Interrelation between physical activity and hamstring flexibility among university students

Abstract

In recent time, the specialists in the field of physical education and health protection have no consensus on the need to include stretching exercises as an obligatory type of physical activity for apparently healthy young people. The problem is that most university students tend to have sedentary lifestyle. According to some reports, this can negatively affect the flexibility of the hamstrings and, as a result, lead to a decrease in physical performance. To maintain and develop flexibility, special stretching techniques are traditionally used, which caused the point about the necessity to include them in weekly physical activity. The opposite position is that flexibility is perfectly developed and maintained through the performance of healthier types of physical activity. In this case, the flexibility of the hamstrings should be correlated with the amount of physical activity. The aim of the research was to study the relationship between the amount of physical activity of students and the flexibility of the hamstrings. To achieve this aim, a correlation study was conducted. The results of the study showed that there is a noticeable significant correlation between the total value of physical activity of students and the flexibility of the hamstrings. This, in turn, is an additional reinforcement of the position that there is no strict need to include stretching as an obligatory component of the physical activity of university students to maintain and develop the flexibility of the hamstrings.