Hydrate the Web

Fascia is not dry. Between its fibers sits a gel-like ground substance, made largely of molecules called glycosaminoglycans, hyaluronan being the famous one, that bind and hold a remarkable amount of water. Much of the body's water actually lives not in the blood but in this connective-tissue matrix and the fluid spaces around it, a network some researchers have recently mapped and named the interstitium. Hydrated, that gel is slippery and springy and the fascial layers glide over one another. Dehydrated, it turns sticky and thick, the layers drag instead of slide, and that drag is a large part of what stiffness actually feels like.

Here is the catch most people miss: drinking water alone does not fully reach the tissue. Two other things have to happen. First, the water needs minerals, the electrolytes that carry it into the cells and the matrix rather than straight through you (see Hydration and Minerals). Second, and just as important, movement is the pump. Fascia has limited direct blood supply, so it relies on being squeezed and stretched to move fluid through it, motion literally drives water into and through the web. This is why a body that sits still all day can be well watered and still feel stiff and sticky.

So hydrating your fascia is three things working together: water, minerals, and movement. Sip steadily through the day rather than flooding it all at once, because a slow, steady supply gets absorbed while a sudden flood is mostly passed. Keep some salt and mineral-rich food in the mix. And keep moving in varied ways, the gentle, all-directional movement that circulates fluid and keeps the layers gliding. Add the deeper repair that happens in sleep, and the web stays supple.