Muscle Tightness Explained: Why Muscle Tightness is NOT what you think!
The 4 Reasons Why A Muscle Feels Tight
Before we start talking about what is right and wrong. We first need to appreciate what "tightness" really is, so we can discuss the potential reasons why one may choose a particular intervention over another. Hint: It's not as simple as long or short, stretch and strengthen! Watch the video to learn the 4 reasons why a muscle ACTUALLY could be perceived as tight!
Ultimately people feel the need for stretching because of "tightness".
The problem here is that "tightness" is just a sensation, and a muscle can be perceived as "tight" for a variety of reasons. Before we discuss these reasons, it is important to note that bones and joints act, and muscles react!
Said differently, your body is always manipulating position. We are never stagnant creatures, it's called postural sway! When asked to stand perfectly still we cannot. This is because our body is constantly interacting with gravity and manipulating it around our center of mass. As such we are always moving and always using a variety of strategies to either create (over coming contraction) or control movement (yielding movement).
There are really three reasons someone would feel "tight":
Reason 1) A muscle is concentrically oriented or in a state where the tissue sustains contraction at low levels for a prolonged time period.
Reason 2) A muscle is eccentrically oriented or where the tissue sustains a yielding contraction trying to prevent/stop/or reverse movement
Reason 3) As a protective mechanism to create rigidity or control depending on the environment, task, and situation. Example: think driving in a snowstorm how the external environment can create uncertainty or lack of control. As a means of creating more internal perception of control the body starts to grip the steering wheel tightly. Essentially creating co-contraction and rigidity around the joint to restrict movement.
Bonus Reason #4) You just performed an intense workout, and as a result there was some eccentric micro trauma to the musculature which occurred. Your intent is that stimulus hopefully results in recovery and net gain of strength/hypertrophy in the long run when programed correctly. However, acutely there will be restricted movement as the body repairs.
Notice in all the above scenarios, stretching may not be the most advantageous thing to be doing.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that many people's current understanding is that muscles either get "long" or they get "short". While this is a simplistic way of viewing things, it does not do the body justice and it leads to confusion when we talk about proper application.
If muscles truly got longer, then we would develop a lot of "slack" in muscle tissue as the distance between origin and insertion of the muscle do not change unless the individual is growing and the bones are elongating.
So the ability to stretch further does NOT make muscles longer. It simply just builds increased tolerance to an eccentrically oriented position. Which may not be beneficial for tissue that is already oriented in an eccentric fashion! Remember, bones/joints act and muscles respond based upon ones center of mass, gravity, and the task.
While I do not have an issue with stretching concentrically oriented tissue. I do believe that controlled eccentric training to that musculature is probably more useful simply because it requires more coordination and control over ones center of mass and gravity.
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