Stop Stretching, Start Strengthening: A Safer Path to Mobility (Even With Old Injuries)
Many people come to yoga because something hurts. Maybe it’s tight hips, creaky knees, or that classic lower back pain that flares up every time you reach for the shampoo bottle or take your super energetic dog for a walk. The goal? Less tension. Less pain. Less tightness. More strength. A body that feels good moving throughout life.
I’ve discovered through my own yoga and pain experience journey that what’s often being taught in yoga classes today (in term of asana/poses and movement), isn’t always helpful — especially for bodies that have lived a little, might have injuries, and might have artificial parts and pieces. As a matter of fact, most poses were developed by Eastern Indian yogis who simply from a cultural and biological design, are built way different than the 45-year-old American woman. Therefore, we go to class and try and contort ourselves into pretzels for the sake of being flexible, “good yogis”. And then we hurt… for days…
The Flexibility Trap
When I was dealing with unrelenting sciatica and a knee pain from a former injury, I couldn’t help but ask: Isn’t yoga supposed to be helping me? Why do I hurt so much? I could touch my toes, do a headstand, and fold myself like a travel brochure. I was flexible. I looked strong. But I was in pain.
I started doing all kinds of research.
Turns out, I wasn’t lacking flexibility—I was lacking muscle function.
Most yoga teacher trainings (and let’s be honest, a lot of fitness programs in general) skip right over how the muscular and nervous systems actually work together. They don’t teach that muscles need to contract on demand to support joints. Or that passive stretching can actually weaken the muscular system by disrupting communication with the central nervous system. Or that “tight” muscles are often just overworked and underpaid ones doing jobs they were never hired for.
Why Stretching Isn’t Always the Answer
Let’s be really logical here.
If certain muscles aren’t activating properly, your smaller, stabilizing muscles will jump in and try to stabilize you. But they’re not built for that kind of workload, and eventually they get tired, tight, and angry. Hello pain. Hello injury.
Think of it like this: you're in marketing cuz it’s your jam, and your boss suddenly tells you the accountant is out sick and asks you to do his/her job. Are you going to be awesome at it and feel joyous while rummaging through spreadsheets of tax codes? Probably not. Same goes for your muscles. When your smaller muscles try to take over the job of the larger ones, instability and weakness prevails.
So What Actually Helps?
If you want long-term relief and to be able to do the activities you love, the solution isn’t to go deeper into your pigeon pose. It’s to activate the right muscles and teach them to do their job again.
That means:
Focusing on muscle activation over flexibility.
Choosing yoga poses that build stability and strength.
Letting go of “ego yoga” that happens when we try to keep up with the Jones’s, and honor / listen to our body, right where it is.
Your Range of Motion Is Not a Moral Issue
A 50-year-old man is not going to have the same hip flexibility as a 30, 40, or even 50-year-old woman. And guess what? He doesn’t need to. Unless he’s planning on giving birth or joining Cirque du Soleil, let’s be real in that “opening the hips” doesn’t need to be a huge priority.
What he might want instead is to go hiking, feeling strong, stable, and pain-free versus hurting for days after.
Your body is unique. Your injuries, surgeries, and life experiences are part of your story — not limitations to “fix.” Respecting your current range of motion is a radical act of self-care.
Redefining “Flexibility”
I honestly don’t think you care about being flexible. Flexibility is not tied to greater health or happiness anyway. It’s some goal that the fitness and yoga world decided was important.
What you really want is:
· To be able to pick your keys up off the floor without throwing your back out. (Seriously, how many people pick something up off the floor with super straight legs, and then come up with a flat back in a reverse swan dive?)
· Enough mobility (and the strength) to take care of all your daily practical needs such as carrying grocery bags, or turning to hand a snack to your kid in the back seat of the car.
· To enjoy doing the activities you love such as taking a walk, playing golf, dancing the night away, or even going to a yoga class to relieve stress…without pain.
I invite you to shift your goal from flexibility to functional strength and practical mobility.
Ready to Feel Strong Again?
If you’re tired of stretching your way into more pain, I invite you to try a new approach. Join me for a Yoga or Tone & Strengthen class, where we’ll focus on activating muscles, supporting joints, and helping your body move better and be pain-free.