Athletic leggings and sports bras are brilliantly designed to hold everything in place while we exercise, allowing us to move, bend, and twist freely. Fitted clothing stays put and doesn’t gape, slip, or get caught in equipment. We love it. However, we should minimize our time spent in fitness clothing because its powerful compression can also restrict our energy, weight loss, skin, and overall health. Here is how fitted clothing disrupts your flow and five changes I made to keep things flowing.
Flow is Life
We are fluid beings. We are also electrical beings. The flow of fluid and electricity throughout our bodies is the foundation of our function and vitality.
The classic fingertip test is a simple way to demonstrate our fluid nature and how sensitive it is to pressure. Pick one of your fingertips and use your opposite thumb to compress it for one second, then release and observe the color change. Repeat the same test, this time applying half the amount of pressure. What did you observe? It should be apparent how much pressure on our body affects the underlying fluid.
We are just learning about the fascinating fascia layer beneath our skin. It is also a fluid layer, which is part of the reason why our athletic clothing may be harming us if it is too tight and we wear it too long.
Fascia: The Missing Link
Fascia is a layer of tissue found under the skin, and encompassing every structure in the body including our organs and vessels. Its collagen and fluid makeup support our structure and serve as a communication and delivery system. Fascia is a fluid matrix that flows in the body, moving in a vortex along very specific fascial lines. These lines are similar to those of meridians in Chinese Medicine and other energy modalities.
When Fascia is Compressed
Fascia is like a sponge. When full of water, it is soft and squishy. Upon compression, it releases its fluid which is vacuumed up again when the sponge is released. Fascia likes this type of compression to stay healthy. It doesn’t like long-held compressions because, after a while, it may dry up and lose its ability to vacuum fluid back in. This can happen when our clothes press into our bodies in concentrated areas all day, or for days, weeks, months, or years. It happens when we sit too long on our backside fascia or have poor posture that impedes fascial flow.
In dehydrated areas of fascia, we find collagen fibers that are hardened. They lose their elastic nature, conductivity, and ability to host the living fluid matrix that flows along fascial lines and into the lymphatic system. Fascial dehydration can cause a host of issues like pain, stiffness, joint function issues, fatigue, and more. Yes, your athletic clothing can contribute to this.
Flow-Blocking Clothes
Are you feeling sluggish, weak, in pain, or stiff? Perhaps your ill-fitting clothes are compromising your flow. Here are five athletic clothing interventions that I have made to keep my fascia fresh and flowing.
1. Strappy Attire: I now have an explanation for the hard, dense knots in my upper trapezius muscles (upper shoulder) that no massage therapist has ever been able to remedy. My sports bras have always left deep indents in the top of my shoulders, and I now understand the long term effects of this.
Thin, tight straps on bras, sports bras, and tank tops compress the fascia and muscles, affecting important flow in the shoulder and neck area. The image above shows how much that compression impacted the first few layers of skin and fascia after only a one-hour workout. I now buy my sports bras with wide straps and l look for adjustable straps where possible to loosen them.
2. Waistbands and Underwear: Keeping your clothes from falling off has been the job of elastic for years. However, elastic creates uniform compression into fascial tissue that can be enough to restrict fluid flow. If you notice underwear imprinted into your pelvis or the waistband from your pants, skirts, or shorts, you’ve robbed your body of energizing flow during your workout or possibly all day. I now look for loose or adjustable waistbands and clothes that hang loose on my body.
3. Snug Socks: The fluids in your feet have a long way to go to get back to the heart and lungs and back into circulation. Having to climb against gravity, these fluids get a boost from muscle contractions, one-way valves, and the vortex of flow through the fascia. However, a snug pair of socks will make that climb even more difficult. Socks that leave imprints anywhere along the ankle are blocking your flow. I try to wear low-cut or loose socks or limit socks altogether when possible.
4. Smart Fascia Care: Now that I understand the importance of fascia care, a few weekly fascia sessions go a long way to keep my fascia hydrated and flowing. My MELT Method roller and MELT Hand and Foot Kit are my favorite tools for gliding and shearing my fascia at the end of the day, especially when I notice compression marks anywhere on my body.
Mystery Conditions Possibly Caused by Tight Clothes
Our everyday clothes are likely to be just as guilty as workout wear. Take note of your work attire, too, and you may discover the source of your mystery aches and pains.
– Knots in your muscles, especially the trapezius (upper shoulder, around the neck)
– Hip dips, or fat distribution around the hips that has permanent indentations
– Shoulder pain that may be from long-term restricted flow in the shoulder area due to tight straps or restricting bra lines that compress flow around the rib region
– Shallow breathing from bras that creates resistance to expanding the lungs fully
Loosen Up Your Clothes for Better Flow
You can move more freely, eliminate pain, enjoy better workouts, and enhance your skin’s appearance and energy simply by checking in with how gently your everyday wardrobe and athletic attire fit.
Loosen up and flow happily,
-Shari
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Melt Foam Roller
I started pumping iron and drinking green smoothies in my teens. Now a 40+ mama with 25 years of experience working in the fitness industry, I do things differently. What I discovered during my personal healing journey made me pivot in my approach as a personal fitness and wellness coach. Now I teach people how to sweat, nourish and glow from an entirely new perspective.