Healthy and Unhealthy Stretching Sensations

by Nina

Flames by Melina Meza

Ever hear someone else groaning in a yoga class? Or maybe that you? Yes, when you are stretching a tight area of your body, you can experience quite a bit of sensation. And while healthy stretches can provoke an intense feeling, it�s a good idea to pay attention to the type of sensation you�re experiencing because this may indicate you should back off the stretch.

As we discussed in previous posts (see What is Flexibility, Anyway?), stretching a muscle or muscle group and fascia is healthy and beneficial, but stretching a tendon or ligament can cause an injury, such as a tear, inflammation, tendonitis, or tendonosis. In addition, compressing a joint when you are stretching can pinch the tissues caught between the bones closing in toward each other, which cause pain and lead to inflammation. So it�s important to learn to tell the difference between the sensations of healthy stretch of a tight muscle versus the pain, pinching, or �smashed together� feelings that are warnings of potential injury. 

Healthy Sensations. You will feel generally feel healthy stretch of a muscle in the mid-portion of a muscle, farther away from the tendons and ligaments are located close to joints. A good place to become familiar with this type of sensation is the hamstring muscle at the backs of your thighs, which you stretch in Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) and Reclined Leg Stretch (Supta Padangusthasana). As most of you know, the intensity of the stretch sensation there can be quite strong, and yet it generally doesn�t mean you are injuring yourself. So when you experience this type of sensation, as long as the stretch is a moderate one, take a deep breath and try to relax into the stretch. 

Unhealthy Sensations. You will generally feel an unhealthy stretch of muscle, tendon, or ligaments closer to a joint, such as your hip, knee, shoulder or elbow joint. And the quality of feeling will be different than a healthy stretch, maybe burning, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, or tearing in quality. For example, with the hamstring muscles, if you feel a tender burning sensation up toward your buttocks, this could be an indication you are overstretching the attachments. In all cases, when you experience these types of sensations, you should immediately back off the stretch if possible to see if that helps. If not, come out of the pose entirely.

It is possible to feel this burning, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, or tearing sensation in the muscle body as a result of a sudden, intense, quick stretch, so that is why we always recommend moving slowly and with in control into your stretches. 

Joint Compression. Sometimes when you are stretching a muscle, the joint that is bending can become compressed. For example, when you deeply bend your knee joints, as in Child�s pose (Balasana), the tissues at the back of the knee joint can become pinched together. This is potentially dangerous because the compression could produce tissue damage and inflammation, or even could injure nerves or blood vessels, leading to acute or chronic pain and dysfunction.

In general what you�ll feel when a joint is compressed is either a sensation of muscles, skins, tendons, fascia, and/or bones being �smashed together� or a pinching sensation. For example, some of less flexible folks feel smashed together or pinching sensations in our front hip when doing Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) with our hand on the floor. Both of these sensations indicate that you are overdoing it, and you should back off the stretch, possibly by adding a prop. If you can�t eliminate the joint compression, come out of the pose. 

Compression can also put pressure on blood vessels and nerves, so if you have an unusual pressure sensation in the joint or feel numbness and tingling downstream from the compressed area, that is an indication that you are overdoing it and should back off the stretch or come out of the pose.

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Techniques for Cultivating Flexibility with Yoga

by Nina

De Jur, Age 57

After delving into strength (see Techniques for Strength Building with Yoga), Baxter and I immediately moved onto flexibility. Now, after our usual time spent on research, discussion, and debate, we�ve come up with a basic set of guidelines for how you can use your yoga practice for improving and maintaining flexibility. 

An important thing to consider when you move into flexibility practices is how flexible you already are. Overly flexible people should emphasize strength and stability rather than promoting more flexibility. These people should do what they can do protect their joints by activating the muscles that support their joints (see below) and stretch less intensely than people who are naturally tight or even just average. Tighter people can safely move into a noticeable stretching sensation, as long as they are not feeling that sensation at tendon/bone connections near the joints. 

How Far to Stretch. Be mindful in your stretching not to go beyond the sensation of a healthy stretch into feelings of pain, burning, or compression in your joint. If you experience sensations that seem unhealthy, either back off the stretch or use a prop or different variation of the pose. Overly flexible people should be extra careful, aiming for a lighter feeling of stretch (or even do the pose for strength instead flexibility by actively contracting their muscles instead of allowing them to stretch).

How Long to Stretch. To cultivate long-lasting flexibility in your muscles and fascia, aim for at least 90 seconds. If holding for 90 seconds isn�t possible, it might be an indication that you are: stretching your muscle too far or that the opposing muscles are contracting too tightly, that the initial intensity of your stretch set off a strong stretch reflex, or that you are doing a pose or a version of the pose that is too challenging for you. So start by seeing if you can back off the stretch a bit or modify the pose. But if you just can�t get comfortable, hold the pose until you are fatigued, and gradually over time work your way up to longer holds. 

Static poses held for shorter periods of time will release the overnight tightness that we all experience and bring you temporary flexibility that will enhance the rest of your practice. For example, you could warm up for standing poses by doing leg stretches. Hold these warm-up stretches for 20 seconds or longer to trigger a relaxation in the muscles, allowing a more complete stretch. 

How Often to Stretch. To cultivate lasting flexibility, stretch a particular muscle or muscle group regularly, at least three times a week and at most every other day. In general, with consistent practice, you can see results after 3 to 8 weeks for muscles. For fascia, however, it takes longer to create lasting changes, from 3 to 6 months.

Muscles need a day of rest between stretching sessions or you could develop an overuse injury. So generally you shouldn�t stretch the same muscle group on consecutive days. However, you can do flexibility poses every day if you focus on different areas of your body on each day, for example, alternating between upper body and lower body or between backbends and forward bends. Or, you can alternate intense stretching days with other types of yoga practice, whether that is active strength, balance, or agility practices, a gentle or restorative practice, or pranayama/meditative practice on your �off days.� 

Static Poses. Entering into static poses slowly will allow elastic muscle lengthening to take place more easily. And, once in the pose, you can add in muscle activation on the opposite side of the joint to enhance the stretch (see below). 

Dynamic Poses. Slow, dynamic movements in and out of poses allow gradual muscle lengthening without triggering the muscles� protective stretch reflex. So these are a good way to warm up your joints in an easy fashion and can lead to immediate improvements in muscle flexibility, which you can then further with your static hold of the same pose. For example, you practice Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) dynamically to temporarily improve hamstring/hip flexibility, which you then further with a long hold of the pose. In general, we recommend a combination of small dynamic sequences of stretches done for 6-8 repetitions, followed by holding the stretch statically for 90 seconds. 

Restorative Poses. Poses where you can relax as you gently stretch your body in a supported position are an excellent way to cultivate flexibility. For example, holding Supported Backbend for at least 90 seconds allows you to gently open your front body. Likewise, holding Supported Child�s pose for at least 90 seconds allows you to gently stretch your back body. And because fascial planes run for long distances through your body, using a supported pose that stretches your entire body (front, side, or back) will help address fascial tightness as well as muscular tightness. 

Balance Your Practice. To balance your flexibility, make sure your practice includes poses of all the basic types: standing poses, seated hip openers, backbends, forward bends, and twists, as long as they are safe for you. Of course you don�t need to do all these basic types within a single practice; just try to get to them sometime each week.

Activating Muscles. In static stretches, intentionally contracting the muscles on the opposite side of the joint�known as reciprocal inhibition�allows the muscle group you stretching to lengthen more effectively. So when you are stretching a particular muscle, bring your awareness to the antagonist muscle, which is the opposite muscle to the one you are stretching, and gently activate it. For example, when stretching your front thigh muscles in a Lunge pose, try consciously activating the back of your thigh. If you�re not used to working this way, it may take some practice. Take it in two steps: 

1. Consciously relax the muscle, allowing it to lengthen. 
2. Gently firm the muscle toward the bone. 

Protecting Your Joints. For people with joint problems, such as arthritis, consciously firming the muscles that support a problem joint will help protect the joint from strain or wear and tear. For example, if you have knee arthritis and are practicing Reclined Leg Stretch (Supta Padangusthasana), you could firm around your knee joint as you bring your top leg into the pose and try to maintain that firmness as you stretch the back of your thigh. 

For people who are overly flexible and can bend easily into deep forward bends and backbends, consciously activating the muscles that are supporting you in the pose will prevent you from hyperextending the joints. For example, in Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), you can protect your hip joints by activating the muscles around your hip joints before you enter the pose and maintain as much of that as you can while you come into the pose. While the result will be a stretch that is not as deep as usual, your hip joints will benefit. 

And just as over-stretching can cause joint problems in an active pose, it can also do so in restorative poses. So if you feel any sensations of overstretching, pain, pinching, or compression while you are in a restorative pose, come out and add more support, reducing the stretch you are experiencing. Likewise, if you notice pain in your joints after practicing restorative poses, add in more support the next time you practice.

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