Treatment Table Podcast

Why Stretching Isn’t Fixing Your Tight Muscles (And What Actually Will)

• Mathew Ah Chow • Season 1 • Episode 7

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0:00 | 21:55

Most people think tight muscles mean they need to stretch more.

But what if the real reason you feel stiff, sore, and restricted has nothing to do with flexibility?

In this episode of The Treatment Table, Doctor of Physiotherapy Matthew Ah Chow explains why stretching often doesn’t solve the problem — and what your body is actually trying to tell you.

Drawing from over 11 years of clinical experience helping thousands of patients move out of pain, Mat breaks down the hidden drivers behind tightness, including fascia, trigger points, nervous system tension, and poor joint stability. 

You’ll learn:

• Why your hamstrings can feel tight even if you can touch your toes
 • How fascia acts like a “spider web” connecting tension throughout the body
• Why your nervous system can make muscles tighten to protect you
• The difference between flexibility, mobility, and stability
• Practical strategies used daily in physiotherapy to help people move better and stay pain-free

If you wake up stiff, feel constantly tight, or feel like your body is holding you back from training, work, or everyday life, this episode will change the way you understand your body.

Follow The Treatment Table Podcast for weekly strategies from Doctor of Physiotherapy Matthew Ah Chow to help you move better, feel better, and live healthier.

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See you next week on the Treatment Table!

SPEAKER_00

Flature is like a spiderweb and it holds and connects everything through the body. And when the tension builds up in one part, it pulls on the other part. The strain that it has on our nervous system and in our body is something that doesn't just go away. It's something that we have to work through. There's no point being really flexible and being able to touch your toes if you can't hold and support your joints. Your guide to a healthier and happier new. I'm your host, Doctor of Physiotherapy Matthew Archau, and each week we share simple strategies to help you move better, feel better, and live healthier. So whether you're juggling work, family, training, or just trying to stay active, this podcast is here to help you take those simple steps towards living a better, healthier life. So before we dive in today, please make sure you follow and subscribe to the Treatment Table podcast so you don't miss out on our weekly tips to helping you stay active and pain free. Are you tired of being stiff and sore all the time? Do you wake up feeling tight, restricted? Are you trying to find ways to kind of move better, feel better? Maybe you've tried stretching, doesn't always work. You've tried some foam rolling, it helps for a little bit. So today, what I wanted to do is come on the podcast and share with you all of my tips and tools that I use every day on the treatment table. And this is how I help hundreds, probably thousands over the last 11 years of clients get out of pain, get out of their injury so they feel better, move better, and they can live a healthier and happier life. So one of the most common things that I hear in the clinic is Matt, I feel stiff and tight all the time. I wake up, my ribs are sore, can't breathe, my hips are tight. I've tried stretching, but doesn't really help. They tell me they've stretched, you know, they've stretched before the gym, they stretch before going to bed, but they're still waking up really tight. So what's actually going on here? And what we're going to cover today is that sometimes the tightness you're feeling isn't really about the flexibility at all. Today I want to unpack why your body actually feels tight and how things like fascia, trigger points, and your nervous system all play a role into the feeling of that tension and tightness. So I want to share a story with one of my clients that I saw that really resonated with me when I was thinking about this subject of tightness and how much it affected his life. And he'd come in and say, Matt, I'm just feeling so old. I'm tired of being sore. And he, you know, he'd say, I really want to play basketball with my friends every weekend, but I'm tired of being achy and sore all the time. I feel like I'm getting injured, and I feel like I'm just getting too old for this. And it was something that stuck to me because he wasn't necessarily injured, he wasn't broken, he wasn't getting old, but he started to believe that this tightness was a signal for him that it was bad, it was an injury, and it's something that we had to work through. But what was really happening was his body was letting him know that there was a stress placed on his muscles, his joints, his fascia system, that it wasn't coping with, and so we had to really work through how do we break down and figure out what is the cause of all this tightness, how do we release the tension, and then how do we stop it coming back together? That is what we're gonna dive into today. Most people believe that tight muscles mean that they're really short, and most of the common ones I see and hear clients saying my hamstrings are really tight, and it's not always true. I'll get them to bend forward with straight knees and they can touch their toes. So, from a pure flexibility point of view, the hamstrings aren't tight, and it's probably not the cause of their tightness. And so, this is a common myth that I see, and they you know, they again they're telling me that they're stretching the hamstrings, but it's not helping. So sometimes those muscles and that feeling of tension and tightness through the hamstrings is our way of our body telling us something else isn't right. So that might be something like your body is feeling unstable, there might not be enough smaller muscles holding you up or through your movements, your muscles might be fatiguing really quickly, and so that your body is tightening in response to the lack of endurance or strength. There might be more stress, and this can be from more from your nervous system, and that's leading to increased tension through your body, and there might be a bit more guarding around certain areas of your back or your joints that your brain is trying to protect from injury. And when our brain and our nervous system feels like there's a risk or there's a risk of injury, or something is gonna break, its response is to tense up, and this is really a primal survival instinct because if we need to be able to run away from danger, we need our body to be tense and ready to react really quickly, and that's great in certain situations, but we don't need that tension there all the time, and fortunately, you know, most of our day-to-days we're not under direct threat, but sometimes our nervous system will perceive different stresses as a physical stress, and that can sometimes relate to us holding a lot more tension. So, a great example is the tension that we hold in our neck and sometimes our jaw, our upper traps, and if we're running late for work and we think we're gonna get yelled at, that is a nervous system response where we tense up to hold tension, and so our body goes into a protective state. There's no direct physical threat of being late, but our reaction is very similar to someone trying to attack us personally or physically. So that leads us to chat about fascia, and this is where the tension is held in our body. So we hold this tension, not necessarily directly in the muscles itself, but this is in our connective tissue. So our connective tissue is what runs throughout our whole body, it connects and holds all of our muscles, our organs, our tendons, and basically it holds everything together like a tight sock. And there's multiple layers of this. The other really cool example that I like to think about, and when I explain to clients, is that fascia is like a spider web and it holds and connects everything through the body. And when tension builds up in one part, it pulls on the other part. And so coming back to that client who's telling me that their hamstrings are really, really tight, but could touch their toes, it's quite likely that the tension was pulling from somewhere else, but they could feel it in that spider web region of just their hamstrings. And what I've developed over the last 10-11 years is seeing how people move and being able to tell where that tension is actually held versus what the feeling of tightness or tension actually is, and so that's been something that has gradually worked through because when we get taught at uni, we get taught this is the shoulder, this is the neck, this is the lower back, this is the upper back. And when we look at cadaver studies at university, so we're looking at body parts. Um, and generally what's happened is that the doctors have already come through or the medical students, and they've taken away all the fascia and all the connective tissue to show us where the muscles are and where the tendons are, and but very rarely do we get to see how this all connects together, but we are really just one big living organ and one big whole system, it's not segmented into this is just your shoulder joint. You know, this is what we get taught at school, and one of the ways that I've been able to help a lot of people is looking at how does the body move as a whole and how does it compensate? So, where are there compensations within the fascia that are pulling on more joints and causing more stress and more tension elsewhere? One of the previous examples we had was Sabina, the podiatrist, and she talked a lot about how the foot position and tightness in the foot and restrictions around the plantar fascia can pull on the knee, can pull on the back, and I see this all the time. And one of our exercises we went through was how to do a fascial release on the foot, and I give this to lots of clients, not only just for foot pain or knee pain, but sometimes it helps release all the way up into their back, their neck, and their jaw, and it's something that you know is hard to understand until you really feel it. They're able to touch their toes just by doing that release and having that ball under the foot. And this is not something that I've just found. There was a 2024 systematic review where they looked at all the evidence for myofascial release, which is releasing this fascia that I'm talking about, it all produced a moderate improvement in joint range of motion in athletes. And what they found was trigger point release was really effective in improving the joint range of motion. And there's other ways we can do that. There's foam rolling, there's manual release, there's using trigger balls, but this is just one part of the puzzle, like I said, that connects that spider web, and you know, it's the first step that we use to then start to improve our range of motion, and then we can look at things like stability, joint range, weakness, and trying to build some more uh movement, and so that that fascia doesn't just tighten up again. So let's talk about trigger points. It's something that I use every day and help lots of clients on the treatment table. Yes, it is painful, but what it is is these small areas of the muscle and fascia that become very sensitive. But again, coming back to the spider web, I feel like I've developed uh spider-like sensors that are really, really good at assessing where the tension is. And so sometimes people come in and they say, I've got this pain running down my arm, and they point in it, and I said, Well, you know, is this the pain where they're pointing? And I said, No, it's not there, but that's where I can feel it. A lot of the times it's referred, and so when we look at trigger points up in the neck and shoulder because they've been really stressed or being hunched over the computer, they're sitting for long periods. When we do that release, and we do that trigger point release maybe through the neck or upper traps, they're amazed because the pain that they had in that elbow was so intense and so real, but it's just gone, and it's incredible to see when that release happens, the movement improves, and they're less they don't have as much pain, and they're not guarding as well. So, coming back to that research paper, what they found was really important is that it improved the range of motion, but it was something that had to be done regularly. So we know that with trigger point release, it's not something that is a one-stop thing that fixes everything. It's something that if you do consistently over time, it will lead to long-term changes. What we want to find out is are there things that are causing your body to feel unstable? Does it feel like it's getting really tired? Does it feel like it needs to work a lot harder than it needs to, so that we're not building into that? And sometimes it's stress. And when we had last week, we had Dr. Rabbi Rizzuli, and I don't think it made the edit, um, because there was so much that we covered, but he talked a lot about myofascial tension and that being one component, and really addressing stress and our mental health as something that's really important for longevity. And what we want to be able to do is kind of make sure that we're not using trigger points as a one-stop shop fix, but is a something that starts and opens up a window of movement that's less painful, and it's gonna make you feel better. If exercising is uncomfortable and it's painful, we're less likely to do it. But if you can do some trigger point release and some foam rolling and that improves your mobility and it feels better, you're more likely to be consistent with that exercise. So it brings me back to another client I was thinking about, and this mum comes in to treatment table, she sits down, and her eyes are red, she's got two kids, she's exhausted, she's trying to hold back her tears, and she's like, I'm just so exhausted, I can't breathe, my ribs are so tight, I feel like all the weight of the world is on my shoulders, and I just want to be able to lift my kids, carry my kids without feeling like it's gonna throw out my back or neck. And this comes back to the nervous system response. When we're not sleeping, we're not eating really well, we're really tense, if we're not getting regular exercise and movement in, it just builds and builds and builds. And the strain that it has on our nervous system and our body is something that doesn't just go away, it's something that we have to work through. Like I said in the very first episode, it's the three-legged stool. We need to make sure that we're moving well, that we're sleeping, recovering well, and we're eating well. So if you haven't listened to that first episode, go back and have a listen. So coming back to the start, we talked about a client who was always stretching. And quite often I have to tell people to stop stretching. So when we think of traditional stretching, it's holding a static position where the muscles on stretch for about 30 to 40 seconds. But what we know from the research is that it actually makes the muscles weaker. And so if you do a long stretch, and yes, you might get some fascial stretching in there, it's actually making the joint feel more unstable, more weaker. And so the response, you're gonna get a little bit of relief, but the fascia is then gonna tighten back up again because all you've done is made the joint feel more unstable. So sometimes stretching is not always the answer. What we need to think about is how is that joint feeling safe and moving freely so we can work on trigger points and we can release that fascia that we talked about. And I'll go through some exercises soon that's gonna help that. But then what we want to think about is mobility. Mobility is our ability, how well that joint can move with stability and with strength through the full range. There's no point being really flexible and being able to touch your toes, but you can't hold and support your joints. If they feel like you can touch your toes, but it feels like something's gonna break, again, the nervous system is gonna respond by holding down and locking everything up, and so you're gonna keep that tension. What we want to be able to do is build the range of motion with stability and with strength. And so once we do our exercises, we do some trigger point release, and so it's important to do a little bit of this before you exercise. This has been found to also help get better activation, less pain, and also helps with recovery as well. And if you do this regularly, it's gonna mean that you're gonna start to use the correct muscles, those joints are gonna feel more stable, and you're gonna be exercising in a better position. So let's talk about our exercise of the week. So, how do we work through this fascia? Now, one of the things that we'll cover, and we've talked a little bit with Dimmy in terms of the tension. So, Dimmi was our guest as a senior woman's health physio, and we talked about the tension in the pelvis, and one of the exercises that we previously covered was bringing awareness to our body and using our breath to relax through our body. And so, this is really important that you carry that exercise through. What we can do is very similar to that with our breathing, but using a foam roller as well. And so, one of the common complaints that I get is neck pain, shoulder pain, upper back pain. Just because we're sitting for so many hours, and our body is really not designed, our fascia gets really tight and tense, similar to like our mum who couldn't breathe. This is one exercise that she found really, really helpful. And actually, shout out to Kyle, our senior exercise physiologist. I saw him doing this yesterday as well. So, inspired by him as well. So, it's called a thoracic extension where you roll over the foam roller. Now, sometimes I see people foam rolling. There is a good way to do it, and there's also like not a great way to do it. When we think about what we've covered today, you want your nervous system to feel stable, relaxed, and supported. If it's too painful and you're tensing, you're doing the opposite, you're creating tension. What we want to be able to do is when you move through here is relax and breathe. Breathing's really critical, and hopefully, we'll get a breath coach on who will guide us through using breath work techniques to help relax our body. So keep an eye out for that episode. But what we want to do here is lay the foam roller along our ribs. So, what I want you to do is use that roller across your upper back, so from one ribs to the other side of the ribs and our middle back. So don't go into your lower back, you want to stay into the middle and to upper back. You want to support your neck and head between your arms. So put your hands behind your head, keep your elbows nice and wide, and then you want to keep your pelvis supported. Remember, we want our nervous system to be relaxed and calm. And so, as you extend over the roller, you want to open through your ribs, you should feel a nice big stretch, and then as you breathe in, as you breathe out, you should relax onto that roller. The goal here is to get our hips on the ground and our head to the ground as well. This really helps to improve your upper back mobility, reduces tension in the neck and shoulders, and just to start again calming down our nervous system, getting some mobility, really, really nice, particularly if you've been sitting all day. So, remember our goal is to increase the mobility and movement, not a lot of pain and tension. So, make sure you check out our Instagram page treatment table podcast. I'll have all the exercises and diagrams there for you to follow step by step. Okay, so what I want you to take away from today's episode is that tightness isn't always about flexibility, stretching is not always gonna fix it. We want to think about our fascia connecting our whole body together, and remember that there's multiple things happening. It's connected to your nervous system, it's connected to movement, it's connected to your breath, and so we need to work through all of these things. Consistent mobility work, consistent foam rolling, consistent trigger point is gonna lead to longer changes and get rid of some of that stiffness. Thanks again for joining me on today's episode of the Treatment Table Podcast. If you found today helpful, please make sure you follow and subscribe so you don't miss out on our future episodes. And if you know someone who's complaining about tight muscles or stiffness, send this episode to them. And don't forget, as a listener of the treatment table podcast, you get 20% off your first appointment by simply mentioning treatment table 20 in the booking section. So if you'd like to see one of our physios to help with your stiffness or injuries, head across to activement.com.au and you can book your initial appointment. Until next time, keep moving, keep rolling, keep looking after your body, and I'll see you here on the treatment table.