Why Do Muscles Feel Tight?

Why do muscles feel tight – Here I have copied the opening paragraphs to a great blog post by Todd Hargrove on the topic. It seems as though every person I bump into complains of some part of their body felling ‘tight’.

What is this ‘tightness’ and what does it mean? Read below for Todd’s insight……..

“Why do muscles feel tight? Does that mean they are short? That they can’t relax? And what can you do about it?

Here are some of my thoughts about why muscles feel tight and what to do about it.

(Update – See bottom of the post for recent research confirming some of the speculations in this post.)

Tightness is a Feeling, Not Just a Mechanical Condition

When someone says they feel tight in a particular area, they might be referring to several different complaints. So I try to find out:

• Are they talking about poor range of motion?
• Or maybe range of motion is fine, but movement to the end range feels uncomfortable or takes excess effort.
• Or maybe the problem isn’t really with movement, but just that the area never reels feels relaxed.
• Or maybe the area feels basically relaxed, but has some vague sense of discomfort – a feeling that is unpleasant but too mild to be called pain.

This ambiguity means that the feeling of tightness is just that – a feeling – which is not the same thing as the physical or mechanical property of excess tension, or stiffness, or shortness. You can have one without the other.

For example, I have many clients tell me their hamstrings feel tight, but they can easily put their palms to the floor in a forward bend. I also have clients whose hamstrings don’t feel tight at all, and they can barely get their hands past their knees. So the feeling of tightness is not an accurate measurement of range of motion.

Nor is it an accurate reflection of the actual tension or hardness of a muscle, or the existence of “knots.” When I palpate an area that feels tight to a client (let’s say the upper traps), they often ask – can you feel how tight that is?! 

I often say something like:

Ummmmmm …… no. It feels just like the surrounding tissues.

But I completely understand that it FEELS tight in this area and you don’t like it.

I don’t like the feeling of tightness either so I want to help you get rid of it. But the feeling of being tight isn’t the same thing as that area actually being physically tight. Make sense?

This actually does make sense to most people, and they find it mildly interesting. I want people to understand this because it might help them reconsider a misconceived plan they may have already developed for curing their tightness – such as aggressive stretching, fascia smashing, or adhesion breaking. So now they are willing to consider an approach that is a bit more subtle than driving a lacrosse ball halfway through their ribcage.

Want to know more about why muscles feel tight?

Why not book a sports massage session with http://www.central-therapy.uk to work on strategies to reduce the sensation of muscular tightness.