“I’m not sure which one I need more—stretching or strength training.”
To cut the chase… the answer is both!
Recovery (massage/stretch) and training (strength/mobility) serve different purposes, and your body needs both of them.
If something feels tight, it’s pretty easy to think: “I need to stretch.”
Yes… stretching is absolutely useful.
But hear me out: the solution to tight muscles isn’t always just more stretching.
My calves have been historically tight.
The reality was my calves DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO RELAX on their own!
Side note: to make matters worse, I thought yoga and stretching were synonymous, and yoga wasn’t my vibe. I’d mentally say, “I like sports… not yoga.”
My mindset was forced to shift when I found myself sitting on my butt recovering from an Achilles tear. It was like, “Well… maybe stretching would’ve been a good idea.”
But the more I learned about recovery, the more I realized stretching alone wouldn’t have completely solved my problem anyway.
While in my “Dear God Why Me…?” phase of my Achilles recovery, I learned that my calves were taking up the slack for other muscles.
My calves got tired of carrying the weight, literally!
I was able to identify who my slackers were. By building strength in my ankles, glutes, and core, the weight of my world didn’t rely so heavily on my calves anymore.
When those muscles learned to contract, my calves were finally able to learn to relax. Making all the difference!
Our muscles are meant to contract and relax, and when one component of that system is overdone, the activities we love can be difficult to do or put on pause.
That’s why training our bodies in the system of RELAX – STRENGTHEN – MOVE is important.
First, we teach the muscles contracting too much how to CHILL OUT!
This is where massage, stretching, heat, and other recovery strategies can be useful.
Massage can provide relief.
Stretching can help you explore a new range of motion.
Heat can help muscle settle into a more relaxed state.
These things have a place.
But we don’t want to spend all our time teaching a muscle to relax! Especially when the muscles around it are on extended vacation, the tight muscle could just start contracting too much again.
So next, we look at the muscles on an “extended vacation.“
Strength doesn’t automatically mean lifting something extremely heavy.
You can build support with light weights or controlled movements with just your body weight.
The goal is to allow these muscles to learn how to contract and “pull their weight!”
Like I shared earlier, building strength in my ankles, glutes, and core gave my calves the support they needed to properly contract AND relax.
So, when we put it together.
The goal is simply to have our muscles contract and relax at the appropriate times as we move.
So the question becomes:
Less “should I stretch or strengthen?”
More “what’s impacting this muscle’s ability to contract and relax?“
You don’t need to choose, cause the answer is… BOTH! It’s a matter of WHERE?!
And I’ll be honest with you: sometimes that’s a more difficult question to answer.
Let’s start asking this question:
“How do I help this particular area get better at relaxing and contracting?”
That question can change how you approach the next stretch or exercise.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out the TämBwoy Stay in the Game: At-Home guides. And if there’s a guide you wish existed, tell me in the comments or send me a message.
