Muscles: Tight or Weak?

For a number of years now, there’s been a growing divide in internet experts trying to answer the age-old question of ‘why are my muscles so tight?’

Conventional wisdom used to be that if your muscles are tight, then you need to stretch. Stretch as much as possible, and then stretch some more.

Then came the thought that if we have tight muscles, they must be weak. You can see where this is going – if we have weak muscles… train them!

Don’t get me wrong, both of these can be true. Equally, both of these can be wrong. 

What about muscles that function as stabilisers? Where does stability fit in this?

Knowing the difference between a muscles action and a muscles function is the biggest step in working this out, and it’s a step that more often than not, will require some guidance from a physiotherapist.

Now, I’m not going into detail with any of this. Partly because there’s hundreds of examples I could choose from, and no one wants to read that whole textbook of a blog, and partly because it’s my job to assess each individual that walks in my door, and give them specific advice. In my opinion, blanket treatment and rehab advice grossly misses the mark.

So, next time you go to ‘Dr Google’ to work out what muscles you need to fix, book in for a session so we can see what you MAY need to stretch, MAY need to strengthen, and MAY need to stabilise.

Stay strong,

Josh 💪🏻