Plain-language terms for living in a body.

Connective tissue is the broad family of tissues that support, connect, separate, and transmit forces in the body, including tendons, ligaments, fascia, cartilage, and bone.

End-range control is the ability to move into and manage the outer edge of a range without collapsing, forcing, or losing awareness.

Fascia is connective tissue that wraps, separates, and links structures throughout the body.

Flexibility is the ability of tissues and joints to move through a range, often with an emphasis on stretch tolerance or passive range.

Interoception is the ability to notice internal body signals such as breath, heartbeat, temperature, tension, hunger, or ease.

The interstitium is the fluid-filled connective-tissue space between cells, vessels, nerves, fascia, skin, organs, and other tissue layers.

Joint capacity is the ability to access, control, and tolerate a joint’s available range under appropriate demand.

Mobility is usable movement capacity: range of motion plus enough control, strength, tolerance, and context to use it well.

Proprioception is your body’s sense of position, pressure, movement, and effort.

Range of motion is the amount of movement available at a joint or body region.

Tissue adaptation is the gradual way muscles, tendons, bones, skin, and connective tissues respond to repeated load and recovery over time.

Tissue glide is the felt and mechanical ability of skin, adipose, fascia, muscle, and other layers to move relative to one another.

Heel-to-toe drop is the height difference between the heel and the forefoot inside a shoe.

Outsole lugs are raised tread shapes on the bottom of a shoe that help with traction on trail, mud, gravel, or loose surfaces.

Plantar sensory input is feedback from the sole of the foot about pressure, texture, terrain, and load.

Stack height is the amount of material between your foot and the ground, usually measured in millimeters.

The toe box is the front part of a shoe where the toes sit.

Toe splay is the ability of the toes to spread and participate in balance, push-off, and ground contact.

Transitional footwear sits between conventional cushioned shoes and very minimal shoes, usually offering some room, flexibility, or lower drop without going extreme.

Zero drop means the heel and forefoot sit at the same height from the ground inside the shoe.

Compression flossing uses an elastic band wrapped briefly around a body region while the person moves gently through tolerable ranges.

Cupping uses suction cups to apply negative pressure to the skin and superficial tissues.

Delayed onset muscle soreness, often called DOMS, is soreness that tends to appear after unfamiliar or harder-than-usual loading.

Foam rolling is using a cylindrical roller to apply pressure while slowly moving, breathing, or repositioning over larger body areas.

Negative pressure is suction: a pressure difference that lifts tissue toward the cup instead of compressing it downward.

Referred sensation is when pressure or irritation in one area is felt somewhere else.

A therapy ball is a small ball used for targeted self-massage, pressure, and body mapping.

A trigger point is commonly used to describe a tender, sensitive spot in muscle or soft tissue, sometimes associated with referred sensation.

Vibration massage uses rapid vibration or percussion to create mechanical and sensory input through a handheld device or vibrating roller.

A claim boundary is the line between what WBC can responsibly say and what should remain a hypothesis, practice note, or avoided marketing claim.

Lived response is what a person repeatedly feels or measures after a practice: relief, warmth, range of motion, sensation clarity, suppleness, flare, or no change.

Mechanistic plausibility means a claim fits known anatomy, physiology, or mechanics, even if the exact product or protocol has not been directly proven.