Should You Be Sore After You Stretch?

Is there such thing as a bad stretching feeling? Or can you be too sore from stretching? Good soreness versus bad soreness when it comes to stretching all comes down to body awareness. If you don't know what bad soreness or even mistakes while stretching that can cause a bad soreness feeling from stretching, then how can we ever fix the problem? Most of the time fixing the technique while stretching is easy, getting used to body awareness while you stretch is something entirely different. So today let's go over the different feelings associated with good versus bad soreness from stretching and techniques to fix each.

Good Soreness:

Good soreness very simply put, means that after you work out, the next day, the ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE MUSCLE should be sore. Not just a specific point or spot you can point to. The muscle should also feel stiff. Meaning it should be harder or require a little more work to get that muscle to full range the next day. And in doing so there is not pain or discomfort when trying to reach that point. Lactic acid and swelling of the muscle tissue are just a couple of theories of why we feel sore the next day or the dreaded 48 hours after a workout. But as long as the soreness and stiffness can be felt throughout the entire muscle, then it is considered a good sore. Also, to note, the discomfort with good soreness will go away after hours of movement. So gradually throughout the day you feel less and less stiff and have greater range of movement as the day goes on.

Bad Sore:

Bad soreness can be described as being an obvious feeling of pain or discomfort in a specific area. If you feel pain at the END of a muscle or a joint/ligament, this is due to training error. This type of soreness is caused by microscopic tearing of the ligaments and can last for days or even weeks, sometimes if done too repetitively, this causes scarring over time. Body awareness teaches us the difference between the two. If you only feel pain in one area or at the end of a muscle, let's say the top of the shoulder you feel pain instead of down your bicep, then that is bad soreness, and your training technique needs to be tweaked.

Being sore is often the sign of a very effective workout from the day before, but the type of soreness you feel the next day or two will tell you how to keep up your training schedule for months to come to ensure your muscles stay healthy. Proper stretching techniques will also ensure the length of your athletic or stay at home mom workout journey!