“My first exercise wearing Fasciawear was a short run. It was really cold that day, at least -10 degrees Celsius. I started running faster than normally and the feeling was interesting, like I was using my muscles harder. During the intense and sweaty exercise, when the suit was already completely wet, I had better sense of my tired muscles. I tend to run with my shoulders hunched down, but this time Fasciawear made my chest stay open. With a better running position my exercise got more intense.
I have run and cross-country skied different distances and with different effectiveness with my Fasciawear on. The suit raises the body temperature, so it practically substitutes a set of underwear in the winter. Fasciawear provides really good support for the middle body. Especially on the downhill the middle body was kept controlled by the support of fascias. The suit generally improved the body awareness and made it easier to be aware of the body’s borders and movements. It helped maintain the correct skiing technique because it was easier to control the middle body and keep the central line orientation. Support of the middle body is essential in order to maintain an optimal line and to keep the skiing well-balanced. With skate skiing technique the balance is challenged by a strong contraction of the middle body muscles, which tends to burden the stronger side of the body more. I tend to work more with my right side when I skate. That forces the right side iliopsoas muscle to activate more and get tighter. For that reason my hip has been a little stiff all autumn, but now it’s feeling better most likely because of Fasciawear.
I was most fascinated by the effect of the suit during a long skiing trip on Sunday. During this kind of exercises my heart rate usually varies in heart rate zone one (warm up/recovery) but with Fasciawear it easily stayed in heart rate zone two (basic endurance). It’s difficult to stay in zone two because, among other things, increased skiing frequency pushes the heart rate towards aerobic zone (zone three). In endurance sports it’s important to stay within the basic endurance heart rate zone for a long time to improve fitness and body’s ability to use reserved fat as an energy source. In skiing there is always a variety of factors that affect the heart rate: slide, weather, amount of snow, vitality level and technique. Could the resistance of the suit have raised the heart rate? That was also the first long skiing trip of this winter and still it didn’t feel that burdensome and I didn’t have any particular aches afterwards. This was surprising.”
Mari Sorvisto, physical therapist, endurance athlete