The main purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching in the warm-up, on hamstring flexibility using a reliable set-up for measurement. Static and dynamic flexibility was measured using five modifications of the Straight Leg Raise (SLR) test to measure hip flexion range of motion (ROM). In the first part of the study (n = 33) hamstring flexibility was measured using a Static-passive, Static-active, Dynamic-supine and Dynamic-standing tests. The results of this study were used to calculate reliability statistics and to compare the various static and dynamic flexibility tests. There was a significant difference between Static-passive (SPH) and the Dynamic-supine (DSUH) tests (p less than .05). This was followed by an intervention study (n = 12) where participants were randomly assigned to three intervention treatments of 225 seconds on separate days: No stretching (Treatment I), Static stretching (Treatment 2) and Dynamic stretching (Treatment 3) in a cross-over study design. Static stretching had no impact on dynamic hamstring flexibility; however, dynamic stretching improved dynamic flexibility while simultaneously increasing static flexibility. This has implications for the specificity of stretching in sport.

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The purpose of this study was to compare effects of static and dynamic stretching on explosive agility movements, and to examine the effect of the interaction of dynamic and static stretching prior to explosive agility movements. Fourteen men and 10 women performed the different warm-up protocols, including no warm-up (NWU), static stretching (SS), dynamic stretching (DS), and dynamic stretching with static stretching (DS+SS). The T-Drill was used to assess agility. The results indicated no difference between the NWU and SS conditions (effect size = 0.40, p = 0.06), as well as no significant difference between the NWU and DS+SS conditions (effect size = 0.01, p = 0.48), and the SS and DS+SS conditions (effect size = 0.40, p = 0.06). Statistically significant differences were found between the NWU and DS conditions (effect size = 0.45, p = 0.03), the SS and DS conditions (effect size = 0.85, p < 0.001), and the DS and DS+SS conditions (effect size = 0.40, p = 0.03). Agility test times, in order from fastest to slowest, were (a) dynamic stretching (10.87 ± 1.07 s), (b) dynamic stretching + static stretching (11.41 ± 1.26 s), (c) no warm-up (11.42 ± 1.21 s), (d) static stretching (11.90 ±1.35 s). Dynamic stretching resulted in the fastest agility test time. Static stretching resulted in the slowest agility times. The benefits of dynamic stretching may have been diluted when followed by Static Stretching, and the agility test time was the same as if no form of stretching was completed. Static stretching prior to agility is not recommended as it has a negative effect on the stretch shortening cycle, and agility. The results support the use of dynamic stretching prior to agility performance.

The purpose of this study was to assess the acute effects of static stretching on foot velocity at impact with a soccer ball. Eighteen Division I female soccer athletes underwent two test conditions separated by 48 hr. Each condition was randomly assigned and began by placing four retro-reflective markers on bony landmarks of the ankle (total of eight markers, four on each ankle). One condition was the no-stretch condition, in which each participant performed a self-paced jog for 5 min as a warm-up, and then sat quietly for 6 min before performing three maximal instep kicks into a net. The second condition was the stretch condition, which was identical to the no-stretch condition, except the participants performed a series of six randomly ordered stretches instead of sitting quietly for 6 min. Three-dimensional motion analysis was used to quantify the resultant velocity of the head of the 5th metatarsal immediately prior to foot impact with a soccer ball. The results of a dependent t test indicated that there was no significant difference between the no-stretch (18.34 ± 1.29 m/s) and stretch conditions (17.96 ± 1.55 m/s; p = .102, d = .3) Based on these findings, acute stretching performed one time for 30 s before maximal instep soccer kicking has no effect on the resultant foot velocity of Division 1A university female soccer players. Pre-event stretching performed in a like manner may best be prescribed at the discretion of the athlete.

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Title: Effect of passive stretching on current patient's mental state Objectives: This thesis presents a pilot theoretical - empirical experiment, where the main subject of the experiment is to evaluate the effect of passive stretching hypertonic or shortened muscles, i.e. decreased muscle tone on current patient's mental state. The theoretical part summarizes the neurophysiologic basis of emotions by search form. Through the implementation and follow-up experiment, we aim to demonstrate the positive impact of stretching exercise on current psychological state. Methods: Two groups of patients participated in this research, thirty without pain and thirty with pain. We chose questionnaire PANAS-X (Watson, Clark, 1994) to diagnose their current mental state. The first group, patients without pain, completed the questionnaire before and immediately after the experimental intervention, i.e. passive stretching hypertonic muscles. The second group, patients with pain, went through stretching exercise unit twice a week for three weeks. As for this group, we compare the situation before the first therapy with the state after six sessions. We evaluated the change in the individual sublevels of positive and negative emotions by the methodology of the questionnaire. Results: During the experiment three out of...

Title Acute effect of static and dynamic stretching on vertical jump. Objectives The aim of this thesis is to assess whether it is better to warm up by static or dynamic stretching in order to improve performance in the vertical jump. Methods The first part of this thesis is theoretical and is the basis for measurement, which is described in the second part. The tested set consists of ten women volleyball players. Each player underwent three vertical jump measurements on power plates Kistler, which recorded flight time of the player over the plates. All measurements were evaluated afterwards. Five attempts were recorded in each measurement. Measurements were carried out without stretching, after dynamic stretching and after static stretching. The thesis includes a survey that monitors the perception of the players` performance. Results Results of the total tested set measurement show that inclusion of dynamic stretching during the warm up leads to a slight decline in the physical performance. This decrease presents about 0.92%. Another conclusion of this research is that the inclusion of static stretching to the warm up also results in a slight decrease in the athletic performance. In this case the decrease is about 1.72%. In a direct comparison of these two types of stretching, the inclusion of...

Background: Extensive literature has described a decrease in force output performance in the local muscle groups after static stretching, and static stretching has therefore been recommended not to be performed during warm-ups. A recent study showed evidence of a cross-over effect in regard to static stretching, i.e. non-local muscles were also affected by static stretching. This result could however be due to fatigue in the muscle groups stretched, and a fatigued condition has previously shown cross-over effects in several studies. Aim: The aim of the study was to (1) examine if upper-limb static stretching and muscle fatigue display a cross-over effect that show changes in force output in the lower limbs, and (2) if there was a difference between the effects of the static stretch protocol and the muscle fatigue protocol for the purpose of examining if fatigue is the larger factor for cross-over. Methods: Concentric maximal jump height of 15 subjects with previous strength training experience of at least one year was measured and the subjects subsequently performed both intervention protocols in a random order. After each protocol concentric jump height was measured again. The static stretch protocol consisted of a static stretch for the shoulder at an intensity of “Very hard”, 10 repetitions of 30 second stretches with 15 seconds rest in between repetitions. The muscle fatigue protocol consisted of 10 repetitions of 30 seconds isometric muscle contraction in the same position with 15 seconds rest between repetitions at an intensity of “Very hard”. The data was collected on an infra-red contact mat and differences between the mean jump heights pre- and post each protocol and between the different protocols were analyzed with pair sample t-test.   Result: Mean concentric jump height (± standard deviation, SD) was 25.31 (±9.4) cm for the baseline jumps, 23.66 (±8.89) cm post static stretch intervention jumps and 24.13 (±8.90) cm post muscle fatigue intervention jumps. This indicates a cross-over effect on force output in the legs post static stretching with a mean reduction of 1.65 cm (p=0.001). Upper-limb muscle fatigue indicated a cross-over effect on force output in the legs with a mean reduction of 1.18 cm (p=0.032). There was no statistical significance between the two protocols (p=0.146). Conclusion: The results presented a cross-over effect on both conditions. This is in line with previous research in the area. The results implicate that static stretching and muscle fatigue effects the central nervous system, which can lead to impairments in performance in non-local muscles. This can be considered in warm-up and exercise program design when force output is of great importance for performance

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PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine if performing static active knee extension hamstring stretching using the Pneumex Pro-Vibe vibrating platform increased acute hamstring range of motion (ROM) greater than traditional static active knee extension hamstring stretching. METHODS: A within subject design was utilized with subjects undergoing static stretching with vibration and without vibration (conditions counterbalanced). Pre- and post-test active and passive ROM was measured for the right leg, with subjects first undergoing a 5-minute warm-up on a stationary bicycle. Supine active knee extension was performed on the Pro-Vibe platform with and without vibration. The stretch was held 3 times each for 30 seconds, with a 20-second rest period between each stretch. Vibration was set at 30 Hz at the “high” amplitude setting. Active hamstring ROM was measured via active knee extension using a goniometer with the leg in 90° of hip flexion. Passive ROM was measured via clinician-assisted knee extension with the leg in 90° of hip flexion. RESULTS: A 2-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed for passive ROM, and revealed a significant main effect for condition, F (1, 23) = 0.5875, p < 0.05, and time, F (1, 23) = 5.029, p < 0.05. Another repeated measures ANOVA was performed for active ROM with the same factors, and revealed a significant time by condition interaction, F (1, 23) = 4.730, p < 0.05, and a significant main effect for time, F (1, 23) = 18.612, p < 0.001. Post-hoc paired samples t-tests determined the difference between the pre-test and post-test measurements for each condition. Active ROM showed a significant difference pre-test to post-test for the vibration condition, t (23) = -5.41, p < 0.001. The vibration condition also resulted in significantly different pre-test vs. post-test measurements on passive ROM, t (23) = -2.55, p < 0.05. In both cases the average ROM was higher for the post-test. DISCUSSION: Three 30-second active knee extension hamstring stretches using a vibrating platform are sufficient to cause significant acute increases in hamstring ROM. These findings suggest this device may be useful when desiring increased hamstring ROM.