What to do about Muscle Tightness?
What To Do About Muscle Tightness?
Last week we went back to square one and looked at what causes muscle tightness. This week, as promised, we will look at what we can do about it.
Firstly, if you have pain or are concerned, please see your healthcare professional.
Muscle tightness due to a decreased range of motion can be prevented by
Proper Posture, Correct Footwear and Correct Furniture
You may have heard of slow twitch and fast twitch muscles. Slow twitch muscles can work for long time without tiring whereas fast twitch ones run out steam. When we have poor posture from generally or due to poor furniture or footwear, our fast twitch muscles are used instead which causes our deeper supporting muscles to become weak and unused. This can lead to the muscle becoming shorter and tighten.[v]
To improve your posture, you can see your doctor and/or physiotherapist. Additionally,
Regular exercise,
Stretches,
Core strengthening,
Correct sitting/standing positions can help,
Avoiding standing on one foot for a long time,
Avoid squashy chairs,
Use lumbar rolls,
Use ergonomic chairs, and
Use a supportive pillow.[vi]
Reduce Inactivity
Inactivity can cause muscles to become weakened which means they are likely to hurt from everyday activity.[vii]
The obvious solution is moving more often. This can be through regular exercise or even simply reminding yourself to get up and move every 20-30 minutes.[viii]
Stretches
Stretching helps to reduce muscle tightness in several ways.
Increased your Range of Motion
Human movements are dependent on the range of motion (ROM) available out of our synovial joints (such as our shoulders and hips)[ix]. ROM can be limited by joints or muscles and tight muscles can reduce your range of motion throughout your body. This can inhibit everyday activities such as reaching overhead to get something out of a cupboard or carrying the shopping home. It can also slow the degeneration of our joints[x].
Research has found that body static and dynamic stretching can increase our range of motion[xi][xii].
Prevent Injury
Tendons connect your muscles to your bones and when you do not stretch, the tendon around the muscles stiffen. When your muscles are tight and your range of motion is decreased, it can lead to going past the range of motion you have leading to strains and sprains.[xiii]
When you stretch, you increase your range of motion reducing the likelihood of injury to your muscles and tendons. Additionally, when your muscles are warm and stretched, movement because easier and more fluid, and there is less resistance on them which helps to prevent injury.[xiv]
Increase your Flexibility
Tightness in a muscle can either be due to it becoming shortened (passive) or due to a muscle spasm or contraction (active). Stretching focuses on increasing the length of a muscle as a muscle tension is usually reduced as the length of the muscle is increased. Stretching can also increase the muscle’s tolerance to stretching (the body gets ‘use’ to being stretched and the natural defence mechanisms designed to protect the muscles from overstretching become less ‘active’)[xv].
By stretching your muscles, you reduce tension by lengthening them and increase their tolerance to stretching increasing your range of motion at the joints allowing you to conduct everyday activities more easily.
Improve your Posture
As we discussed earlier, many of us sit for prolonged periods of time leading to muscle imbalances which lead to poor posture. The hunched over laptop/smart phone posture can lead to short hip flexors and pecs and weak and strained upper back muscles and butt muscles. This means when we stand up, our body is still in a curled over position (bad posture).
By stretching the chest muscles and hip flexors and strengthening the glues and upper back muscles we can restore their length and improve our posture.
Calm Your Mind
While is great for the body, it also gives our mind a break too. This is helped when we focus on being mindful when we stretch. While practicing being mindful, we improve our attention regulation, our body awareness, our emotional regulation and our perspective ourselves.[xvi]
Release Tension/Reduce Stress
When our muscles are chronically tense, they can reduce their own blood flow which leads to a lack of nutrients and oxygen[xvii]. Stretching allows the muscles to relax and counters this. Additionally, as many people carry their stress in their muscles. When we are stressed, our muscles can tense as a defensive strategy. When we stretch, we reduce this tension and assist in stress management[xviii].
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) can be prevented using
an appropriate progression of exercises and
static stretches after exercise.[xix]
Reduce Stress
The last way to reduce muscle tension is through stress reduction. As well as stretching as discussed above, there are several ways to reduce stress. These include
Changing your Self-Talk,
Eating well,
Exercise,
Yoga,
Meditation,
Deep Breathing,
Massage Therapy, and
Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
Conclusion
Muscle tightness is the difficulty you have moving and can range from discomfort to cramping to pain and can be limiting, frustrating, and sometimes painful. It can be reduced by improving our posture, exercising, moving more, stretching and reducing stress.
[i] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up/
[ii] https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-stiffness#prevention
[iii] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320545#outlook
[iv] https://thedoctorsofpt.com/why-do-muscles-get-tight/
[v] https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/posture
[vi] https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/posture
[vii] https://www.livestrong.com/article/432213-muscle-tension-from-lack-of-exercise/
[viii] https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/dont-be-such-a-stiff
[ix] Page, P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International journal of sports physical therapy, 7(1), 109.
[x] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/
[xi] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching
[xii] Page, P. (2012).
[xiii] https://www.livestrong.com/article/332519-what-are-the-benefits-of-good-flexibility
[xiv] https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/blog/archive/healthy-habits/why-stretching-extremely-important.
[xv] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/
[xvi] https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching
[xvii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5107/top-10-benefits-of-stretching/
[xviii] https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/blog/archive/healthy-habits/why-stretching-extremely-important.
[xix] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up/
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Amongst many things tight muscles can be
Limiting,
Frustrating, and
Sometimes painful.[ii]
Photo by djiledesign/iStock / Getty Images
It can occur
During long periods of inactivity,
During exercise, and
After exercise.[iii]
What Causes Muscles Tightness?
When we need to move a part of our body, our brain sends a signal to our muscle which causes it to contract or tighten.[iv] They are attached to our bones and this causes our body to move around our joints.
Photo by Orla/iStock / Getty Images
Muscle tightness happens when a muscle or group of muscles remain partly or completely contracted for an long time. Our brain tells us to contract the muscle even when we don’t need it for movement anymore.[v] This can happen when doing static activities for long tensions such as typing.[vi]
Exercise
Exercise can also cause microscopic muscle fibre damage which can result in delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). This is particularly bad after exercises that focus on the lengthening motion of muscles (eccentric contractions). Some common causes are
Photo by CasarsaGuru/iStock / Getty Images
Stress
Stress can also cause muscle tightness.
When we are stressed it affects our nervous system and reduce the blood flow to our muscles. This can lead to tension.[ix]
Photo by Ridofranz/iStock / Getty Images
Conclusion
Muscle tightness can range from a small sense of tension through to outright pain. It can be caused by prolonged inactivity or static activities such as typing, by stress and during and after exercise. Next time we will look at ways to reduce muscle tension.
[i] https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-stiffness#_noHeaderPrefixedContent
[ii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up/
[iii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up/
[iv] https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-rigidity#causes
[v] https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-rigidity#causes
[vi] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320545#causes
[vii] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320545#seeing-a-doctor
[viii] https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up/
[ix] https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-rigidity#causes
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/VastTerribleGermanshorthairedpointer-mobile.mp4
Self-Myofascial Release (SMFR) / Self-massage
Hip Flexor Foam Roll
Place a roller across your mat.
Lie on your front on your elbows with the roller at the front of your hips.
Slowly roll back and forward.
https://gfycat.com/ifr/GiganticNeighboringGallinule
Yoga
Low Lunge
Start in downward facing dog
Step one foot forward between your heels with the knee over the heel
Lower the rear knee for the floor and slide it back until you feel a stretch
Lift your torso and arms toward the ceiling/sky. Draw your tailbone toward the floor
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