# Muscle stretch and flexibility exercise too difficult right after waking up

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 21, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637 "2020-08-21T04:47:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637/1 "2020-08-21T04:47:49Z")

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The majority of the stretch exercises feel painful after waking up although they are easier to do during the daytime (or a certain while after waking up). Why does this happen? I think the muscles are tight during sleep, therefore it takes a while for them to loosen up after sleep.

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**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637/2 "2020-08-21T05:58:10Z")

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One thing that happens during sleep is that your body temperature drops a bit, which is why we really prefer to be covered when we’re snoozing. Cooler temps might be causing muscles to be a bit stiff, also we’re very still in one position for long periods of time during sleep, that’s not going to encourage flexibility right off the bat.

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**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637/4 "2020-08-21T15:33:50Z")

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My understanding is that it’s easier, less painful, and safer to stretch your muscles when they are warmed-up from use (not necessarily from warming them up temperature-wise). When you wake-up you have not used them very much for a few hours, hence the stiffness. I stretch very little before exercise but always when I finish - it’s much easier and feels a lot better.

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**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muscle-stretch-and-flexibility-exercise-too-difficult-right-after-waking-up/918637/5 "2020-08-28T01:50:54Z")

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Thank you so much for the informative replies 🙂