How to get a pain-free body?

Your body doesn't lie.

What if the key to a pain-free and strong body, better posture, and more energy isn't in your muscles, but in a—in my opinion—MEGA interesting network? Fascia. Let's take a deep dive into this beautiful system together. Fascia (also known as connective tissue) plays a much larger role than was thought for many years. In this blog, you'll learn exactly what it is, why it's such an important system, and how to keep it healthy.

Over the past ten years, I, Jeroen, have spent years studying the human body, anatomy, and physiology. To give you an idea: at the sports academy, you learned an enormous amount about everything related to the themes mentioned above. However, when I look back at that period now, I find that a too one-sided vision was propagated at the time, in which we perhaps neglected to highlight the most important system. In anatomy classes, we mainly looked at all the individual parts. The body was viewed from the anatomical position, and each muscle or joint was examined separately. This approach originated in a time when bodies were cut open, and only one muscle and what it did were purely observed. This is how the science of anatomy came into being. For example, we learned that the arm consists of a biceps and triceps, which are responsible for flexion and extension of the arm, respectively. But in reality, the body works as one cohesive whole—and in that, fascia plays a leading role. Your body is a system with all sorts of internal systems. It's a machine. And if something moves somewhere, it impacts the entire system.

 

 

What exactly is Fascia?

Fascia is a network that connects everything in your body. I often describe it as a kind of subcutaneous Spiderman suit. It goes through everything and around everything. It is a gel-like structure with hollow tubes that consists of about 80% water.

Yet, for a long time, this tissue was overlooked in classical anatomy. Because it was often removed during dissections to get 'a better view' of muscles and organs, it was not considered a functional part of the body. Only in recent years has science begun to realize how essential fascia is for movement, strength, coordination, and even pain perception.

Although research has been done on it for quite some time, Thomas Meyers was the first to powerfully describe and highlight the fascia network in his book "Anatomy Trains," in which he extensively demonstrates the different fascial chains.

In this book, you see the different "trains," or chains. Your body consists of important fascial chains that ensure you can maintain the structure of your body. You can view your body as the mast of a ship. The ropes on the mast ensure that the mast remains upright. You can imagine that if a rope is pulled too much (tension arises), the mast will become crooked. Those ropes are your fascial chains. You have chains running along the front and back of your body (front and backline) that provide balance and connect your body from head to toe. But also lines around your spine (spiral line) and a Deep Front Line that, for example, protects your organs and has an important function in your respiratory system.

In an anatomical image, you often see muscles, with a lot of white tissue around them. That white tissue is myofascia: the combination of muscle and fascia. The muscle itself functions as a cable, but the fascia is what connects that cable to other cables. It is the bridge, the translator, and the network that ensures everything works together.

Tendons are a part of this—they form the connection between muscle and bone. But the fascial system goes much further than just tendons. Fascia runs through, around, and between everything: muscles, organs, nerves, and blood vessels.

You have superficial fascia (just under the skin), which provides gliding surfaces and temperature regulation. You have deep fascia, which snakes through your entire body and, for example, organizes your muscles and bones into functional chains. And then there's also visceral fascia, which keeps your organs in place and protects them.

Fascia is therefore not one type of tissue, but an entire network—a communication system, a force conductor, a protective layer, and a movement memory all at once. If you understand how fascia works, you will never look at the body the same way again.

 

 

What is fascia made of?

Fascia, as I said earlier, is not an 'envelope.' It is a living, breathing, and continuously adaptive network composed of three main components:

Collagen – the powerhouse of fascia.
Collagen fibers provide structure and tensile strength. They lie in layers, spirals, and bundles that move with how you move. Collagen is to fascia what 'stress wood' is to trees: it becomes stronger with the right stimulus (load) and recovers if you eat, sleep, and hydrate well. Your body continuously produces it, but the quality depends on lifestyle. Without movement or variation, collagen becomes stiff, sticky, or loses its elasticity. That's where vague complaints and injuries often arise.

Elastin – collagen's resilient partner.
Elastin fibers ensure that your fascia springs back after a stretch or jump. It's why you can move smoothly. A good balance between collagen and elastin provides both firmness and flexibility – exactly what your body needs during daily movements and sports.

Fibroblasts – the workhorses of connective tissue.
Fibroblasts are cells that actively respond to what you do. They 'feel' mechanical stimuli and build new connective tissue based on them. They produce collagen, reorganize existing fibers, and communicate with your immune system. Think: you move → fibroblasts feel that load → they adapt your fascia. Not in a day, but over time. Fascia literally has a memory of how you move and live.

 

The core functions of fascia

1. Transmitting force

Fascia connects your entire body in functional chains and ensures efficient force transmission. If you push your foot into the ground during a jump, you feel that effect all the way up to your arm. Not through pure muscle action, but through those connected fascial structures.

Force leaks away if your chain is interrupted. You can think of it like a guardrail next to a highway. Fascia = connection.

2. Viscosity: the 'lubricating layer' of your body

Fascia contains a gel-like fluid structure that determines how well the layers glide over each other. This property is called viscosity.
The more supple the fascia, the better you move. But with stress, dehydration, or inactivity, the connective tissue can dry out or harden. Then your body feels stiff, rigid, or 'stuck.'

Movement = hydration = smooth gliding.

3. Proprioception: feeling where you are

Fascia is full of receptors that help you feel where your body is in space. This is called proprioception. The fascial system is literally your internal GPS. It provides information about pressure, stretch, direction, and tension – and sends that to your brain. If that feedback isn't good, you feel unbalanced, uncoordinated, or 'disconnected.'

Fascia also trains your body awareness.

4. Cooperation with – but also separate from – your nervous system

Fascia works partly autonomously: it responds directly to tension, temperature, pressure, and movement – without you consciously controlling it. But it does communicate with your nervous system, your hormones, and your immune system.
Chronic stress? Then the tonus of your fascia increases.
Trauma? Then fascia stiffens in that spot – sometimes for years.

Fascia stores information. Movement and release can therefore also release emotions.

5. Recovery and protection

Fascia protects your organs, absorbs impacts, and plays a major role in recovery. Fibroblasts (the 'building cells' in fascia) produce new collagen in case of damage or stress. Fascia literally forms the structure in which recovery takes place.

It is your protective layer, shock absorber, and recovery environment all in one.

 

 

How do you care for a healthy, strong, and pain-free body?

Because fascia consists of about 80% water (opinions differ on the exact percentage), it is crucial that it remains well-hydrated. When dehydration occurs due to certain factors, fascia can no longer function properly. It loses its gliding ability, structure, and the ability to transmit tension.

Causes? Think of trauma (in any form), injuries, chronic stress, prolonged sitting, or dysfunctional movement – for example, due to isolated strength training without chain activation. Your fascia then becomes, as it were, rough, less elastic, and loses its flow. Energy can no longer flow properly through the system, which creates bottlenecks – also known as trigger points. These, in turn, can lead to complaints.

But here's the interesting part: the complaint is rarely located at the source of the problem. Do you have ankle pain? That could just as easily stem from an imbalance higher up in the chain – for example, your hip, back, or even your shoulder. Fascia works in lines and tension fields, not in separate parts. Symptom vs. cause. And that distinction is essential if you want to become permanently free of complaints.

What many people don't know is that fascia also reacts electrically to tension and pressure. This is called the Piezoelectric effect. When fascia is loaded (for example, by movement, compression, or stretch), a slight electrical charge is generated in the tissue. This charge attracts charged particles – such as calcium or sodium – which then activate the fibroblasts, the cells that produce collagen and keep your fascia healthy.

Let me explain it more simply: imagine you have a dry sponge (dehydrated fascia), you squeeze it in your fist. Then you put your fist into a bucket of water and release the sponge. What happens?

Indeed, smarty pants. The sponge soaks up water. This is exactly how you can view the process described above.

However: with prolonged one-sided tension or inactivity, the opposite happens. The system stiffens, the electrical response stagnates, moisture recedes... and your fascia slowly dehydrates. Your body becomes stiffer, your freedom of movement decreases, and the chance of overload or pain increases.

The way to keep your fascia healthy? By moving as your body intended. Multidimensional. With rotations, bends, stretches, and spirals. Across different axes, in different planes. Think of throwing, running, jumping, swinging, turning, lifting. Movements that are functional – not forced and isolated.

Avoid monotonous patterns.

Your fascia doesn't like repetition without variation.

So: goodbye bicep curls, hello natural strength.

If your fascia is not properly hydrated, I would advise you to work with myofascial releases. You can do this with a Theracane or a lacrosse ball. You look for tender spots and apply pressure there. When you hold this for at least 1.5-2 minutes, you essentially push out the trigger point (hello sponge effect). This ensures that your fascia is rehydrated.

 

 

What else can you do for a pain-free body?

Sunlight
Stimulates your mitochondria (the energy powerhouses of your cells), which are necessary for recovery and collagen synthesis. More sun = more energy for your connective tissue.

 

Grounding (barefoot on the earth)
Reduces inflammation, cortisol, improves electrical conductivity, and literally helps your body discharge. Fascia = conductive tissue, so grounding = win.

 

Be careful with caffeine
Too much coffee increases stress hormones (cortisol), which can harden and dehydrate your connective tissue. Especially with chronic stress or poor sleep: so be careful.

 

Collagen (from food)
Eat bone broth, fish or chicken skin, or supplement with collagen. Glycine, Proline, and hydroxyproline are essential for fascial build-up.

 

Hydration (but really)
Drinking water is great, but it's about cellular hydration. Combine with electrolytes (salt, potassium, magnesium) so that the water also gets into your tissues.

 

Breathing
Functional breathing (through your nose, low and calm) affects your connective tissue tension via the vagus nerve and the deep fascial lines around your diaphragm.

 

Sleep & recovery
Fascia does not recover during activity, but during rest. Good sleep = collagen production, tissue repair, and tension reduction. This also, of course, impacts your HRV level.

 

Avoid chronic compression
Prolonged sitting, maintaining the same posture, tight shoes – anything that continuously puts pressure on fascia without movement – works against you.