Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1519088
THE REBEL MT By Allison Denney Fact or Friction Heat from Friction Can Benefit Connective Tissue TECHNIQUE I'm a huge fan of friction. I wasn't when I was in massage school. It took a lot of effort and made me grumpy. But the longer I'm a hands-on therapist, the wiser I get about how effective friction really is, plus, the more I appreciate how good it feels on my own achy muscles and bones. I do think a quality, weighted hot pad is a convenient alternative. But hands-on friction can feel as good as a bowl of popcorn and a good movie. Friction works because it generates heat. And while this may be a good enough answer for some of you, I'm sure there are a lot of you who want to know more. The scientific version goes something like this: Muscle tissue and connective tissue comprise different elements. Muscle fibers KEY POINT • Like it or not, friction is necessary to help connective tissue move, which can help muscles breathe a little easier. are contractile. The actin and myosin filaments that control the length of each sarcomere require ATP and potassium to make a contraction happen. Connective tissue and fascia—a subcategory of connective tissue—are extensile. Connective tissue is made of collagen fibers and chemical bonds that respond to elements like temperature and hydration. So, when a muscle contracts repeatedly and frequently, it generates heat that helps the fascia and connective tissue that hold the muscle to a bone or surrounding tissues to increase its extensibility and move with more ease. This is a very convenient feature when exercising or doing anything active and you want to increase your ability to go faster, jump higher, or throw farther. The muscles generate the power to move the bones, and the energy from that power creates heat 22 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k m ay/ j u n e 2 0 24