Blocking and Exercise
Many ask the question – when is it better to block, before or after exercise? The reality is that either time will benefit you, but let's discuss the differences.
Exercise comes in many shapes and sizes, whether you're hitting the gym, playing sports, or attending yoga, dance, or pilates classes. Preparing your body before any activity is always beneficial.
Benefits of Blocking Before Exercise
Taking a few minutes for proper diaphragmatic breathing will help to preheat your body for optimal performance. All this requires is doing the belly position for three minutes. Just like warming up a car in cold weather to help fluids move freely, preheating your body prevents premature wear and damage.
For activities where range of motion is key, working on joints that need the most rotation is an excellent preparation. Adhesions develop in fascia continuously due to gravity's constant influence and our habitual movement patterns. Giving your main action joints a warmup provides better range of motion, or if you experience pain or limitation, it realigns your range and engages previously blocked cells, adding more energy to your movements. This improves both flexibility and strength, enhancing overall performance.
Caution for Competitive Athletes
This approach should not be practiced before a competition. If you're new to Block Therapy or have never blocked before creating change without understanding how it affects you isn't recommended.
Athletes have movement patterns based on fascia grooves that deepen with practice. Here’s an example, a golfer with years of ingrained habits will experience a changed swing after blocking, so be aware of how profound a Block session can be.
While beneficial for long-term health, making changes just before competition can disrupt precision.
Elite athletes should incorporate Block Therapy during off-seasons, allowing time to adapt to increased range of motion and giving proprioception – your mind's awareness of limbs in space – time to adjust.
Benefits of Blocking After Exercise
Blocking after exercise helps manage any inflammation from the activity, efficiently rebuilding tissue in a healthier state. The stiffness that occurs a day or two following exercise – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) – can be reduced with a post-activity Block session, as it assists with waste removal and supports the inflammatory process in rebuilding micro-tears.
If you've tried a new activity or pushed beyond your norm, blocking the concerned area immediately after is an excellent way to prevent DOMS.
Finding Your Personal Approach
Most importantly, everyone needs to experience the work themselves to determine what makes sense for their body. Exercise goals vary widely – overall well-being, managing body composition, increasing strength, excelling in sport or performance art – but most include some element of pleasure, whether from accomplishment, play, or improved quality of life.
To ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh the negatives over time, caring for your fascia is essential.
So for how often the question is asked, the answer to when to block comes down to personal trial and error. Only you know how your body feels, which highlights another benefit of Fascia Decompression. By melting adhesions and connecting deeply with your body, you begin to understand what your cells are communicating. They have a built-in language to guide you, but we often ignore it, masking pain instead of addressing it. Being proactive with your body will result in health for years to come.
I recently asked a member who experienced remarkable body changes to share wisdom about the practice. He simply said: "Try it."
Thanks to your program and my dedication to freeing my body with the block, the daily swing drills and exercise…..this last week I hit a milestone in golfing. I shot 84 - yes it was 18 holes, and yes it was on a real course not mini-golf -haha! Thanks heaps for showing me how to free up my body! This works!!” - Helen Wheeler Jacobs
Hello friends. My first of many successes with block therapy was that within 3 days of using it on my elbow... (golfer's elbow) the terrible and frustrating pain I was dealing with daily for over a year..was 80% better in 3 days… within 3 weeks it was totally gone and has not returned in over a year…
-Dori Dennis
No matter your exercise, fitness, or activity goals, Block Therapy will complement them. Used consciously, it can make a world of difference to your performance level and longevity!
Watch: So many athletes complain of tight hamstrings. Learn How To Increase Hamstring Flexibility Fast with this one simple Fascia Decompression technique.
Listen: to the Fascia Masters Podcast to learn more about optimizing your workouts with Block Therapy.
Ready to experience the benefits of Block Therapy for yourself? Get started with our Block Therapy Starter Kit to begin your Fascia Decompression journey.
Breathe & Believe,
Deanna
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