The acute effect of stretching on eccentrically-damaged muscle: analysis of differences between hold-relax and static stretching

Abstract

It is well known that eccentric exercise induces muscle damage that is characterized by a prolonged decrease in muscle strength and range of motion, development of delayed onset muscle soreness, and swelling. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the acute effects of hold-relax stretching (HRS) with those of static stretching (SS) on muscle strength and soreness. The participants comprised 28 male volunteers randomly assigned to either the HRS group (N = 14) or the SS group (N = 14). Initially, the participants of both groups performed 60 maximal eccentric contractions of the knee extensors. Two and four days after this exercise, each group performed either HRS or SS for 60 s at a time and repeated them six times for a total of 360 s. Muscle strength and soreness during stretching and contraction were measured before and immediately after HRS and SS. The results showed that the muscle soreness observed after eccentric contraction significantly decreased immediately after both HRS and SS were performed two and four days later. In addition, there were no significant changes in muscle strength immediately after both HRS and SS were performed two and four days later. The rate of change in muscle soreness after HRS was significantly higher than that after SS two days post eccentric contractions. These results suggest that while both HRS and SS can effectively decrease muscle soreness, the effect of HRS on muscle soreness was larger than the effect of SS.

The Acute Effect of Foam Rolling on Eccentrically-Induced Muscle Damage

“…On an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex System 3.0, Biodex Medical Systems Inc., Shirley, NY, USA), all participants performed six sets out of 10 maximal ECC of the unilateral knee extensors (dominant leg) [ 11 , 12 ]. Participants were seated in the dynamometer chair at an 80° hip flexion angle, with adjusted Velcro straps fixed over the trunk, pelvis, and thigh of the exercised limb.…”

“…The exercised limb knee joint was aligned with the axis of rotation of the dynamometer. According to the previous studies [ 11 , 12 ], the participants were instructed to perform the maximal ECC from a slightly flexed position (20°) to a flexed position (110°) at an angular velocity of 60°/s. After each ECC, the lever arm passively returned the knee joint to the starting position at 10°/s, which gave a 9-s rest between contractions.…”

“…MVC-CON was measured at the angular velocity of 60°/s for the ROM of 70° (20–90° knee angles) for five continuous maximal voluntary concentric contractions, for both directions [ 11 , 12 ]. The highest value among the five trials was adopted for further analysis.…”

“…The investigator brought the dominant leg to full knee flexion with the hip joint in a neutral position. A goniometer was used to measure the knee flexion ROM twice, and the average value was used for further analysis [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…One study investigated the effect of static stretching on eccentrically-damaged muscle two days after ECC exercise and showed that there was an improvement in muscle soreness, ROM, and muscle-tendon stiffness after a static stretching intervention [ 7 ]. Additionally, the other studies showed that there was an improvement in muscle soreness and ROM after static stretching and hold–relax stretching interventions [ 11 , 12 ]. These results revealed that stretching intervention might not be effective in preventing DOMS, whereas a stretching intervention could be effective in improving muscle soreness and muscle function in eccentrically-damaged muscle.…”