What to Do If You Stretch Your Muscles After Exercise
Stretching a muscle sucks, and figuring out if that tension really needs attention sucks even more. We’ve all experienced tension, cramps, soreness and general tightness , but it doesn’t help that they all seem to cause the same pain to varying degrees. Here’s how to tell if it’s a stretched muscle and what you can do about it.
Acute pain in general is a pretty sure indicator of something unpleasant, but it is also very difficult. You will probably be busy worrying about whether you can or should continue your workout later or a few days after. So, it’s important to determine that you have really stretched muscles and not some other type of pain like our good friend , Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) . This is a very simple but common mistake. Fortunately, there are a couple of things to look out for.
Is this a toned muscle?
First of all, pulled muscle is a colloquial term for muscle tension . Thus, tension is essentially a traumatic tear of muscle tissue, although I have seen “stretched muscle” to indicate relatively minor (but still painful) cases – they all still mean some kind of tear. The more muscle fibers you rupture, the more severe the tension and the more pain you will feel (although sometimes pain can come slowly). There are more rare cases where a muscle is completely torn, in which case you have a muscle torn, or real dope.
When you stretch a muscle, it usually happens suddenly, at which point you realize that something has gone wrong. Since a stretched muscle can be easily confused with other types of injuries, such as sprains or hernias , the main difference, according to Paul Ingram , a science writer for PainScience.com , is that stretching a muscle only causes weakness in one muscle (or muscle group) and muscle contraction is painful.
Basically, you will feel a lot of pain during the lengthening (eccentric) part of the movement and during resistance tests, says Justin Cobbe Solase , board certified massage therapist and pain management specialist at Hybrid Health . In more severe cases, signs of inflammation such as swelling, redness, and warmth on the skin, as well as possible bruising, may appear. At this point, don’t try to play in cold blood; get medical attention.
How muscle stretching occurs
The bummer with stretching is that you don’t have to do anything wrong. True story: My relative strained his back to lift the dog. Tension can only happen when you force your muscles to do more than they are used to, such as from overly aggressive stretching, really violent movements (such as sliding and falling), or lifting something heavy (such as 60-pound golden retriever in my case). cousin) in an awkward manner .
While you can pull just about any muscle in your body, tension is much more common in larger muscles such as hamstrings, calves, quads, biceps, and back muscles. Certain sports, such as basketball, football, and athletics, are known to be highly prone to overexertion. I know I definitely have or have seen a fair amount of tight hamstrings during my athletics.
Basically, all of these really explosive movements – fast strikes, sprinting from a dead center, or jumping to reach a 10-foot basket – lead to over-stretching and muscle tearing, especially if your muscles are not properly warmed up. if you have generally weak muscles or are tired. But muscle stretching can also occur due to repetitive movements or overuse of muscles (such as rowing, golfing, running, or factory work on an assembly line), and these things can lead to gradual wear and tear … and ultimately to break.
On the other hand, if you wake up feeling that some parts are hard and painful, then you are probably just in pain . Sure, this can be frustrating for a day or two, but just be glad that your muscles can grow instead.
Stretching does more harm than good
Your first instinct might be to stretch a stretched muscle , but think about this for a second: if the stretched muscle is the result of over-stretching, then stretching it further to its full range of motion will not help. Instead, your safest option is to simply avoid anything that might excite the injured muscle and give it that many days to calm down.
The universally recommended starting procedure for stretched muscles is RICE , which means rest, ice, squeeze, and lift. This is not surprising as it appears to be the basis for many other soft tissue injuries as well. Interestingly, however, the authors of this article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and this article in the Journal of Sports Training mention that the effectiveness of ICE in RICE for stretching muscles in particular has not been fully understood. However, “their employment is generally recommended.”
This means that icing, squeezing, and elevation probably won’t correct the actual deformation, but icing and squeezing can at least help numb the pain.
If you clench your teeth too quickly and exercise through the pain, you can end up exacerbating the trauma, which could ultimately lead to re-injury or chronic trauma, Ulais says. If it is a minor tension, do your best, such as gently moving the muscles within their range of motion after a couple of days of rest. Stop if or when it hurts. Consolation adds that in this way you stimulate blood flow to aid the healing process.
Many minor sprains and injuries can resolve over time and with proper rest, but if the pain gets worse or you don’t see any improvement after a reasonable number of days, it’s time to seek medical attention. The ideal doctor who can help is someone trained in musculoskeletal medicine, but not all family doctors (yes, yours too) are good at diagnosing muscle injuries correctly .
Check with your insurance company or doctor to refer you to a muscle or sports injury specialist. If you’re still not sure if you’ve pulled a muscle, you can find a doctor or physical therapist who specializes in the specific area of your body where you are experiencing pain. For example, if you have injured your lower back, see a spine specialist.
How to prevent future muscle strain
You’ve probably heard the advice to stretch and generally stay “flexible” and not tense your muscles. However, a review of research on this topic shows that regular stretching does not help keep you from stretching your muscle (or prevents injury in general). So what works? A good warm-up, but keep in mind that an effective warm-up does not necessarily involve static stretching.
Instead, focus on moving your muscles and joints through the full range of motion with “dynamic stretching” and prepare for your workout by doing less intense versions of your actual exercises. For example, if you warm up before squatting, try the bodyweight squat and gradually work your way up to your real “working set . “ If you’re exercising in cold weather, take a little more time to warm up . Here are a few more things to keep in mind:
- Know when you’re ready again: Returning to your regular workouts should be based on your return to your strength and range of motion , not a set recovery period. Of course, this will vary depending on the severity of the overexertion, but the main thing is that everything is painless. When you get back to this, gradually increase the intensity weekly according to the sensation of the trauma.
- Minimize intense activity when you are truly tired: You are much more prone to any kind of injury when you are tired or fatigued, so don’t try to drag out your workouts, especially if your form, alertness, and technique start to drop off.
- Start slowly: When starting a new program, exercise, or sport, it is important to relax so that you can learn to recognize when you should push off or back off .
The good news is that our bodies are amazingly resilient and we can make them stronger. It will take effort, of course. Rehabilitation from a serious injury requires the professional supervision of a physical therapist, trainer, or doctor to make sure you exercise and stretch correctly to strengthen and maintain healthy muscles.