Have you done a hard run, race or work out and your muscles feel tight or sore during or after your runs? What do you do?
-Ice them?
-Stretch the heck out of them?
-Roll them hard?
Most will admit they do these things to relieve tightness and say they feel better. Everyone does it so you should too. The more the better right? But does it really help or do you “think” it helps or is it even counter-productive?
The main reason your muscle feels tight or very sore is because you exceeded their ability to handle the training you were doing. This is not always a bad thing because it’s part of training, adapting and getting stronger. You may have run too long, too fast, too many hills, strength work, too many miles in a week/month or didn’t have proper recovery between run sessions or just need more recovery time in general. The muscle senses it has been over stressed so it signals the brain to tell you it feels tired, tight or sore.
The “tightness” you feel IS NOT THE MUSCLE SHORTENING that requires you to lengthen it or attempt to lengthen it again by static stretching.
Does it make sense to excessively attempt to try to lengthen a muscle that has damage? Think about this. The mind may tell you that you need to roll or stretch a “tight” muscle, the science actually supports loading and strengthening the muscle as the best way to reduce feelings of tightness and reduce injury risk over the long term.
Walks of 10-30 minutes are safe loading so it’s good for short term recovery. Dynamic movements/dynamic stretching are good too because you activate a stretch reflex via movement and range of motion and often a strength component as well. Doesn’t movement and movement stretching make more sense than static activity laying on the floor IF optimal recovery is the main goal? Have you ever woken up sore and walked around and felt better? Of course you have. This is movement based recovery (Active Recovery) that is not adding additional stress or irritation to the muscles.
But long term, the muscles become even more resilient from a strength training program. This includes hill work and structured strength work. If you are stretching or rolling an hour a week ask yourself if it is really helping. Maybe it is. If you THINK so, great. Stay with it. OR, perhaps modify or cut this down a bit and add 30 minutes of strength work on your feet. I am confident you will notice amazing benefits short and long term. Remember, a stronger muscle and a stronger body is a better performing body and more resilient and injury resistant. Your body will thank you.