Of all the things I hear from my clients as a trainer the most often is, "My body feels tight". From stiff necks to tight hamstrings, we all feel at one time or another a need to stretch. However, is stretching really what we need?
It's true that stretching tight muscles feels great and allows for a greater range of motion. We often stop there, stretch out the tight-aggravated muscle and then go on with our day. That's only half the story. If we rely on only one modality then we are not addressing the bigger picture.
Let's take a closer look at what stretching really dose and why you feel like you need to lengthen a muscle. When you have a muscle that feels tight and needs to stretch what you are really feeling is the contraction of that muscle. This contraction can be caused by many different sources. The day after a tough workout you probably feel tight. This is not because your muscles have shortened permanently, but because the muscles are fatigued. When your muscles are at a weakened state your brain tells them to contract to prevent any injury to the surrounding joints. In this case what your muscles need most is rest, hydration and nutrition.
When you compulsively stretch these tight' weak muscles you are actually creating more weakness in the muscles because the muscles is at a longer state than what it is meant to be at. This in turn causes your brain to tighten the muscle even more to prevent injury.
What we really need to do in this case is strengthen the muscle just as much as we stretch it. Everything is about finding a balance in our bodies.