Relationship between muscular strength and flexibility in healthy adults of both genders

Acute effects of static versus proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching volume on the maximum number of repetitions and perceived exertion

“…This may have occurred because Franco, Signorelli, Trajano, De Oliveira 12 and Gomes, Simão, Marques, Costa, Novaes 2 investigated men, whereas present study has assessed women. The differences between studies may be related to sex because in addition to exhibiting hormonal variations 29 women have a higher degree of flexibility when compared to men [18][19][20] , as well as different musculotendinous stiffness. Thus, the decreased maximum number of repetitions reported by Franco, Signorelli, Trajano, De Oliveira 12 and Gomes, Simão, Marques, Costa, Novaes 2 may have been due to decreased neural activation induced by the Golgi tendon organ, which is located in the myotendinous junction and is responsible for detecting high force combined with muscle lengthening 11 , a combination that may have been higher in men.…”

“…This fact may explain the possible similarity in the performance of the number of repetitions between methods with and without stretching. Women are more flexible than men 18,30 , and the stimuli provided by stretching methods may not have generated enough muscle fatigue and neural activation, which can also explain the non-significant difference in the sum of the number of repetitions between the study protocols (PNF vs. SS vs. NS). The study by Silveira, Farias, Alvarez, Bif, Vieira 14 corroborates our findings as no significant differences were reported in the number of repetitions in the unilateral exercise after 10, 20, and 40 seconds of SS.…”

“…Other investigations compared the effects of SS on the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) between men and women 16,17 . Because in addition to exhibiting hormonal variations, women have a higher degree of flexibility when compared to men [18][19][20] , as well as different musculotendinous stiffness, it is important to conduct research in women. However, no studies have been carried out aiming to examine the acute effects of different PNF and SS volumes on the maximum number of repetitions and RPE in women.…”