Why Do Muscles Tighten Up? by Dr. LeiLani Vidal in Business Body Contouring
After working out, are your muscles feeling tight? In addition to being inconvenient and uncomfortable, tight muscles can also restrict movement. Worst of all, they may make it more difficult for you to maintain your fitness regimen. Knowing how to deal with tight muscles and prevent them will keep you active. There are several causes of muscle tightness. Muscle tightness can happen three times: during and after exercise, and after extended periods of inactivity.
What then leads to muscle tightness? Some muscles may become stiff due to their restricted movement over extended periods of inactivity, such as long days and weeks spent sitting at a computer. Your hips are bent, or flexed, when you are seated at a desk. This causes the muscles on the front of the hip, known as the hip flexors, to shorten, and the muscles on the back of the hip, known as the glutes, to extend. Additionally, your chest muscles (pectorals) will be in a shortened position when you sit at a desk reaching forward to use a computer, while your upper back muscles (rhomboids) will be in a lengthened posture. This can cause muscle imbalances over time, with the lengthened muscles becoming weak and the shorter muscles becoming "tight." If you look around, you'll see that many people have rounded shoulders that are facing forward and weak glutes. Three things are essential for preventing this tightness brought on by a reduced range of motion. Even when seated, it's crucial to maintain good posture. Additionally, you should strengthen those tiny muscles in particular that have grown elongated and feeble.
Last but not least, be sure to stretch the tense muscles, particularly the hip flexors and chest muscles. Muscle cramps, for instance, can happen during activity when muscles tighten up. Muscle exhaustion, low sodium, or low potassium levels are only a few of the causes of cramps, which are uncomfortable and frequently painful feelings. Even when you are not exercising, muscle cramps can still occur. Muscular contractions cause the muscle fibers to shorten, which raises the muscle's tension. The muscles extend and lose tension after the contraction is over. But when a muscle cramps, the shortened muscle fibers cannot extend because of tiredness or inadequate water and nutrients. When a muscle is so tight and constricted, forcing it to open up can injure you by tearing the muscle fibers. Before attempting to stretch out the cramp, let the muscular spasm time to unwind and heal. Make sure you are well hydrated, fed, and not overly exhausted when exercising to avoid them from happening again. Consuming an electrolyte-replenishing beverage may help prevent muscle cramps if you exercise for longer than 60 minutes.
After exercise, muscles might also become more tense. Muscle soreness is the result of this. DOMS, also known as delayed onset muscle soreness, is characterized by pain and stiffness in the muscles that lasts for 24 to 72 hours after exercise. Exercises that emphasize eccentric contractions—contractions in which a weight is lowered or slowed—lead to the most severe cases of DOMS. Running downhill or the downward portion of a bicep curl are examples of eccentric exercises. Small tears in the muscle are what cause the discomfort and tightness that are experienced. By gradually raising the intensity of a new workout regimen, it can be avoided. While the pain often goes away within 72 hours of the start of the soreness, increasing blood flow to the uncomfortable area through massage or moderate-intensity exercise may help reduce soreness. Although static stretches (holding poses) are still necessary to maintain or increase flexibility after exercise, stretching does not work to prevent soreness.
Muscle stiffness can be avoided and treated with the right nutrition, stretching, and exercise regimens. Tightness brought on by a reduction in range of motion can be avoided with good posture, the right workouts, and stretches. Muscle cramps can be avoided with the right exercise intensity, pre-, during-, and post-exercise hydration and nutrition. Proper exercise progression will assist avoid DOMS and maintain range of motion, whereas static stretches after exercise will do the opposite.
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