Ideally, our muscles should be able to stretch well beyond their normal resting length, to allow us a wide range of movement. Unfortunately, there are a few reasons why muscle flexibility may be reduced, causing us to feel like we have tight, tense muscles. These include:

Inactivity

Muscles need to be taken through their full range of motion regularly in order to maintain flexibility. If you have an inactive lifestyle, then you will lose muscle flexibility, as well as joint mobility. This will restrict your movement and make your muscles feel tight.

What you can do: increase your activity levels, even if it’s just by walking more. Also, stretch your muscles several times a week when they are warm from activity. You can download a stretch chart here.

Scar tissue from injury or overuse

When muscles are injured, scar tissue forms as part of the healing process. This is less flexible than normal muscle tissue.

Overuse and repetitive movement patterns can also cause scar tissue and therefore loss of flexibility, due to mircro damage to muscle fibres.

What you can do: a combination of massage, stretching and exercise will help to break down scar tissue to release tense muscles. See the end of the post for contact details to book a massage, or read more about deep tissue massage here.

Not allowing muscles to relax

If muscles are held in a state of partial contraction for long periods due to stress or bad posture habits, it eventually becomes difficult to relax them. When this happens, the muscles feel tense and tight the whole time and movement can be restricted.

What you can do: If you have tense muscles, then you would benefit from regular massage, as massage encourages muscles to fully relax. You should also make an effort to improve your posture and learn some relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises. Read more about posture here and ways to relax here. See below to book a massage.

Recent training

If you work muscles that have been inactive for a long time, or if you train harder than you usually do, a day or two later you’ll probably experience sore, tight muscles.

What you can do: This soreness will only last a few days but if it is uncomfortable a warm bath can help to ease it.

Massage services for tense muscles

Deep tissue massage and hot stone massage will both help to relieve muscle tension. If you would like to book a massage session, then fill out the enquiry form and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can with available appointments, alternatively contact me using any of the contact details below the form:

Phone: 07835 346476