Can we extend the prolonged effects of a 180-s stretching exercise by applying an additional 15-s stretching bout?

Masatoshi Nakamura; Kazuki Kasahara; Yuta Murakami; Kosuke Takeuchi; Ewan Thomas; Antonino Scardina; Andreas Konrad

doi:10.3389/fspor.2024.1473746

Can we extend the prolonged effects of a 180-s stretching exercise by applying an additional 15-s stretching bout?

Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Nov 7:6:1473746. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1473746. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Masatoshi Nakamura¹, Kazuki Kasahara², Yuta Murakami², Kosuke Takeuchi³, Ewan Thomas⁴, Antonino Scardina⁴, Andreas Konrad⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishi Kyushu University, Kanzaki, Japan.
² Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Kobe International University, Kobe-shi, Japan.
⁴ Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
⁵ Institute of Human Movement Science, Sport and Health, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

Abstract

Introducation: This study aimed to clarify whether or not the prolonged effect of a 180-s static stretching (SS) exercise could be maintained for a longer period by performing an additional short-term (15-s) SS exercise following a 15-min rest.

Methods: The participants were 15 healthy untrained adult males in three conditions: (1) SS condition (180-s SS exercise only); (2) SS + 15 s condition (180-s SS and 15-s SS exercise during the rest period); and (3) noSS + 15-s condition (15-s SS exercise only). The knee flexion range of motion (ROM), pain pressure threshold (PPT), and tissue hardness were measured before (PRE), immediately after (POST), and 15 min and 30 min after the SS exercise.

Results and discussion: Significant interaction effects were observed in all variables. Post hoc tests showed that knee flexion ROM showed an immediate significant change (P < 0.05) and also at 15 min and 30 min after the SS exercise in the SS + 15 s condition. Tissue hardness showed an immediate significant decrease (P < 0.05) and also at 15 min, but not at 30 min after the SS exercise in the SS + 15 s condition. The additional short-term (15 s) SS exercise in the rest period may have a potential long-lasting effect on ROM increase and tissue hardness decrease.

Keywords: knee extensors; pain pressure threshold; range of motion; static stretching; tissue hardness.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors acknowledge the financial support by the University of Graz. The study sponsors had no involvement, in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.