Do you feel tightness in your neck and upper shoulders after getting home from work? Or after working out, do you have stiffness in the muscle group that has worked?
Stiffness is a hot topic in the world of fitness. It isn’t a comfortable feeling, but sometimes it is confusing on how to manage it. Some people stretch and don’t feel better, others stretch and it does the trick. Why isn’t the solution straight forward?
It is hard to imagine the person here is lacking flexibility, but she may still report stiffness.
Types of Stiffness
Let’s start by calling “stiffness” a symptom versus a specific problem. To better understand this, let’s present different scenarios in which someone may experience stiffness, perhaps you can relate to one of these. This will allow us to see how using the words “stiff” or “tight” can mean different things.
Muscle soreness after exertion, also known as delayed onset muscle soreness.(1) This a natural response created by the body that occurs 24-72 hours after physical activity. The muscle soreness is thought to be caused by the metabolic stress response that occurs from the muscles that worked. This soreness or stiffness is normal and goes away within a few days.
Limitations in range of motion - A trauma, surgery, disease state, or medication can cause limitations in movement of a body part(s) through range of motion. This can cause a feeling of being stiff or stuck.
Hypermobility at a joint(2) - In this scenario, the connective tissues around a joint have increased laxity and ability to move. Consequently, a person's muscles have to work harder to make sure the joint stays stable. Oftentimes, people lack the control and/or strength to meet the demands of stability, causing the muscles to fatigue and the sensation of tightness to occur.
When a muscle isn't relaxed or is excessively turned on, muscles are being engaged frequently, resulting in reduced ability to "let go" or relax.(3) Sometimes we have the tendency to overuse or shorten certain muscles in our body from positions or movements we repeatedly perform. Therefore, these muscles can feel stiff when you try to move them out of their "on" position.
Prolonged postures and positions can make us feel stiff. When we haven't moved in a while, certain muscles rest in a lengthened state, creating feelings of tension from reduced blood flow and increased length.
I know what you’re thinking, “this is great info, but why am I tight?” Bear with me here, we are getting to the good stuff!
Stiffness is a Protective Response
The brain has a primary goal: to keep you safe and alive! Therefore, if it perceives a threat, it can generate a response to try and protect you. Sometimes the brain's perception of reality is like the overprotective sibling meeting your significant other for the first time, the brain can perceive a condition as threatening and produces an overactive response, such as “tightness.” These perceptions and responses can occur in isolation or can be chronic in nature.
For example, muscles and nerves like to move. If we are in a position for prolonged periods of time, there is a reduced blood supply and oxygen delivery to an area. This is known as an ischemic response. The brain knows muscles and nerves need blood to thrive, so it sends a signal to tell you to move - this signal can come in the form of stiffness. Think about what happens if you have been sitting for a long time at work or in a car. For most of us, our first response to get rid of discomfort and stiffness is to move, shake it out, or stretch and then comes the, "ahh much better," feeling. The brain is satisfied because the body has left that position, blood flow is improved, and the sensation of stiffness is reduced.
Other factors such as stress, anxiety, sleep, nutrition, and general health can impact stiffness. These factors may be less likely to be impacted by movement. Instead, stiffness may be occurring because we have become sensitive to the environment or physical state. For example, if I am anxiously driving in the car, upset about traffic, and thinking about all the things I have to do at work, I can put myself into "high alert." I can start activating muscles without even realizing it and tension is being generated. Or I can become sensitive to the stress and my brain starts to become unsure if I need protection or not. It errs on the side of caution and creates a sensitivity to the situation to try and protect me. I then feel this protection as "tightness."
What can I do to reduce stiffness?
1. I like to move it, move it. Let's start by changing inputs to the brain. If there are postures or positions that are eliciting your stiffness - get up, get out, and move from those positions. Try changing your alignment, posturing, or activity and see if your symptoms improve. We are meant to move and have a variety of positions throughout the day. This is why there is not a singular "perfect" posture. Learn to balance your postures and alignments so certain muscle groups aren't doing all the work.
2. Decrease sensitivity.(4) This is the hard one because sensitization for people is not always straightforward. Try breathing and relaxation techniques to reduce stress, neural drive, and the "protective" state. Use input from foam rollers, massage, and reciprocal inhibition (more to come on these techniques in future articles) to help change the signals and create a different environment for the body. Execute tasks in a composed state, try to reduce anxiety or stress when able, and be aware that tasks don't always need to be attempted with 100% effort.
3. Evaluate your nutrition, hydration, mental health, and sleeping habits. Ensure you are recovering and fueling well. It is hard to operate optimally if we aren't giving the body the care it needs.
4. Exercise and Strength Train. Strength training and utilizing different types of muscle contractions can be used to improve length of muscles. Similar to what was mentioned before, this prevents us from getting stuck in positions or states that are starving the muscles of movement or the blood flow it needs. Training our different muscle groups and ranges also helps to create a balance between the two sides of a joint and improves stability or perceptions of it, so we don't become dominant in one area.(5) Muscle soreness can occur after working out, however, movement and consistency allow the muscles to adapt and recover appropriately. As muscles change, movement potential and tolerance to metabolic stress improves.
Understanding the Cause is the First Step Toward a Solution
There can be a lot of causes as to why you feel stiff or tight and because of this, there are also a lot of solutions. Understanding the cause can help better direct us to management and solutions that work for you. It can take some time and effort to figure out why your feelings of stiffness or tightness are occurring, but a physical therapist is trained to help get to the root of your problem and develop a program that delivers relief.
Don’t let stiffness get in the way of feeling your best! Our programs will be providing videos and educational materials to address the items discussed in this article. If you have more specific questions, please email me (move@advancingathletics.com), we would love to help!
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Sources:
Deyhle MR, Gier AM, Evans KC, et al. Skeletal Muscle Inflammation Following Repeated Bouts of Lengthening Contractions in Humans.Front Physiol. 2016;6:424. Published 2016 Jan 12. doi:10.3389/fphys.2015.00424
Scheper MC, de Vries JE, Verbunt J, Engelbert RH. Chronic pain in hypermobility syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hypermobility type): it is a challenge.J Pain Res. 2015;8:591‐601. Published 2015 Aug 20. doi:10.2147/JPR.S64251
Helm, M., Freyler, K., Waldvogel, J.et al.The relationship between leg stiffness, forces and neural control of the leg musculature during the stretch-shortening cycle is dependent on the anticipation of drop height.Eur J Appl Physiol119,1981–1999 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04186-7
Graven-Nielsen T, Mense S, Arendt-Nielsen L. Painful and non-painful pressure sensations from human skeletal muscle.Exp Brain Res. 2004;159(3):273‐283. doi:10.1007/s00221-004-1937-7
Bernabei M, van Dieën JH, Maas H. Evidence of adaptations of locomotor neural drive in response to enhanced intermuscular connectivity between the triceps surae muscles of the rat.J Neurophysiol. 2017;118(3):1677‐1689. doi:10.1152/jn.00625.2016
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