It's Not a Stretching Problem - It's a Movement Problem.

You’re Not “Too Tight”—Here’s What’s Actually Causing That Nagging Pain

Let me guess—you’ve been foam rolling your hip for weeks. Maybe it’s your hamstring, maybe your back, maybe that spot right between your shoulder blades that never lets up. You stretch, you massage it, you get adjusted. It loosens for a day or two… but then it’s right back where it started.

It’s frustrating, right?

If you’ve ever said, “My hamstrings are always so tight.”“My hips feel locked up no matter how much I stretch.”“My back just won’t release.”

I want you to know this: You are not broken. And you’re probably not “too tight.”

Here’s what’s actually going on.

Tightness Is a Symptom, Not the Problem

As a chiropractor with a background in sports rehab and clinical nutrition, I spend every day working with active, driven people—runners, CrossFitters, hikers, climbers—who love pushing their bodies. Many of them come in with the same complaint:

“I feel so tight all the time, and I can’t figure out why.”

They’ve tried stretching, yoga, massage guns, you name it. And while those things can feel great in the moment, they don’t get to the root cause.

Here’s the truth: What you’re feeling isn’t a flexibility issue. It’s a stability issue.

That nagging tightness you keep trying to stretch away is often your nervous system putting on the brakes. It’s a protective response. Your body is bracing, not because the muscle is “short,” but because something else isn’t doing its job.

Your Body Tightens When It Feels Unsafe

Let’s say your core or glutes aren’t activating the way they should. The body’s response? Your low back muscles might overwork to stabilize you during movement. That creates tension. Or maybe your hips feel “locked up” because your deep stabilizers aren’t firing, so your brain recruits your hip flexors to grip and hold.

This is your nervous system doing its job: keeping you safe.

The body doesn’t like instability. When it senses weakness, poor coordination, or poor control, it creates stiffness and tension as a backup plan. And until you restore proper function, that tightness is going to stick around.

You can stretch it all day long—but if your brain doesn’t feel safe, the tension will come right back.

Real-Life Example: From Limping to Running Again

One of my patients came to me after running a marathon. She was limping, barely able to walk, and convinced she had torn something in her foot. A classic case of plantar fasciitis, but here's the catch—she had done all the right things already. Stretching. Icing. Massage. Still stuck.

When we did a movement assessment, I found a breakdown in how her foot and glutes were working together. Her body had compensated for months, and the tightness she felt in her foot wasn’t about the foot at all—it was about poor load transfer up the chain.

With one session of targeted manual therapy and simple movement re-patterning, she was walking pain-free. Within three weeks, she was running again.Not because we stretched more—but because we addressed the root cause.

Tight ≠ Weak. Tight ≠ Strong. Tight ≠ Broken.

Another patient—an active CrossFitter—came in with headaches and neck tension that got worse after workouts. She was constantly stretching her traps, using heat packs, getting massages. But it never lasted.

We dug into her movement and nutrition, and guess what? She was under-fueling and overtraining. Her neck was doing way too much work during lifts because her core wasn’t supporting her the way it should. Her nervous system was fried.

We made a few changes to her pre- and post-workout meals, added breathing work and core activation into her warm-up—and within days, her energy returned. The headaches disappeared. The tension? Gone.

Why Stretching Isn’t the Long-Term Fix

Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not anti-stretching. It has its place. But if you’ve been stretching the same area for months with no real change, that’s your sign.

The real fix often lies in:

• Restoring control and strength where your body feels vulnerable

• Balancing out overworked and underused muscles

• Improving breathing, posture, and core stability

• Addressing lifestyle stressors like poor sleep, nutrition, or overtraining

Tension isn’t always bad—it’s your body’s way of protecting you. The key is figuring out why that tension is there in the first place.

So What Should You Do Instead?

If this is hitting home, and you’re tired of feeling like a stretch away from disaster, here’s where to start:

1. Get assessed, not just adjusted.

   You need someone to watch you move—not just poke where it hurts. That’s where we find the real clues.

2. Stop chasing symptoms.

   The area that hurts is rarely the area that needs the most attention.

3. Prioritize nervous system safety.

   When your body feels safe, it moves better. You don’t have to force it.

4. Strengthen the weak links.

   Find out what’s not doing its job and build it up. Tightness often disappears on its own when strength and coordination return.

Let’s Rewrite the Story Your Body Has Been Telling

So many of my patients come to me feeling broken, discouraged, and confused. They’ve seen other doctors, therapists, tried every stretch on the internet—but nothing sticks.

What they really needed was someone to connect the dots.To say: “You’re not fragile. You’re not stuck. You just need the right plan.”

That’s what I do.

Let’s Get to the Root of What Your Body’s Trying to Tell You

If you’re feeling stuck in a cycle of stretching, self-diagnosing, and second-guessing your body, let’s change that. You don’t need another Band-Aid—you need a plan that actually works.

📅 Book a movement assessment

💬 Or reach out and let’s talk—sometimes all it takes is one conversation to shift everything.

You deserve to move better, feel stronger, and get back to doing what you love—with confidence.