Fascia in Sport and Movement, Second Edition

By Robert Schleip and Jan Wilke

‘Fascia in Sport and Movement is the best source to date on the practical applications of fascia science to athletics and movement disciplines. It is essential reading for coaches, athletes, trainers, movement teachers, manual therapists, as well as anyone else interested in how fascial understanding can improve performance, expression, and movement freedom.’ Til Luchau, Director of Advanced-Trainings.com and author of Advanced Myofascial Techniques

Edited by Robert Schleip and Jan Wilke, Fascia in Sport and Movement, Second Edition is a unique publication, whose strength lies in the breadth of its coverage, the expertise of its authorship and the currency of its research and practice base.

• It is a multi-author book with contributions from 51 leading teachers and practitioners across the entire spectrum of bodywork and movement professions.
• It provides the most up-to-date information to support success in teaching, training, coaching, strengthening, tackling injury, reducing pain, and improving mobility.
• It explains and demonstrates how an understanding of the structure and function of fascia can inform and improve clinical practice.
• It provides knowledge and understanding to enable better expert management of soft tissue injuries
• It explores how different activities influence the body’s soft tissue matrix, and investigates the types of injuries which may occur
• It is a truly essential resource for all bodywork professionals – sports coaches, fitness trainers, yoga teachers, Pilates instructors, dance teachers and manual therapists.

New content for the second edition!

• The new edition boasts over 600 pages, nearly 400 color illustrations, and comprehensively updated coverage of the latest scientific and practical knowledge incorporated into each chapter. There are also 21 new chapters on a variety of subjects, including the influence of sex hormones on fascial connective tissue; nutrition; fluid dynamics; biotensegrity; hypo-and hypermobility; injury prevention; oncology and more!
• The section on clinical applications is now expanded by new chapters on eccentric training, foam rolling, walking, throwing, footwear, fascial strength training, mental imagery and more.
• Exciting new answers to clinical questions and problems and a multitude of reliable and novel information
• New inspiring questions, careful hypothetical speculations, as well as valuable clinical observations
• A completely new section  on assessment methods and including new chapter contributions on joint mobility examination, ultrasound imaging techniques and mechanical assessment

Robert Schleip MA PhD
Director, Fascia Research Project, Ulm University, Germany; Research Director, European Rolfing Association; Certified Rolfing Instructor and Feldenkrais teacher; Author and co-editor of several books and numerous research articles. For his discovery of active contractile properties in fascial tissues he was awarded the prestigious Vladimir Janda Award for
Musculoskeletal Medicine. He was co-initiator and organiser of the first Fascia Research Congress held in Boston, USA in 2007.

Jan Wilke
Leader of the Fascia in Motion research group, Frankfurt University, Germany; Member of the American College of Sports Medicine; Conditioning coach who has worked with high-level athletes, including the former world No 1 tennis player, Angelique Kerber.  His chapter on Myofascial Chains, published in Gray’s Anatomy, represents
one of the first anatomical atlas contributions explicitly focusing on fascia and movement.

Contents:

Section 1 Theory

Highlights of fascial anatomy, morphology and function

Surprising facts about fascial physiology and biochemistry

Sex hormonal effects on tendons and ligaments

Stress loading and matrix remodeling in tendon and skeletal muscle: Cellular mechano-stimulation and tissue remodeling

Mechanical loading and adaptive responses of tendinous tissues

Nutrition and loading to improve fascia function

Hypo- and hypermobility

Elastic storage and recoil dynamics

Water and fluid dynamics in fascia

What is it good for? An evidence-based review of stretching in sport and movement

Biotensegrity in sport and movement

Myofascial continuity: Towards a new understanding of human anatomy

Mechanical force transmission across myofascial chains

Myofascial force transmission to synergistic and antagonistic muscles

Fascia as sensory organ

Fascia and musculoskeletal injury: An underestimated association?

Classification of athletic injuries to muscular tissues

Fascia, exercise and oncology

Section 2 Assessment methods

Assessment of joint mobility

Imaging techniques (ultrasound)

Mechanical assessment

Palpation and functional assessment methods for fascia-related dysfunction

Section 3 Clinical application

Integrating clinical experience and scientific evidence – Roadmap for a healthy dialog between health practitioners and academic researchers

Fascial Fitness

Basic principles of plyometric training

Eccentric training: The key for a stronger, more resilient athlete?

Foam rolling and roller massage effects and mechanisms

Fascial stretching

Food for the fascia: Molecular and biochemical processes

Walking: The benefit of being on two legs

Functional training methods for the runner’s myofascial systems

Shoes or no shoes during locomotion and exercise – Training potential for fascial structures of the lower extremity

Overarm throwing in humans

The secret role of fascia in the martial arts

The world as a playground: Ninja and parkour training

Anatomy Trains in motion

Fascial form in yoga

Yin yoga as a fascia-oriented practice

Fascia-focused Pilates training

Three-dimensional fascia-oriented training

Dance

Kettlebell training

Fascia-oriented strength training in a conventional gym environment

Rehabilitation in sport medicine

How to train fascia in soccer

Movement therapy for breast cancer survivors

Mental imagery, fascia and movement

Periodized fascia training for speed, power, and injury resilience