“Full-Body” Stretch Routine is (usually) a BAD Idea! Here’s Why…
Ready to expand your mind and challenge so much misinformation out there.
Walk into almost any gym, open YouTube or a generic mobility app and you’ll see it:
“Do this 10-minute full-body stretch routine daily.” It sounds smart. Balanced. Efficient.
Stretch everything and you’ll feel better… right?
Not necessarily. Let’s not forget what may be bad can actually feel good - for a moment.
As a Functional Neuromyofascial Therapist, I can tell you this:
Our body does not tighten for comfort - it adapts for survival. The number one cause is protective guarding. When the brain senses instability, injury, stress or threat, it increases muscle tone to create stability. Tightness is a safety strategy of the body. The body would rather be stiff than unstable. That’s why general full body stretching gives temporary relief because the nervous system will always chooses protection over softness.
Which is why…
Stretching everything equally is often the fastest way to keep your imbalances exactly where they are. Dysfunctionally functional and imbalanced.
Let’s break this down.
Most Have Muscle Imbalances
Most everyone is asymmetrical. We live our lives in a state of flexion vs. extension.
We are created to be in extension. Yet we sit to eat, drive, work, watch TV, relax - most often we even sleep with something in a state of flexion instead of on our backs in a state of extension.
You drive on one side.
You carry your purse or diaper bag on one shoulder.
You shift into one hip while standing.
You sleep in one preferred position.
Over time, this creates predictable patterns:
Some muscles become short, overactive and protective
Some muscles become long, weak, and under-recruited
Some areas feel “tight” but are actually unstable
Here’s the problem:
If you stretch everything equally, you’re stretching muscles that don’t need to be stretched… and ignoring the ones that actually do.
Tight Doesn’t Always Mean “Needs Stretching”
This is where most people get it wrong.
Sometimes a muscle feels tight because:
It’s guarding instability.
It’s compensating for a weak stabilizer.
The nervous system doesn’t trust the joint.
For example:
If your deep hip rotators aren’t stabilizing well, your hamstrings may feel tight.
If your diaphragm isn’t moving well, your neck and upper traps may feel tight.
If your core isn’t activating, your hip flexors may feel tight.
But if you stretch those muscles without addressing the root cause?
You temporarily reduce tension… and then the body tightens back up even harder. It’s the rebound effect. You think you’re getting a good stretch before a workout when in reality you’re opening yourself to more injury.
Because the nervous system always chooses stability over flexibility.
The Real Risk of Full-Body Stretching
When you stretch everything equally:
You may further lengthen muscles that are already long and weak.
You may reduce tension in areas that were providing protective stability.
You risk never correcting the imbalance.
The result?
✔ You feel looser for 10–20 minutes
✖ The pain or tightness returns
✖ The imbalance actually deepens over time
In hypermobile individuals, this can even increase joint irritation and instability and lead quicker joint pain and degenerative changes. (This is an entirely different topic).
So What Should You Do Instead?
You don’t need more stretching.
You need targeted mobility work based on assessment.
That means:
Identify what is truly short and restricted.
Identify what is weak and under-active.
Improve joint mechanics.
Restore nervous system regulation.
Activate stabilizers before lengthening global movers.
Sometimes that includes:
PNF techniques
Fascial work
Breathwork to free the diaphragm
Corrective strengthening
Neuromuscular re-education
Mobility without stability is chaos.
Stability without mobility is rigidity.
You have to identify. Correct. Integrate.
A Smarter Way to Think About Stretching
Instead of searching for what’s a good full-body stretch routine?
You need to figure out the root - what is my body compensating for?
Because your body is never random. We are all phylogenetic programmed - meaning everything in our body has a purpose.
It’s always adapting as we are programmed for survival so when we have an injury, work out wrong, chronic misuse of muscles, hold bad posutre, live in a state of flexion - we will become imbalanced. Our body’s will adapt and compensate.
If something feels tight, it’s communicating. Understanding what it is communicating is key. The goal isn’t to silence the communication (tightness) it’s to understand it.
Bottom Line
A generic full-body stretch routine:
Doesn’t fix imbalances
Can reinforce and even cause more dysfunction
Often addresses symptoms, not causes
Intentional, individualized movement restores the body.
And that’s the difference between:
Feeling temporarily loose
Moving better.
If you want to know what your body specifically needs, that’s where proper assessment and neuromyofascial work come in.
Your body isn’t tight by accident. It’s strategic. It’s protecting. It’s adapting.
And it deserves a strategic solution.