Why You Feel Tight

Stretching Is NOT Enough

The Takeaway: Foam roll, stretch, warm up, and lift in the fullest range of motion you have available.

I see it every day I’m in the gym: people doing an ineffective stretch, skipping a warmup, or lifting with a limited range of motion (ROM). They’re the same ones who complain of being tight, old, and achy. I can say with complete confidence that with a little tweaking, they could see some meaningful progress.

Here’s why you feel tight. Every joint in your body has a set range of motion. Without use and training of these joints in a full ROM, we lose it and become stiff. This leads to diminished athletic performance and increased risk of injury. Fortunately, through intelligent training, you can improve your ROM and ultimately move better. And as an athlete, more access to your ROM gives you more access to your full strength, power, and injury resilience.

There are three things that matter when it comes to moving better.

  1. Flexibility
  2. Mobility
  3. Stability

Flexibility is how far a muscle can passively lengthen, like touching your toes while someone else pushes on your back or using a wall to stretch your pec and shoulders.

Mobility is how far a joint can move actively, under your own control, through its full range. You can be flexible and still lack mobility, because flexibility doesn’t require strength or control through that range.

Stability is the strength to control a joint at any range, so it doesn’t just move there; it holds, loads, and produces force. Mobility without stability is a joint that moves freely but breaks down under stress.

All three work together. A tight, immobile joint forces the joints around it to overcompensate, which is where a lot of nagging injuries start.

How to Improve Tightness

Next time you’re warming up, don’t just stretch. Roll it out, move through a full range, then load it. Your joints (and teammates) will thank you.

  1. Foam Rolling: This releases tension in the muscle and fascia and calms the nervous system so a joint can move more freely before you load it.
  2. Mobility Exercises: These are controlled, active movements that actively teach the joint to move and control new range. Even one exercise can be good enough.
  3. Full ROM Strength Training: Using resistance to train a movement from full stretch to full contraction builds strength exactly where mobility work opens things up, so the new range actually holds under load.

Skipping any one of these steps leaves a gap: rolling alone doesn’t build control, mobility drills alone don’t build strength, and lifting in a short range doesn’t fix restriction.

My Protocol

  1. Foam roll for 5 minutes before any physical activity.
  2. Do a series of static and dynamic mobility exercises for 5-15 minutes that target the muscles and joints you want to improve. My warmups tend to target every joint, giving special attention to areas I need the most help or am more prone to injury. If I’m preparing for sport, my warmup will reflect the demands of that sport.
  3. Lift and exercise through your available range of motion while maintaining good form. If your ROM is reduced, you may have to start with bodyweight, light weight, or assisted exercises.
  4. Foam roll for 5 minutes after to recover faster, reduce soreness, and keep from going stiff into a bad posture.

It Takes Deliberate Practice

It’s important to know that mobility takes work. Some areas will be more difficult to improve than others. Commit to 3-5 times per week, for even a few minutes, to see the faster, long-term results. If you need to be bought in, pick one thing to improve, work on it, and notice the rewards of your efforts.

Seek Expert Guidance

As a Performance Coach, Licensed Massage Therapist, and kinesiology instructor, you could say I have a better understanding than most when it comes to improving movement. Let’s call it an obsession. I’d love to help you experience the fun of moving better.

Take a look at my Forever Athlete program featuring my primary methods for improving performance, including a full warmup and mobility library, or contact me about custom workouts or in-person training.