The Effect of Static Stretching Duration on Muscle Blood Volume and Oxygenation

Abstract

2022-Muscle blood volume increases due to stretching; however, the minimum duration of stretching to sustainably increase the muscle blood volume after stretching has not yet been elucidated. This study examined whether the duration of static stretching influenced the muscle blood volume and oxygenation. Ten healthy male subjects participated in this controlled laboratory study. Static stretching of the gastrocnemius muscle was performed for 5 durations (20 seconds, and 1, 2, 5, and 10 minutes). Changes in both the total-Hb (DtHb), as an index of blood volume, and tissue oxygenation index (DTOI) from baseline were determined using near-infrared spectroscopy. Both the DtHb and DTOI decreased during stretching and increased after stretching. The minimum value of DtHb during stretching did not differ in each of the 5 durations, but minimum DTOI progressively decreased with longer durations of stretching. The peak value of DtHb after stretching increased with longer durations of stretching. The value of DtHb at 5 minutes after the end of stretching increased with more than 2 minutes of stretching compared with 20 seconds of stretching, although the value of DtHb did not significantly differ between the 2, 5, and 10 minutes' durations. These findings suggest that a longer duration of stretching elicits a decrease in muscle oxygenation during stretching, and an increase in both the muscle blood volume and oxygenation after stretching. The results indicated that the minimum duration of stretching to sustain an increase in the muscle blood volume after stretching is 2 minutes.

Effects of Static Stretching on the Blood Circulation of Human Tendon In Vivo

“…After static stretching, there were no significant increases in THb and StO 2 of muscle as well as tendon. Previous studies reported that blood volume (from near-infrared spectroscopy) and blood flow (from ultrasound Doppler) were significantly higher than at rest until about 10 min after the end of static stretching [ 2 – 4 , 7 ]. In this study, since the foot angle at the beginning and end of stretching was changed manually with the attachment, it was impossible to identify the exact beginning and end points of stretching.…”

“…We previously reported that tendon blood volume continued to increase up to 35 min due to 60 min of heating stimulation, whereas muscle blood volume showed no increase after 20 min [ 13 ]. Therefore, the minimum time for increasing the tendon blood volume may be longer than the minimum time for increasing the muscle blood volume presented by Matsuo et al [ 4 ]. If tendon blood circulation is increased after stretching, stretching may be useful as a maintenance method to increase tendon blood circulation because it does not require special tools.…”

“…In the present study, we aimed to compare the effects of 2- and 5 min of static stretching on the changes in tendon blood circulation and heart rate variability, whereas no difference was observed in the increase in muscle blood volume after stretching between 2- and 5 min of static stretching [ 4 ]. Unlike muscle blood circulation, we hypothesized the change in tendon blood circulation after 5 min of static stretching to be greater than after 2 min of static stretching.…”

“…Stretching is implemented not only to improve fexibility but also to promote muscle blood circulation. Several studies using ultrasound Doppler and near-infrared spectroscopy reported that muscle blood fow and blood volume decreased during stretching due to reduced vessel diameter and increased intramuscular pressure, and reactive hyperemia was seen after stretching [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. More recently, Matsuo et al [4] examined changes in muscle blood volume with static stretching of fve diferent durations (20 s, 1, 2, 5, and 10 min) and found no diference in muscle blood volume increase after stretching for more than 2 min.…”

Using near‐infrared spectroscopy to investigate the effects of pressures and durations of cupping therapy on muscle blood volume and oxygenation

“…The oxygenated form of hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) has a peak absorption at 850–900 nm, and the deoxygenated form of hemoglobin (deoxy‐hemoglobin) has a peak absorption at 730–750 nm [24]. The detection depth was about 1.25 cm [25]. The concentration changes (post‐cupping—pre‐cupping muscle hemodynamic responses) in oxyhemoglobin (), deoxy‐hemoglobin (), blood volume (), and oxygenation () were reported in this study [22].…”