why is stretching slightly painful and why is that good for us?
In: Biology
A lot of things can cause your muscle to tighten with time. A lot of our movement consists of stretching of a muscle, then contraction against a force. For example, think about doing bicep curls – as you let the weight down, you are stretching your bicep as in maintains tension against the weight to allow for a slow descent. As you curl the weight back up towards yourself, it contracts and shortens.
Injury often happens when your muscle is stretched and you try to contract against a weight that is too heavy. If a muscle is already tight, the increase tension and stretch makes a muscle or tendon tear more likely. Your body has special sensors within muscle that communicates to your brain how stretched a muscle is, and if you are really pushing it (pain) to try and prevent you from causing a tear.
When you stretch, you are essentially stretching the muscle and removing the tightness slowly without a weight bearing down on it. Your body still is wary of you over-stretching the muscle – these sensors simply sense muscle stretch, not how much weight is being held. So you really are not doing any damage. Instead, as you stretch the muscle, it slowly removes the tightness, allowing better range of motion while reducing the chance of a muscle tear during contraction (if done correctly).
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