why is stretching slightly painful and why is that good for us?
In: Biology
Amateur anatomy and physiology enthusiast here: When you stretch (and work out) it essentially damages muscles and bones, but only very slightly. Something called osteoclasts and osteoblasts destroy and rebuild bone respectively while muscles likewise are damaged slightly and healed, but they rebuild stronger than before they were damaged. There are also specialized muscles designed to keep us from stretching too far that tense up as we stretch, but the more often we stretch the more relaxed they will “learn” to be, unless we stretch too much at once in which case they can be even more tense next time reducing flexibility (which is why it is important not to force a stretch and instead build flexibility overtime).
Edit: since this got a ton of attention, if you all are interested in increasing your knowledge on this topic check out Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology on YouTube to learn more. Before checking out that course it is recommended to first check out Crash Course Chemistry and then Crash Course Biology to better understand the lessons. It is easy enough to listen to them while doing other things in my experience.
Edit 2: /u/nivashka below stated
Piggybacking on this comment to add one caveat: If you are bendy or “double-jointed”, aka hypermobile please stretch with care. Flexibility is something gained through repeated stretching and training. Hypermobility is a genetic variation (it can be related to serious medical conditions, but being hypermobile alone is not considered a serious medical condition – however hypermobile people are higher risk for partial/total dislocations during exercise/stretching) – so your range of motion is typically greater (some people have only small joint hypermobility ie. fingers and toes, some have large joints ie. knees/hips/shoulders, some have both) and your body will *not* always send pain signals to tell you to stop. Repeated stretching with hypermobility can often lead to degeneration, chronic pain, etc because hypermobile people are not always aware they should limit their range. Always practice safe exercising and stretching!
Source: I have Ehlers-Danlos and I have dislocated my jaw eating due to hypermobility…more than once.
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