Beyond stretching: The key elements for targeting soreness in your body

If you’ve ever left a yoga class and had your usual aches, pains or stiffness return soon after, that’s because stretching alone isn’t enough.

To target the sorest parts of our bodies, we need to focus on three additional strategies to stretching: Counterbalance, strength/stabilization and mobility.

Mobility

Mobility refers to the range of motion in your joints. If we aren’t exploring our range of motion then we won’t be able to maximize strength and stretch exercises. And our day-to-day activities usually don’t take our joints through their full range.

An example would be shoulder flossing. Often this involves using a yoga strap to take your shoulders through their full range of motion, front and back. With the shoulders now loosened up, the benefits of shoulder-focused stretches like threaded needle and anahatasana (puppy dog pose) will be maximized.

Counter-balance

Big stretches still not hitting the right areas even after mobility exercises? You might be trying to release muscles that are already over-stretched. Threaded-needle is another great example of this. We might feel soreness behind our shoulder blades, but this area has a tendency to get overstretched, especially if you work at a desk. While the back stretches, the chest tightens. Opening the front body is a great way to counterbalance, improve posture and stabilize overstretched muscles.

Stabilization & Strength

Engaging overstretched muscles (consider the mid-trapezius that gets overstretched at a desk) will certainly have long-term benefits. But simple exercises that engage this muscle can actually offer the most immediate relief. The contraction and release of the movements will feel like a massage as the heat created warms the sore spots.

Stretching

Stretching often targets the muscles and gives us flexibility. With mobility and stability in place, we’re better suited to get more from stretches. And stretching has an important role in rounding out our practice, loosening up tension, and balancing our bodies.