You're Probably Stretching Wrong — Here's How To Keep Your Joints Healthy

If you clicked on this article, chances are you're already a smart mover with a physical practice of some kind. Maybe you feel pretty good most of the time, but perhaps you also have some places that chronically feel a little tight. Whether due to previous injury or habitual movement patterns, certain parts of your body can feel tough, hardened, or even dry. And stretch as you might, you just can't get those chronic areas to change! 

For our whole lives, the dominating stretch paradigm has taught us to go to our edge, then try to go farther. But here's the deal: Our concept of stretching may be outdated.

Those popular words of encouragement ("Relax when you stretch!" and "Farther is better!") could actually be causing us damage. Turns out, passive, static stretching is not all that effective to change the hard, tight places, and you may even be overstretching. Studies have recently been infiltrating the athletic arena, encouraging folks to hold their horses on the static stretches1.

First, we need to distinguish hyper-mobility from true flexibility. True flexibility means your tissue feels pliable, elastic, hydrated, and ready to pounce. In hyper-mobile cases, the joints are usually super loose, but the supporting muscles groups are actually very tight. 

For example, you may have plenty of range when you take a forward fold—you might even be able to touch your toes—but if your lower back or sacral area feels achy, you are likely forcing hyper-mobility at the joints. And what about the tissue between the joints? If it's not able to extend and flex, it is at risk of overstretching or tearing. Once tissues around the joints are overstretched, they act more like an overused rubber band—over-lengthened and unstable around the joints, enabling the already tight areas to remain tight.

Is the activate/elongate concept making you go cross-eyed? Here's one way to think about it: It's just like how animals stretch. Picture a cat or a dog pawing the ground as they lean back, or how you naturally yawn in the morning. Animals instinctively contract their muscles as they stretch, called pandiculation, or what we are calling an engaged elongation. We can take that concept of engaged elongation and apply it to specific muscle groups.

Instead of a static hold, perform the active stretches in reps. It will create heat and oxygenation in the target area, and it can even turn into a workout if you choose. Doing this kind of stretching can help that tight tissue to change to elastic, springy, and hydrated tissue!