Now, now – before your ego has a little panic attack hear me out.

You may be extremely strong and even muscular in the traditional sense.

This alone isn’t enough. You know it too, because you feel it every day.

Hips are locked up, backs sore, neck hurts, spit squats scare you….

Most think I’m tight because I train hard.

I’m here to tell you you’re tight because you’re weak.

The body reacts to imposed demands. Imagine coming into the gym for 10 years, every day punching out bench press.

Do you think you’d be any good at pull ups?

Why not?

Because you’ve never trained them right?

The same goes for those tight muscles around your body.

Hamstrings so tight you can barely touch your toes?

My bet is you barely use them – even when you ‘think’ you are like on a Romanian deadlift.

Your back rounds, your knees bend continually missing your hamstrings.

Tight hip flexors

You barely stretch them even when you ‘think’ you are like in a split squat

Your knee and torso drive forward and your hips don’t extend.

The body is simply trying to protect you.

The nervous system is continually sensing ‘threats’. If it detects vulnerability e.g. a stability problem, weak muscle it gets to work. It will ramp up the ‘tone’ in other muscles to guard or compensate.

This is often the tightness you’re feeling.

Protective guarding

Semi permanent contractions to ‘split’ or brace the weak spot.

What can also be counter intuitive is your tight spots often show up in the opposite place to your weak ones!

e.g. tight quads – weak hamstrings

tight hip flexor – weak glutes

This happens when a tight/overactive muscle group (agonist) neurologically inhibits its opposing/antagonist muscle group.

Want more help exploring your body and uncovering your weak spots?

Don’t hesitate to reach out!