Changes in Flexibility and Force are not Different after Static Versus Dynamic Stretching

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effects of static and dynamic stretching on range of motion (ROM), passive torque (PT) at pain onset, passive stiffness, and isometric muscle force. We conducted a randomized crossover trial in which 16 healthy young men performed a total of 300 s of active static or dynamic stretching of the right knee flexors on two separate days in random order. To assess the effects of stretching, we measured the ROM, PT at pain onset, passive stiffness during passive knee extension, and maximum voluntary isometric knee flexion force using an isokinetic dynamometer immediately before and after stretching. Both static and dynamic stretching significantly increased the ROM and PT at pain onset (p<0.01) and significantly decreased the passive stiffness and isometric knee flexion force immediately after stretching (p<0.01). However, the magnitude of change did not differ between the two stretching methods for any measurements. Our results suggest that 300 s of either static or dynamic stretching can increase flexibility and decrease isometric muscle force; however, the effects of stretching do not appear to differ between the two stretching methods.

Mechanisms underlying performance impairments following prolonged static stretching without a comprehensive warm-up

“…Since 2016, a further 14 studies have examined the acute effects of SS on force output and MTU stiffness. Six studies targeted the knee flexors and all reported significant reductions in MTU stiffness, however only studies imposing longer duration (3-5 min) stretches reported concomitant reductions in peak isometric force production (Hatano et al 2019;Kataura et al 2017;Matsuo et al 2019), with no reduction in peak isometric Palmer and Thiele 2019) or concentric (Takeuchi and Nakamura 2020) force following shorter duration (20-120 s) stretches. Similar findings were reported in the plantar flexors, with seven studies reporting reductions in MTU stiffness but with reductions in force generally reported only after longer-duration (2.5-5.0 min) (Bouvier et al 2017;Konrad et al 2019;Longo et al 2017;Opplert et al 2016) but not shorter-duration (2-3 min) stretches (Konrad et al 2017a;Konrad and Tilp 2020a).…”

Education of the Lower Body Flexibility in Students by Combining Various Types of Stretching during Physical Education Lessons

“…Both types of stretches are effective, statistically significant performances being recorded, the witness group (NS) being the only one without any progress. The effectiveness of both types of stretching is supported by Matsuo et al (2019), who proposes 5 minutes work intervals for the lower body, both DS and SS generating a decrease in the passive rigidity of the tissues, an increase in the ROM, but also a decrease in the isometric force, without any significant differences.…”

Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation on Hamstring Flexibility in Healthy Adults

“…Stretching exercises consist of three interventions, namely, static, dynamic, and ballistic stretching, and both static and dynamic stretching help to increase range of motion (ROM) and flexibility (Lempke et al, 2018). Static stretching usually involves moving a limb to the end of its ROM (Matsuo et al, 2019). Dynamic stretching is a movement-based method of stretching (Opplertid et al, 2020;Demoulin et al, 2016).…”