Best way to say strained/pulled muscle? Ok, so I have a handy dandy Japanese phrasebook that reads that "I have a strained muscle" translates to 筋をちがえました　but I also know that 筋肉（きんにく） means muscle as well. I used an online translator to find out that "a pulled muscle" translates to 引っ張った筋肉...is this correct? What is the most common way to say this? How should I say in Japanese that my back muscles are tight? 背中はきついです...this is my guess. How should I say in Japanese that there are knots in my muscles? 僕の筋肉には結び目があります...I used a translator for this one.