Stretching doesn’t always feel good

Every time I’ve ever published anything that undermines bad beliefs about stretching — and there are plenty of those to undermine — I get a fresh batch of reactions like this:

“But stretching feels so good!”

And for as long as I’ve been writing about how stretching is not a pillar of fitness (since circa 2005), I have been softening the blow by acknowledging that, yes indeed, it really does feel good. Even great. That is one of the few stretching beliefs I can get behind.

But stretching does not feel good for everyone, and sometimes it can even feel bad. (And I don’t mean stretch injury, although that is also a thing.)

Stretching just feels bland and pointless for some people, like no kind of itch is being scratched. If they bother stretching at all, it must be motivated by an abstract faith in the benefits (despite evidence to the contrary), because it doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything at all, good or bad.

I have heard from some people like that over the years. Not many; they are well outnumbered by the but-it-feels-good faction. But they exist.

And it can get worse than “boring”: imagine feeling queasy and lightheaded just because you stretched! Some people even faint.

Malaise and fainting while stretching

“Stretch syncope” is real but truly rare. Some specific stretches — not just any kind of stretch — can collide with a physiological vulnerability to fainting, which may be a complete surprise to the individual (or something they have encountered before in other contexts).

The culprit in most documented cases is probably neck hyperextension, which can compress or stimulate the carotid sinus — a pressure-sensing spot in your neck that helps regulate blood pressure. This won’t happen to just anyone, or no one would ever do a yoga class. The carotid sinus has to be a bit twitchy for some reason — that’s the rare part. But when it is, and you stimulate it just so, it can trigger a reflex blood pressure drop. In many people, this probably just registers as a bit of lightheadedness. In some, it crosses over into nausea. It can freak people out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s responsible for some panic attacks.

In the worst cases — in the unluckiest stretchers — the effect can cascade into presyncope (very woozy) or full syncope (out like a light).

(You can read a bunch about the carotid sinus in my article about the effect of massage on nerves, but it’s for members only because it’s nerdy extracurricular reading.)

This unpleasant nonsense is more common in people with orthostatic intolerance. [Wikipedia] There are many kinds of OI, but it is often associated with chronic unexplained illness and pain, especially the POTS sub-type (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, characterized by a racing heart upon standing up). Although stretch syncope is rare, it’s probably less rare in the people using stretch to try to relieve their aches and pains.

This is less about “stretching can make you faint” and more about a perfect storm: a just-wrong posture combined with a rare sensitivity, in someone whose autonomic regulation may already be a bit glitchy. It’s a “stupid human trick,” an edge case in a system that mostly works fine.

Feeling a bit gross after stretching has other possible explanations

Simple overexertion in already-fatigued tissue. Sometimes stretching involves strongly held positions, especially in a yoga context. Sometimes people are stretching because they are already a bit worn out and down, maybe already sore or borderline injured.

Some people habitually hold their breath while stretching. Just ask a yoga instructor how often they need to remind people to breathe!

Postural hypotension from positional changes, from pure POTS, no carotid sinus trigger — just the getting up and down.

Upper cervical instability — caused by trauma and/or disease of the joints at the top of the spine — can be subtle yet serious, with vague malaise triggered by neck postures as the only symptom.

You might be slightly sick, and unpleasant stretch could be the first and maybe only sign of it. Transient mild infections are common, and probably explain many of those days when we just feel “off.” Stretching with a full-blown fever, when your whole body feels fragile and gross, is just a more obvious example of the same problem. But this would be a passing, occasional thing.

But not all illness passes. Which brings us to the most mysterious possibility…

Could pulling on muscles make sick people feel sicker?

People may feel a bit off after thorough stretching for the same unclear reasons that we often experience malaise after massages (post-massage soreness and malaise, or PMSM). No one really knows how PMSM works, but it’s definitely a thing, and it’s broadly plausible that the same effect could be triggered by any stimulation of muscle, massage or stretch — because we know that muscle is extremely physiologically active and integrated with the whole system. For instance, it’s an “endocrine organ” — it produces hormones when stimulated. That’s generally a good thing (anti-inflammatory, for instance), but probably not in all physiological circumstances.

This might happen to perfectly healthy people. But it’s obvious that it could happen to people with non-obvious diseases and genetic “quirks.” There are many underdiagnosed health problems that reduce the resilience of muscle and connective tissue, increasing the risks of “deep” massage particularly — but also maybe stretching.

For instance, many people who have hypermobility also have POTS, and they might have other vulnerabilities to muscle stimulation. Many people with chronic pain and illness, like fibromyalgia, suffer from exercise intolerance — which I know all too well from personal experience. I get nauseous when I come close to exhausting my muscles. Although stretching them is fine for me, it might not be for others.

There are a lot of ways to hurt and feel bad.