How and why muscles feel “tight” all of the time.

Should you be spending a lot of time stretching?

// Thread //

As physical therapists working with patients in chronic pain and that the medical system is unable to solve, one of the main complaints we hear is “I feel tight all of the time”.

But what does this mean and why does it happen?

As with all things, the answer is complex but there are some things to consider. Muscles do not get “tight” for no reason. They get tight in response to position.

Essentially the sensation of tightness that you are experiencing is not due to the muscle actually being short or tight, but due to the muscle already being in a lengthened position, which activates muscle spindles.

Muscle spindles are found in all skeletal (somatic) muscles. The number of muscle spindles in each muscle varies from one muscle to the next.

And this is where spending hours upon hours stretching becomes problematic. The length changes are so short-lived that the perception of feeling better is more linked to sensation.

This does not mean that stretching is useless and doesn't have a time and place. Many individuals can get out of pain with stretching. However, the way it’s applied is important.

And this where you run into issues. For example, many people claim to have “tight hamstrings”. However if I can put you on a table and perform a straight leg raise greater than 90 degrees, stretching is not going to be the fix you will be looking for.

With every single movement that you do, there is a stretch somewhere. Think of performing a bicep curl. Your tricep is stretched. This is called eccentric orientation.

We need a good rational reason to stretch. Tracking objective measures is a good start, we should have a reason why we are doing something, and stretching is no exception.

If you stretch for hours and feel like nothing is changing, know that there is a reason. A good start is to reach out to a physical therapist to analyze the way that you move. The same thing as going for your 6-month checkup to your dentist make sure you are moving the right way