How Does Fascia Affect Muscle Performance
The Connective Tissue Network Between Your Muscles That Controls Force Transfer
Between every muscle fiber, around every organ, and throughout every nerve pathway, there is a continuous network of connective tissue called the extracellular matrix (ECM). Most people have never heard of it. But it plays a direct role in how your muscles contract, how force is transmitted, and why restrictions in one area affect function in a completely different area.
What Is The Extracellular Matrix
The ECM is not passive scaffolding. It is an active communication network. When you stretch a muscle, the ECM transmits that mechanical force to adjacent structures through a process called mechanotransduction. When you contract a muscle, force radiates through the fascial network to surrounding muscles, organs, and joints. Every movement affects tissues far beyond the ones you think you are targeting.
How Fascia Transmits Force Between Muscles
The thoracolumbar fascia connects the latissimus dorsi to the contralateral gluteus maximus. When you deadlift, force travels through this fascial sling from your right lat to your left glute. If the ECM in this region is restricted, dehydrated, or fibrotic, the force transmission is compromised. Your lat and glute are strong individually, but the connection between them is weak.
Why Fascial Restrictions Affect Distant Muscles
Fascial restrictions develop from sustained postures, repetitive movement patterns, dehydration, and chronic inflammation. Over time, normally smooth, gliding layers of fascia become adhered, thickened, and less capable of transmitting force efficiently. This is why two people with the same muscle mass can perform very differently in compound movements. The person with healthy ECM transmits force efficiently. The person with restricted ECM leaks force at every junction.
How Training Affects Fascial Health
The ECM also contains more mechanoreceptors than muscle tissue, meaning fascial health directly affects proprioception (your body's sense of position in space). When fascia is restricted, proprioceptive input degrades, leading to poorer motor control and higher injury risk, especially under load.
How To Maintain Healthy Connective Tissue
Maintaining fascial health requires movement variability (not just repetitive loading), adequate hydration, and addressing the positional patterns that create sustained fascial tension. MOVECHECK integrates ECM principles by assessing movement quality, not just joint range. The corrective protocol addresses both the positional cause and the tissue quality needed for full force transfer.
See This In Your Own Body
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