*Warning-The views expressed here will not be found in a text book. The author of these opinions (ie. me) will withdraw from direct contact with people until the fury dies down into a small hurricane*

May I be so bold to say that I like the focus on the fascia but I really really really disagree with you... in a very nice way of course. (sheepish grin)

We really need to change the way we think about muscle so we can better understand it's function. Allow me to throw some brain teasers out there.

1. Muscle is NOT soft tissue.
2. Stretching does not exist in the terms we think of it (ie. we were taught in school)
3. Muscle and fascia are related... more to crystals (Going to duck the rotten tomoatoes being thrown my way)
4. I am CRAZY I know!

So let me discuss with you crazy notion number 1. Muscle is NOT soft tissue. Well... It's not. I cant leave it at that eh? Oh well... Muscle, the component we care about anyway, is the motor molecules actin and myosin. Please think of them as if they were a heavy duty cog and a heavy duty chain, and just like a chain we can't stretch it. If you can do it without breaking the links (eccentric damage) then bottle it and sell it to Nike for a fortune. The muscle length is determined by the amount of links in the chain. I believe I expressed the opinion before that the only way you can lengthen or shorten a muscle is to cast it into a position for a week(s) in order for the muscle to remove/add links to the muscle. Please view the motor molecules as the skeleton of the muscle cell and just like you cant make your arms longer by holding 100lb weights for hours on end, you cant do it to your muscles.

Crazy notion number 2. Stretching, like my personal life, doesnt exist! Honestly, how can I have a personal life if I spout off crazy stuff because I choose to bury my nose in crazy studies by crazier researchers???? Flexibility and strength or strength and flexibility.... there is no difference. They are the same thing! Strength comes in the ability to recruit muscle fibers in the ENTIRE range of the motion. To be a runner and only be strong in 10 - 20 degrees of hip, knee, and ankle flexion/extension makes you a weak biomechanical train wreck.... but one hell of a forest gump. As we excel in our sports, we train our muscles to conserve energy by compensating in many movements. As a runner, why on earth will I engage my ass when it is so HUGE(!) and uses so many calories when I can use my hamstrings which are smaller and use less???? This will allow me to have the energy to run from New York to LA via forest gump. So what we should be asking is what comes first, the stretch reflex or the cerebellum? Who freaks out when the muscle is brought beyond the range it can function with optimal strength.... To be honest, we all have the ability to do the splits.... our muscles are long enough to do it but we are just not strong enough in that range.

Crazy notion number 3. Muscle and fascia share may properties with crystals. I remember reading somewhere that the actin and myosin filaments are structured like any normal crystaline structure. I am reading more into this so I can prove I have no life to the next girl I meet... (hey baby, did you know that my body is "rock" hard?)

Point 4. Did I not prove it yet? sigh

So why am I making these points? I am sure I did not answer any questions but instead created a few more (like who the hell is this nob? A proponent for silcon life?) but to me it is very important to know what we are talking about in terms of thinking outside the antiquated text book.

Stretching does nothing as it is an isometric contraction. It activates the muscle and thereby increases blood flow into it in porportion to metabolic need. It forces the muscle to work outside it's normal range where it is weaker and unable to perform it's function properly.

Fascia is a covering of the muscle. It would impede the flow of fluid in and around the muscle (we are a sea of red after all) and is intimate with every inch of our body. As for it's true function, unless we see someone skinned and be made to endure lots of inhumane experiments on to further understand it's true role we can only make an educated guess. We are not a sadistic race (I will hold on to this fact so dont argue with me <wink>) after all. Hey look what they did to einsteins educated guesses after a few decades! The only thing he got right is E=MC2... for now.

NOTHING happpens unless you have blood.....

As for the joint protection.... well... muscle protects and endures... That is trade marked by the way... MY SLOGAN!!! NO STEALING! LOL

Adamo