As a certified personal trainer, you might think you’re set in your career. You’ve got your certifications, you’ve got your clients, and you’re happy as can be with your career choice. But any good personal trainer or fitness professional knows one thing—fitness, health, and wellness are not static.
Everything within the industry is consistently changing. Every day, health and wellness professionals discover something new about what’s good or bad for the body, which is why it’s imperative that you, a certified professional, stay in the know.
All of that to say, continuing your personal fitness education isn’t just a good idea, it’s a necessary one. That’s precisely where myofascial release enters the conversation.
Maybe you’ve been a trainer for a long time, maybe you’re brand-spankin’-new to the personal trainer game—the point is, no matter where you’re at in your career, learning about myofascial release (and how to implement it in both your own training and your clients’) can be hugely beneficial!
If you’re not sure about myofascial release, what it is, or how to get certified or licensed in it, don’t sweat—we’ve got you covered. Consider this your little crash course into the bare bones basics of myofascial release!
What is Myofascial Release?
Before we dive into why myofascial release matters, it would probably help to understand what exactly it is. Myofascial release is defined as a type of physical therapy that’s used to treat myofascial pain, which, you guessed it, is pain that affects the fascia.
Fascia is hugely important, though often under-acknowledged, part of the body that helps to keep everything functioning properly. Think of fascia as giant sheets of connective tissue underneath your skin. Fascia helps to attach, stabilize, enclose, and separate your muscles and internal organs. The cool thing? There are different layers of fascia (like deep fascia, superficial fascia, and more).
Myofascial release is a type of technique that specifically targets your fascia and helps to relieve pain, restore motion, and overall, improve a body’s health. This type of release is said to not only treat muscle immobility and pain by relaxing incredibly contracted muscles but also is said to improve blood and lymphatic circulation (which helps to stimulate the stretch in your muscles).
In theory, all of that probably makes sense, but it still probably leaves you wondering what exactly myofascial release techniques look like. Myofascial release happens in many forms—from foam rollers to tennis balls to massage techniques.
Why Does Myofascial Release Matter for Your Personal Trainer Career?
Obviously, fascia plays a huge role in how your body functions—just like your muscles and joints and more. As a personal trainer, you put a huge focus on creating exercises that help to strengthen muscles and joints, right? Fascia shouldn’t be excluded either.
As a physical fitness expert, you’re not just there to grow clients muscles—you’re there to help them meet their physical goals. While myofascial release might not seem like a direct benefit, there are tons of indirect benefits that will help them attain their overall goals.
Myofascial release helps to relieve muscle tightness and promotes good fascia health. When your fascia is in its premium state, it should be pliable, flexible, and should make it easy for your surrounding joints to move around unrestricted. When fascia is not attended to, when muscles aren’t stretched, and when you don’t help your clients understand how paying attention to their body’s aches and pains could be detrimental to their physical health, there’s potential for collagen to form between the layers of your fascia—your skeletal muscles—that create knots, making it tough for your muscles to move about.
Your clients depend on you, their personal trainer, to empower them and provide them with the knowledge they need to promote the betterment of their overall health. That means going above and beyond just knowing the perfect way to get the boulder shoulders they’re after. Understanding myofascial release—and further, becoming a certified professional in this area—is a huge boon not just to you, but to your clients and their goals.
How You Can Implement Myofascial Release into Your Clients Lives
Truthfully, every single one of your clients could likely benefit from implementing myofascial release into their physical wellness routine. Whether that means you add that specifically into your time with them in the gym or studio, or you take the time to teach them how to accomplish myofascial release on their own time.
The first step? Becoming a certified professional—because the more you know, the better you’ll be able to help your clients target their fascia relief safely and accurately. There are dozens of programs out there that can help you become certified in this process,
Overall, continuing your physical fitness education is the key to becoming the ultimate version of the personal trainer you want to be—take the time to consider how myofascial release certification could benefit your clients and your career!
