“I’ve been told to some stretching and do so every day, but my muscles still feel tight.” I hear this nearly every single day from clients, friends, and family. Do you know what I tell them?
STOP STRETCHING!!!
Sounds counter-intuitive, right? I am an exercise specialist and I am telling someone not to do a form of exercising. More specifically, I am saying not to stretch even though you have been told to do so since
you were a kid. But, let me explain very simply: if it is not working, stop doing it! It is time to switch up the strategy because there has to be a reason why your muscles are always feeling tight and it may not be because they lack flexibility.
It could actually mean quite the opposite. I have found, and research is coming out to support this, that a tight muscle is often a weak muscle. Our body is great at adapting and the feeling of “tightness” may be due to the body protecting the weakness.
Our body has a magnificent way of protecting us. The weakness could be in the perceived “tight” muscle or in a totally different area.
Does this describe you? Always stretching, feeling less “tightness” after, only to notice the stiffness comes back hours later? If this is you, STOP WASTING YOUR TIME WITH STRETCHING. Get to the root cause of your problem.
How do you accomplish this? Find out if you should even be stretching is a good way to start.
Feel free to apply for a free consultation to discover if stretching is truly right for you.
