I attend regular martial arts classes (about 3-4 a week). We spend a lot of time stretching, particularly the hip area and the legs, to increase flexibility.
Often after some classes where we do a lot of stretching, I find that the muscles/other soft tissues I don't know the name of/tendons I stretched are pretty sore.
Is this a normal reaction to increasing flexibility? Should I view the soreness as evidence I'm becoming more flexible, or should I ease up a bit?
EDIT: The general location of the soreness is the hip, psoas area (I'll try to roust up a picture later). It usually fades after a couple days, some ice/heat application speeds recovery. I have as yet not noticed any marked improvement in flexibility.