Relative static stretch-induced impairments and dynamic stretch-induced enhancements are similar in young and middle-aged men

Abstract

Middle-aged individuals may not respond in a similar manner as younger individuals. The study's objective was to examine the effect of static (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS) in young and middle-aged men on subsequent performance. Ten young (22 ± 1.4 years) and 8 middle-aged men (46.3 ± 6.5 years) participated in 3 conditions consisting of SS (4 × 30 s for right and left quadriceps, hamstrings, and plantar flexors), DS (8 × 30 s of bilateral butt kicks, walking lunges, and plantar flexors) and control. Dependent variables included sit and reach, hip extension flexibility, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, drop jump (DJ) height, static balance, reaction (RT) and movement time (MT). Measurements were taken pre-intervention, post- and 10 min post-intervention. A 3-way repeated measurement ANOVA revealed that the younger men had higher jump heights, faster RT and MT, and greater flexibility than the middle-aged men. DS significantly enhanced DJ (p = 0.04) and CMJ (p = 0.006) height compared with SS and control conditions. SS (p < 0.0001) and DS (p = 0.004) post-intervention sit and reach scores were significantly greater than pre-intervention scores. There were no significant differences between the SS and DS sit and reach scores. CMJ heights were impaired (p = 0.04) by SS. Conversely, DS post-intervention jump heights were significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than SS post-, control post-, and control 10 min post-intervention. SS-induced impairments and DS-induced enhancements of CMJ height were not affected by age. DS provided similar improvements in sit and reach scores as SS. DS is recommended as the most appropriate stretching routine prior to work or athletic performance for younger and middle-aged men.

The Effects of Static Versus Dynamic Stretching on Average Power in the Young-Adult Athletic Population

“…It is believed that dynamic stretching facilitates an increase in flexibility, blood and oxygen flow to the muscles, and a greater increase in body temperature, thus improving conditions for metabolic reactions during activity to potentially improve muscle performance and decrease the occurrence of injury. 4,12 The findings of the current study supports several research articles, as well as the research hypothesis, 3,4,8,[11][12][13][14] however, further research is warranted to test the effects of dynamic stretching on various muscle groups in the body, as well as to specify the mechanism of the aforementioned enhancements.…”

“…6 In contrast, some studies have suggested that dynamic stretching may result in beneficial or null effects when performed prior to activity. 3,11,12 It is proposed that dynamic stretching prepares the body for physical activity by increasing joint range of motion, as well as blood and oxygen flow to soft tissues, thereby preventing the risk of injury during the subsequent activity. 4 In fact, McMillian et al 12 reported that the United States Army Physical Fitness School (APFS) implemented a dynamic stretching protocol for all military personnel with the same aforementioned goals in addition to increasing body temperature, heart rate, the pliability of joints and muscles, and reaction time.…”

Effect of a physical education-based dynamic stretching program on hamstring extensibility in female high-school students

“…Nevertheless, as several authors suggest (e.g. Behm, et al, 2011;Turki-Belkhiria, et al, 2014), dynamic stretching exercises may not be harmful when practiced in a soft way. The results of the present study revealed that a dynamic stretching program, carried out only twice a week, improves hamstring extensibility in female highschool students.…”

“…Nevertheless, dynamic stretching exercise may not be harmful when practiced in a soft way. It may also increase the sensitivity of muscle spindles thus improving its performance within the muscle; synergy like it occurs in most sport movements (Behm, et al, 2011;Turki-Belkhiria, et al, 2014). Unfortunately, although several previous studies have shown that a PE-based static stretching program improves students' hamstring extensibility (e.g.…”

Acute and Time-Course Effects of Traditional and Dynamic Warm-Up Routines in Young Elite Junior Tennis Players

“…These SS doses per single muscle group are not representative of TWUs used by athletes (including tennis players) to prepare themselves for exercise or competition. Another aspect that should be highlighted is that despite the large number of studies that examined the acute effects of the DWU on muscle performance [ 6 , 7 , 9 – 11 , 14 – 16 , 22 – 24 , 30 – 33 ], very few of them have documented the time course of potential performance recovery using non-athletes [ 34 ] and football players [ 17 ] as participants. Previous studies have reported that there is a significant inter-individual variability in the PAP phenomenon, so that stronger individuals are able to express higher levels of PAP [ 20 ].…”