couple the forces being generated. The same is true for any sport we analyze- from sprinting and jumping, to throwing and punching, the body invariably works in a contralateral and reciprocating manner, and at no point functions in isolation.
These myofascial lines exist simply because they represent areas of densified or more fibrous connective tissue due to the fundamental mechanics of human motion. In other words, we take 6,000-10,000 steps per day, creating repetitive ‘loading’ on these quintessential MSK structures places load on the corresponding myofascial lines we see above. This is even true for the intrinsic myofascial line, as its predominant function is supporting the diaphragm and pelvic floor. Recall that breathing is far from a passive action, of which we perform up to 20,000 times per day. This volume of action reinforces and stresses the surrounding myofascial tissue, creating a kinetic “line”.
There are different definitions and descriptions of these myofascial lines, depending on the source or institution you look to. Nevertheless, the model I have adopted and presented in this are original to Joseph Schwartz, and in my opinion is the best reflection of these myofascial lines. A primary reason I think this is the best representation is how the line graphics are associated to phases of gait. I feel like this gives a little more practicality and vitality to the lines, making it a bit more practical and actionable. The individual graphics below are presented in the chronological sequence of how the myofascial lines are specifically activated during a gait cycle.
Moving Through Myofascial Lines
As this relates to training, think about the conventional beliefs and applications for planes of movement and standard positioning for loading. We often reduce movement down to three basic cardinal planes, which is extremely reductionist approach considering the multidimensional and dynamic nature of sport. We also tend to see coaches instruct athletes to move in a very rigid and robotic manner while overtly emphasizing a flat “neutral” foot, often from a bilateral stance, and couple this with a stiff and rigid trunk.
From restricted planes and confined paths of motion to the bilateral stance and neutral center of pressure, these are the subtle elements of strength training that I believe misleads us in programming and prescription. Relating this back to the fascial lines, and starting with foot position, we need to be mindful of center of pressure and base of support. Where the foot is positioned and pressurized a significant factor in the subsequent tensioning of the myofascial lines, which then governs or guides muscular contraction. Moreover, when working in the bilateral stance we do not get optimal tensioning of the myofascial lines. Considering their architecture, having the hips in a split or ‘switch’ position promotes a better opportunity to engage the fascial lines.
Taking the static representations of these myofascial lines from above, now lets look at these from a training perspective (**be sure to hit the hyperlinks above each graphic for a quick training compilation).
Sport is very rarely played from a bilateral stance, we have elements of compressive forces, but much of the stressors in sport are tensile in nature. Sport is dynamic, it’s fluid, its reactive. Speaking practically, emphasizing fascia in training does not require a dramatically different or “abstract” exercise prescription. We can simply take conventional movements (squat, hinge, pull, Olympic variations, etc.) and apply them through the lens of these primary myofascial lines. Meaning, I perform very little bilateral movements, incorporate a wide range of directions/planes of movement, and have a wide frequency of intensities, load types, and positions.
Closing
Everything we do, consume, and subject our bodies to becomes a factor. Relating this to the training and treatment world, the way we cue, coach, and prescribe movements all matters, and across different athletes, requiring some level of precision to account for individual variability. Our goal, collectively, is to provide the right inputs, and the right time, and in the right capacity over and over again. This iterative process of coaching and performance is constantly fluctuating, and typically with minimal predictability.
The foundations of strength training are inarguably important, but how we’ve been taught to perform them may be incomplete. Appreciating the myofascial lines and the biotensegrity construct of movement does not override or interfere with our conventional elements of anatomy and biomechanics. What it does, is provides a more complete understanding of how we move, and importantly, influences the philosophies and perspective we adopt for prescribing movement and exercise inputs.
Fascia is our biological resonance system, it structurally connects, mechanically coordinates, and communicates proprioceptive and neurological signals throughout the body. Moving through myofascial lines is simply a more accurate representation of how the body is organized and moves within the training setting.
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