Effect of Static and Ballistic Stretching on the Muscle-Tendon Tissue Properties

Mahieu, Nele; McNair, Peter; Muynck, Martine De; Stevens, Veerle; Blanckaert, Ian; Smits, Nele; Witvrouw, Erik

doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000247004.40212.f7

Cited by 128 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

139

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A lack of alteration in the tendon's stiffness suggests that passive stretching does not provide an effective stimulus to alter the mechanical properties of the tendon in children with spastic CP. This is consistent with previous research in healthy populations (Kubo et al, 2002;Mahieu et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Does long-term passive stretching alter muscle–tendon unit mechanics in children with spastic cerebral palsy?

Theis

Korff

Mohagheghi

2015

Clinical Biomechanics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT. AbstractBackground: Cerebral Palsy causes motor impairments during development and many children may experience excessive neural and mechanical muscle stiffness. The clinical assumption is that excessive stiffness is thought to be one of the main reasons for functional impairments in cerebral palsy. As such, passive stretching is widely used to reduce stiffness, with a view to improving function. However, current research evidence on passive stretching in cerebral palsy is not adequate to support or refute the effectiveness of stretching as a management strategy to reduce stiffness and/or improve function. The purpose was to identify the effect of six weeks passive ankle stretching on muscle-tendon unit parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy.Methods: Thirteen children (8-14 y) with quadriplegic/diplegic cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=7) or a control group (n=6). The experimental group underwent an additional six weeks of passive ankle dorsiflexion stretching for 15 minutes (per leg), four days per week, whilst the control group continued with their normal routine, which was similar for the two groups. Measures of muscle and tendon stiffness, strain and resting length were acquired pre and post intervention.Findings: The experimental group demonstrated a 3° increase in maximum ankle dorsiflexion. This was accompanied by a 13% reduction in triceps surae muscle stiffness, with no change in tendon stiffness. Additionally, there was an increase in fascicle strain with no changes in resting length, suggesting muscle stiffness reductions were a result of alterations in intra/extra-muscular connective tissue.Interpretation: The results demonstrate that stretching can reduce muscle stiffness by altering fascicle strain but not resting fascicle length.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Does long-term passive stretching alter muscle–tendon unit mechanics in children with spastic cerebral palsy?

Theis

Korff

Mohagheghi

2015

Clinical Biomechanics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies measuring tendon and apponeurosis properties the day following completion of a stretch training regimen have shown stretching have no significant effect on tendon and apponeurosis stiffness. 26,27 However, caution must be taken when comparing these results to those found here due to differences in the stretch protocols utilized. Although there was no significant difference in moment arm length between genders (p > 0.05), on average, females were shorter than males (46.5 AE 5.1 mm vs. 53.4 AE 2.6 mm).…”

Section: Effects Of Stretch On Male and Female Tendonmentioning

confidence: 65%

Effect of acute tensile loading on gender‐specific tendon structural and mechanical properties

Burgess

Graham-Smith

Pearson

2009

Journal Orthopaedic Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stretching is commonly used prior to exercise, as it is thought to reduce the risk of injury, and it is also used in the preconditioning of tendon grafts. As tendon properties have been shown to be different between genders, it is proposed that stretching will differentially affect the structure. Here we examine the effect of acute stretch on the mechanical properties of both male and female medial gastrocnemius tendon. Female [20 years AE 1 (SEM), n ¼ 17] and male (22 years AE 1, n ¼ 18) subjects underwent a 5-min passive dorsiflexion stretch. Prior to and post stretch medial gastrocnemius tendon stiffness (K), length (l) and cross-sectional area (csa) were measured using ultrasonography and dynamometry. Stiffness and Young's modulus (e) were significantly reduced with stretch for both genders (p < 0.05). Females showed significantly (p < 0.05) greater pre-to poststretch decreases in K (22.4 vs. 8.8%) and e (20.5 vs. 8.4%) in comparison to males. The present results show that stretching acutely reduces stiffness of the medial gastrocnemius tendon in females and males, with females showing significantly greater change. The observed disparity between genders may be due in part to variations in tendon moment arm and intrinsic differences in tendon composition. These differential changes in tendon mechanical properties have functional, motor control, and injury risk implications, as well as possible implications for preconditioning of tendon grafts. ß

show abstract

“…Different types of stretching are considered to have different effects on the MTU. Until now, the effects of static stretching modes on muscle-tendon tissues have been reported by use of ultrasonography (Mahieu et al, 2007;Mahieu et al, 2009), but previous researches on dynamic stretching have focused on how it affects performance, not MTU structure. Understanding how dynamic stretching affects the MTU structure may clarify how it improves sporting performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of dynamic stretching on plantar flexor muscle-tendon tissue properties

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Effect of Static and Ballistic Stretching on the Muscle-Tendon Tissue Properties

Abstract: These findings provide evidence that static and ballistic stretching have different effects on passive resistive torque and tendon stiffness, and both types of stretching should be considered for training and rehabilitation programs.

Cited by 128 publications

References 28 publications

Does long-term passive stretching alter muscle–tendon unit mechanics in children with spastic cerebral palsy?

Does long-term passive stretching alter muscle–tendon unit mechanics in children with spastic cerebral palsy?

Effect of acute tensile loading on gender‐specific tendon structural and mechanical properties

The effects of dynamic stretching on plantar flexor muscle-tendon tissue properties

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About