Stretching for Soreness: Friend or Foe?
As a sports physical therapist, one of the most common things I hear from athletes and active individuals is, “I’m feeling sore and tight, so I’ve been stretching a lot.” While that instinct makes sense on the surface—tightness equals tension, so stretch it out, right?—it’s not always the best move. In fact, stretching when sore can sometimes do more harm than good if we don't first understand why the tightness is there in the first place.
The Protective Nature of Tightness
Let’s reframe “tightness” for a moment. Often, that feeling isn’t because the muscle is simply shortened or in need of lengthening. More commonly, it’s your nervous system sending a signal to guard and protect an area. Maybe your hip feels tight after squatting or your hamstring locks up after a sprint. That tension can be your body’s way of saying, “Hey, something's off here—I’m stabilizing to keep you from going too far or too fast.”
When we reflexively stretch an area that's tight for protective reasons, we can actually override the body's natural defense system. That might feel good in the short term (hello, temporary relief), but long term it can create more instability, lead to compensations, and increase risk for injury. Think of it like taking the batteries out of your smoke alarm without checking for a fire.
When Stretching Helps
This isn’t to say stretching is all bad. There is a time and place for it. Dynamic stretching can be great before movement, and certain forms of static stretching can help with chronic mobility issues or calming the nervous system. But it has to be applied with intention. If a muscle is truly shortened over time or you're trying to increase end-range control, some targeted stretching can be a useful tool.
Stretching vs. Mobility: Know the Difference
A lot of people use the terms stretching and mobility interchangeably—but they are not the same, and understanding the difference can completely change how you approach soreness and tightness.
Stretching usually refers to passively lengthening a muscle, like when you hold a hamstring or quad stretch for 30 seconds. It can temporarily improve how far a muscle can lengthen, but it doesn’t address how well that range of motion is controlled or integrated into movement.
Mobility, on the other hand, refers to a joint’s ability to move freely through its full, functional range of motion. It’s not just about flexibility; it’s about how well a joint can move and be controlled during real-world, active tasks—under strength, stability, and coordination demands.
This distinction is key. You can be flexible (have long muscles) and still have poor mobility if your joints don’t move well or aren’t well-controlled. That’s why passive stretching alone often fails to solve the problem of “tightness.” You’re improving temporary tissue length without addressing how your joints and nervous system actually move and stabilize through space.
Even worse, you can actually over-mobilize a joint. If you repeatedly increase joint range of motion without also building the strength and control to support it, your body may respond by creating even more tightness. Why? Because your nervous system recognizes instability and tries to protect you. It adds tension to limit that excessive motion so you don’t get hurt. In other words, the tightness you're trying to eliminate may actually be your body’s way of keeping you safe from the mobility work you're overdoing.
True mobility training must be active, controlled, and paired with stabilization strategies—otherwise, you risk creating a range of motion that your body isn't ready to handle.
The Better Solution: Stabilization First
Instead of chasing tightness with passive stretches, try giving your nervous system a reason to relax. That starts with stabilization. When muscles feel supported and joints feel secure, the nervous system stops guarding, and mobility improves naturally. For example:
If your hip feels tight, instead of holding a stretch, try activating your deep core and glute muscles with a controlled single-leg bridge or side plank variation.
If your hamstrings are always on edge, your pelvis may be unstable—try stability drills for your lower abs and glutes before lengthening anything.
Train the Brain, Not Just the Tissue
Ultimately, mobility isn’t just about muscle length—it’s about motor control. Teaching the brain that a joint is safe and supported unlocks movement better than yanking on a tight muscle ever will. Your body is smart. When it tightens up, it’s talking to you. The key is to listen, not to silence it with a stretch.
Next time you're sore and your instinct is to stretch, pause and ask why that tightness is there. Is it guarding instability? Is it fatigue from overuse? Instead of stretching, you may be better off focusing on breathing, stabilization, and gentle activation to restore balance and allow the body to let go of tension naturally.
Would you like me to turn this into a graphic or include example exercises for stabilization?