The importance of skin elasticity?

[JoachimG]

Hello everyone,

I've been away from the forums for quite some time, mostly due to the last year of my masters taking some time etc. but I absolutely still kept up with the reading from time to time. I cannot believe all the knowledge that's been collected in here. 

During my time away, I started to wonder about something, which really is purely based on myself, but I thought some of you might know something about it. First some background knowledge. Almost 6 years ago, I was pretty overweight standing at 319lbs/145kg. at the height of 194cm. Over the course of 1,5 year I dropped down to 80kg/176lbs and actually got pretty skinny. I'm now back at 225lbs/100kg. but mostly in muscle. Even though my skin was not hanging per se (probably due to me being only 20), my skin was and still is pretty loose and elastic due to its former larger frame capacity.

Now to the interesting part. Even though I did not do any stretching during my weightloss period, I gained a very large amount of flexibility. We're talking from not being able to touch your toes, to doing a front split after only a month of stretching and also having perfect shoulder extensions overhead. I know some of this might stem from just my CNS being in better shape etc. but my thoughts have led me to think that the skin itself, might play a huge part? I'm thinking that the input the stretching of skin provides, might facilitate a protective mechanism of some sort? I know some people see huge improvements by "restoring sliding surfaces" around the ankle and knee area, by using voodoo floss band.

What are your thoughts on this and have this been discussed before?

[Gym-Dave]

I remember seeing a video of Kelly Starrett using a Lacrosse Ball to restore "sliding capacity" in the skin. It was used more as a grip aid than pressing "into" the skin.

It was a movement similar to the one you make when erasing pencil with an eraser, but with more pressure.

https://youtu.be/3obt1KrMRDo?t=4m18s

I use voodoo flossing to ease the pain in my knee, I had surgery to lateral meniscus and flossing helps a lot.

[Francesco]

On 5/12/2016 at 11:10 AM, JoachimG said:

 I'm thinking that the input the stretching of skin provides, might facilitate a protective mechanism of some sort?

Very interesting; I don't know if this is true, but from anecdotal experience there is definitely a relationship between skin(/fascia) elasticity and flexibility; my skin is very elastic and I gain flexibility very, very quickly (once I started using the correct methods, 2-3 months for the splits, 10 days for the head to toe, etc), same for my brother; all of my students are the opposite and gain flexibility at a much slower rate. Did you ever commit to a serious stretching protocol (ie. both loaded and passive stretching) before losing weight? If not, you may simply be a fast responder like I am. 

I believe "restoring sliding surfaces" may be about breaking up adhesions so that the fascia and skin slide better; this can bring quite a dramatic improvement if done correctly. At the ST workshop I attended @Kit_L demonstrated a fascial release of the back which led to a nice improvement in the pike. 

[Nathan]

@Francesco briefly alluded to the point I would make, which is that it is the elasticity of the fascia that likely has an effect on flexibility. I have seen this mentioned in several other places as well, although I can't recall exactly where off the top of my head. The fascia covers the whole body, like the skin, and runs through parts of the muscles as well. It is also highly innervated and will definitely have a role in communicating with the brain whenever you are stretching, so it only makes sense that it would affect flexibility to some (probably a large) extent. I'm sure it's just one piece in a very complex puzzle, though!

[JoachimG]

On 6/12/2016 at 3:59 PM, Francesco said:

Did you ever commit to a serious stretching protocol (ie. both loaded and passive stretching) before losing weight? If not, you may simply be a fast responder like I am. 
 

Never. i was extremely "unflexy"

[Jim Pickles]

In me, stretchiness of the skin over the front of the body is certainly a factor in backbending ability.

 

[JoachimG]

That is very interesting Jim. I definitely thought there was something to it. Glad to hear some of you share your thoughts:)

[Kit_L]

Yep: in some people, a very strong relationship between fascial movement over the underlying muscles and flexibility exists; Miss O is a perfect example. On a workshop once, I was able to help improve her pike by about 25° simply by unsticking, then moving the skin on her lumber and middle back over the muscles underneath and it only took about 45 seconds. On the other hand, if you're in a similar position and you ask someone to see whether the fascia is moving over the muscles underneath and there is movement, then working on the fascia is unlikely to give you any kind of major breakthrough.

And it don't forget that releasing adhesion between gracilis and the inner hamstring can have a spectacular effect on pancakes, and many of you have seen this done on workshops. The mechanisms are different, but the connection to fascial adhesions is the same.

[Jim Pickles]

Another point is, that even if the skin or some other highly innervated tissue does not physicaly restrict you, the sensations of stretching from it may be enough to stop you going further, when you are near the end of your range. When you are near the end of the range, the body can easily get in an "emergency" state and take any signals as a sign not to go further. This also happens with clothing - for instance even just a seam pressing into your body near the end of your stretch may be taken as a signal by your body not to go further. For this reason, it is important that all clothing is fully stretchy, even at (and beyond) the end of the range.

Jim.