Feeling stiffness makes everyday activities a chore, leaves you fatigued, and often affects mood.

Many feel anxious about starting a stretching program. They notice the tight areas and the sore areas and conclude they are just stiff everywhere. Flexibility, just like strength, is joint-specific. You might have tight calves but mobile hips. Stiffness in one area is often the result of flexibility somewhere else as your body compensates to move you around. It’s not a bad knee or bad body; it’s simply areas that are asking for attention.

Here is a helpful hint: try to find and focus on the areas that are not stiff. Bodies generally are not stiff everywhere. For one joint that is stiff, there is often a corresponding joint that has beautiful mobility to allow us to keep moving. Focus on those — it truly helps. Mindset makes a big difference. For the muscles and joints that are stiff, think about adding more mobility vs. a hard stretch. Mobility can often be a precursor to flexibility. Keep the stretches gentle and relaxed — don’t force them.

You could also consider giving assisted stretching a try. Though you may address the same muscle or muscles as active stretching, it is very different from assisted, passive stretching. Active stretching has a degree of muscle contraction, while passive stretching does not. Passive stretching, therefore, allows a deeper, more relaxed, freer stretch. The goal with assisted stretching is to identify what needs attention and work on that with purpose. We assess, we target, you move better, and you feel better.

As we target those areas and correct the imbalances, you feel less pain, less tightness, more mobility, and more confidence. There are many different reasons to stretch and many different ways to stretch. Knowing the goals, the activities, the anatomy, and knowing which style of stretch to apply when ... that’s where the magic happens.