I hear this almost every day in the clinic: "My hamstrings are so tight. I foam roll them and stretch them for 20 minutes before every workout, but they just tighten up again the next day."
If you are stretching a muscle consistently and it isn't getting looser, you need to stop stretching. You are likely treating the wrong problem.
There is a massive difference between a muscle that is physically short and a muscle that feels neurologically tight.
Often, a muscle feels tight because it is acting as a "brake." If your core is weak or your pelvis is unstable, your brain senses danger. To protect your spine, your brain commands your hamstrings to clamp down and hold on for stability.
This is called Protective Tension.
Think of that tight hamstring as a guy holding up a falling wall. He is straining and "tight" because he is doing an important job.
If you come along and force him to relax (by stretching deeply), the wall starts to fall. Your brain panics, sensing the instability, and immediately orders the hamstring to tighten up even harder than before to regain control.
This creates a vicious cycle: You feel tight > You stretch > You create instability > Your brain creates more tightness.
In MST, we don't just ask "what is tight?"; we ask "what is weak?"
Instead of aggressively stretching that hamstring, we might need to strengthen your glutes or stabilize your core. Once your brain feels that the pelvis is stable and supported by the correct muscles, it will naturally release the "brake" on the hamstrings. The tightness often disappears without a single stretch.
If you feel stuck in a loop of constant stretching with no results, let's look at your stability. Come and see me for an MST session. Now located inside Train West Van.