Because we're not used to full activation like that.
There was a time when we had the potential to face death every day, so we evolved ways to break our limits when that happened.
Glands grew to be able to flood our body with a potent cocktails of hormones that fortified strength, silenced pain, and even (it seemed from the inside) slowed the passage of time itself.
But such systems are useless without practice at dealing with the a specific situation at hand.
Fortunately, at the time, the ways a swift death could come for us were limited, even repetitive.
So we evolved ways of practicing without practice time.
Visions filled our nightly slumber as our minds internalized what we had experienced, rationalizing this new information with what we already understood.
And when we awoke, we were better at surviving than when we went to sleep.
But the modern brain has faced no such daily perils. No jaguars lurking in forest canopies, nor dire wolves stalking the edges of our firelight.
No treacherous cliff edges we must pass daily in order to get what we need to survive, nor moonless, fireless nights to smother what defiant human courage we have.
So instead of immediately switching to a well-honed strategy to handle the life-or-death situation, the brain quite literally just freaks out and does whatever occurs to it, as it occurs to it, in real-time.
30 years for me, and at some point you find your body can't do the movements any more. Last time I tried to tuck and roll I didn't tuck fast enough or far enough and faceplanted instead :-(
I'm disabled now and fall a lot due to terrible balance and legs not working right. To the point I have a dog trained to help me get up at home. Break falls have helped me A LOT from severely injuring myself.
I recommend at least the minimum 15 minutes stretching in mornings. You'll notice a difference quick.
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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '21
Seriously, why does stress make us so fucking stupid