Effects of Quadriceps and Hamstrings Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching on Knee Movement Sensation

Abstract

Stretching before competition has traditionally been thought to benefit performance; however, recent evidence demonstrating reduced muscle force and power immediately after stretching suggests otherwise. We hypothesized that knee joint position sense would be diminished immediately after proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching to the hamstrings and quadriceps. Eighteen subjects (aged 18-30 years) were seated with their dominant foot attached to a motorized arm with the knee flexed at 135 degrees . To block external cues, the subjects wore a blindfold, earplugs, and headphones providing white noise. The knee was displaced in either the flexion or the extension direction at a velocity of 0.4 degrees .s, and subjects pressed a button when they sensed motion. The knee was returned to 135 degrees , and the test was repeated for a total of 10 trials. The PNF group received PNF stretching to the hamstrings and quadriceps of the dominant leg. The SHAM group had the dominant leg passively moved within each subject's functional range of motion. The ability to detect knee movement was retested in the PNF and SHAM groups. Pre- and posttest latencies between movement onset and subject response were analyzed. Results indicated that the PNF group had significantly increased latencies after stretching (from 2.56 +/- 0.83 to 3.46 +/- 1.90 seconds) compared with the SHAM group (3.93 +/- 2.40 to 3.72 +/- 2.15 seconds). It is concluded that PNF stretching of the hamstrings and quadriceps may acutely diminish sensitivity to knee movement. For coaches and trainers, these findings are consistent with previous reports of loss in muscle force and power immediately after stretching, suggesting that stretching just before competition may diminish performance.

The passive stretching, massage, and muscle energy technique effects on range of motion, strength, and pressure pain threshold in musculoskeletal neck pain of young adults

“…PS has been mentioned in many previous studies as having an effect on muscle strength reduction. The force reduction occurs as a result of a change in the length-tension relationship, reduction in neural drive, and perception of joint position [18,19]. In our current experiment, this did not have a significant effect on the improvement of muscle strength during manual stretching.…”

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“…Researchers have examined the effect of warm-ups consisting of jogging and stretching exercise or only stretching exercise on knee joint proprioception [ 22 , 28 , 29 ]. Knee joint proprioception did not change after stretching and one study demonstrated that the PNF increases knee movement errors [ 28 ]. Similarly, our study found no improvement on proprioception in LEC and decreased proprioception of knee movements in both the jogging and DS groups.…”

“…Similarly, our study found no improvement on proprioception in LEC and decreased proprioception of knee movements in both the jogging and DS groups. It has been speculated that stretching of the hamstring and quadriceps may reduce muscle stiffness [ 28 ] and reduce sensitivity of the muscle spindle activity [ 30 ]. Specifically, the acute decrease in muscle strength following stretching could apparently affect proprioceptive sensitivity of the muscle [ 31 ].…”

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“…Order of testing for the movements to dorsiflexion and plantarflexion was randomized, with all participants undergoing the same testing order. Mean JAR was calculated and presented as absolute error, reflecting the total number of degrees away from the target angle, and as relative error with positive and negative values representing the degrees of overshoot and undershoot, respectively [ 20 ].…”