Stretching?

Question

What exactly happens to the muscles/tendons/etc when we stretch? I just did, and even though I stretched, the muscles tightened up and it felt sooo good. That sounds confusing, stretching and tightening at the same time, but that's the best way I can describe it.

Do we get a rush of blood to the muscles? Is there a chemical that runs through our brain and the bloodstream? It makes me to stretch, so I thought perhaps there's some dopamine thing going on in the brain, I don't know. What's happening?

Answer 1

What your feeling is the endorphin rush. As for stretching, your muscle actually just warms up and gets blood rushing into it so you're not pulling and tearing muscles when you get to the regular activity that you're doing.