I've forgotten what tightness & soreness feels like

Whereas in my 20's... it was a daily torment.

In my twenties and thirties tightness in my back, neck and arm were like a way of life for me.

I’d constantly be rubbing my shoulder or my neck trying to loosen it up.

Going to massages.

Taking powerful muscle relaxants during various periods.

And it was all just temporary relief. The same tightness would return the next day. Particularly if I felt any stress.

I was literally tight every single day for probably a solid 15 years or so.

Now I can honestly say I haven’t felt tight or sore in at least 4-5 years.

And it’s like I even forgot what that feels like it has been so long.

Today I want to talk about this a bit more as it’s been a game changer for me personally.

Tightness was a torment in my 20’s

As I alluded to above… muscle tightness was a constant battle for me.

I tried everything.

One of my favorite ways of battling it in my 20’s was alcohol. Because it would allow the muscles to relax and also free up my voice, which also always felt very tight.

And also this tightness would often impact my mood as i’d feel less patient, less social, more stressed.

So i’d drink pretty much every night. Not because I was a partying 20 yr old (that would have been great!). Rather only because it took some of the tightness away and let me focus on other things.

Otherwise i’d constantly be looking for ways to relax.

I had a really nice Japanese girlfriend when I lived in Japan back in 2001-2 and one of my favorite activities together was her walking on my back for at least 20 minutes. At the time… it even seemed preferrable to sex hahahaha.

Why was I tight?

This was the mystery I tried to figure out for many years back then.

And why me?

In my twenties I was a relatively young, healthy guy… why was I having these muscular issues whereas the others my age didn’t seem to have these types of problems.

Was I eating the wrong diet? Not doing enough exercise?

Those were my common assumptions so i became a diet and exercise nut. Typically going to the gym at least 3-4x per week in addition to 30-45 minute daily aerobic routines i did on my own.

Plus I ate extremely healthy. Tons of salads and fruit.

But it didn’t make a difference. I was still always tight.

Now many years later I think i understand why I was tight. It started around the time i graduated college when two things happened:

1 - I had been hit in the face while playing intramural hockey in college and had let a dentist convince me to do four crowns on my upper incisors instead of leaving them a bit chipped.

2- I’d had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled.

It was one or potentially both of these that led to a change in my bite, which let me to constantly grinding my teeth in my mid-20’s and a ton of muscle tightness.

Basically… it was a form of biomechanical collapse triggered by the change in my occlusion from the dental work.

Now i’m never tight

These days I am literally never tight.

Even when i’m stressed… my muscles don’t tighten up. Rather i just start doing some of my ‘fast method’ stretches and things feel very loose.

I don’t go to massages or do any of the other things that I was constantly doing to address the tightness before.

And i’m very sure that it is related to having figured out these biomechanics.

With the mouthguard and stretches I do I feel like the body is stretching… not being compressed.

And so muscles are able to stretch to their correct length.

It feels great. It allows me to be so much more focused in working and the other things i’m doing.

I’m ‘present’ as I like to say.

Whereas years back I might be at a party but i was still almost constantly thinking about the tightness I was feeling.

I think biomechanical collapse is the root cause of tightness for everyone

So this sounds a bit aggressive but I have a feeling i’m going to be right.

And let’s be honest… i’ve said other far more aggressive things in the past lol.

But my hypothesis is that these biomechanics are literally the reason why pretty much any person in the entire world is ever feeling tightness in their body.

Sure stress and other things will contribute… but it is the collapse of the body that is at the true root cause.

Because with biomechanical collapse the entire skeleton is twisting and collapsing. Muscles are being forced to compensate and twist as that happens.

And so to combat it.. you need to start inside the mouth. With something like a mouthguard.

To get the soft tissue covering the skull and body to inflate like a full body wetsuit. And thus allow muscles to revert to their correct length and uncompensate.

How would one prove if I’m right?

Simple… find me the person that has chronic muscle tightness that does this mouthguard process (plus the stretches I recommend) for a solid year in a disciplined way… and if that person is still tight… i will have been proven wrong.

But i have a feeling that won’t happen ;)

Closing thoughts

Today’s article was a bit of a reflective one.

You seen I was just visiting my mother in New York over the Christmas holiday and one of the things she used to do in my twenties was stand on my back while we had a good chat to catch up.

It always felt great since I was always tight… and I always appreciated that time with my mom. As i’d feel like a kid again.

But in the past years… we haven’t done that because i’m never tight.

And I kind of miss it.

Though my mother’s now 80 years old and probably could no longer stay balanced standing on my back even if she tried.

But it was that nostalgia for those good old days catching up with my mom… that reminded me i’d defeated that old enemy - tightness.