THE CONNECTIVE TENSEGRITY NETWORK - POSTURAL GYMNASTICS T.I.B. - - SPORT-AND-HEALTH

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Postural gymnastics T.I.B.

gymnastics of maximum effectiveness for the man of today

Edited by Dr. Giovanni Chetta

The connective tensegrity network

In about 4 billion years of life on this planet, human beings have evolved as aggregates of about 6 trillion of four different types of cells dispersed within a fluid element: nerve cells, specialized in conduction, muscular cells specialized in contraction, epithelial cells specialized in secretion (enzymes, hormones, etc.) and connective tissue. What must be considered is that the connective cells they create the environment for all other types of cells by building both the scaffolding that holds them together and the communication network between them.
The connective tissue, also called the connective fascia, is actually a real system, this time fibrous, which connects all the various parts of our body. It forms an ubiquitous network, with a tensegrity structure, which envelops, supports and connects all the functional units of the body, participating in an important way in the general metabolism. The physiological importance of this tissue is actually greater than what is normally supposed. It takes part in the regulation of the acid-base balance, of the hydrosaline metabolism, of the electrical and osmotic balance, of blood circulation and nerve conduction (it covers and forms the supporting structure of the nerves). It is the seat of numerous sensory receptors, including exteroceptors and nervous proprioceptors and structures the muscles, anatomically and functionally, in myofascial chains, thus assuming a fundamental role within the system of balance and posture; it is in the connective network that we register posture and movement patterns through connective mechanical communication, which affects this more than the reflex mechanisms of the neuromuscular spindles and Golgi tendon organs (proprioceptive sense organs through which the nervous system informs itself about what happens in the myofascial network). The connective system acts as a barrier to the invasion of bacteria and inert particles, presents cells of the immune system (leukocytes, mast cells, macrophages, plasma cells) and is frequently the site of inflammatory processes. inflammations and / or trauma, filling the spaces, if necessary. In the adipose tissue, which is a type of connective tissue, lipids, important nutritional reserves, accumulate while in the loose connective tissue water and electrolytes are stored (thanks to its high content of mucopolissacaridi acids) and about 1/3 of the total plasma proteins are in the intercellular compartment of the connective tissue.
But not only that, today we know that, through specific membrane proteins (integrins), the connective system is able to interact with cellular mechanisms.
We are faced with a real continuous and dynamic supramolecular network that extends into every corner and body space composed of a nuclear matrix inside a cellular matrix immersed in an extracellular matrix. Unlike the networks formed by the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, the connective system presents a perhaps apparently more archaic but certainly no less important method of communication: the mechanical one. It "simply" pulls and pushes, thus communicating from fiber to fiber, from cell to cell and from internal and external environment to the cell and vice versa, through the fibrous web, the fundamental substance and sophisticated mechanical signal transduction systems. In the tensegrity structure the parts in compression (the bones) push outwards against the parts in traction (myofascia) which push inwards. This type of structures have a more elastic stability than those under continuous compression and become much more stable as the more they are loaded All the interconnected elements of a tensegrity structure rearrange themselves in response to a local voltage.
'Blocks"local, such as fascial adhesions, can result from overexertion or lack of exercise, trauma, etc. The" elimination of these impediments, therefore the restoration of the correct flow allows the affected cells to pass from a survival metabolism to a specific physiological one . In the myofascial (musculo-fascial) system of our body, each muscle is held in place by connective laminae (aponeurosis or aponeurosis) and is enclosed in the bands like the pulp of an orange is in the cell walls that divide it (perimysium and endomysium Through the connective fascia the muscles structure and function and are structured as muscle chains or rather myofascial chains that connect and interchange throughout the body; it is no coincidence that Thomas Myers, in the book "Myofascial Meridians", defines them as "anatomy trains" .

The chains of the upper limbs according to T. Myers

The anterior muscle chains of the upper limb according to F. Mezieres

The posterior muscle chain according to T. Myers

The posterior muscle chains according to F. Mezieres

In a healthy body, the deep bands allow adjacent structures to slide over each other. However, following inflammatory diseases, such as in cases of chronic muscle contractures, or traumatic injuries, adherent scars form in different layers, which increase internal friction during muscle contraction and counteract muscle movement and elongation (formation of retracted muscle). If you do not oppose scar retractions enough (by stretching, joint mobilization, massage, etc.), they transform into fibrousness capable of making abnormal postures and limited movements difficult to reverse. The connective retractions also reduce the circulation of blood and interstitial fluids and nerve conduction, thus also affecting muscle tone (residual degree of slight contraction of the muscle a rest) and the overall health of the individual thus contributing to fatigue and general tensions.
It is therefore in the crystal of the connective system that our global state is determined and recorded. Therefore, methodologies (manual, movement, ergonomic, etc.), based on the concept of re-harmonization of the connective system in accordance with the other systems, can have important not only immediate but also long-lasting effects on the general health of the organism.