Search

&Tau, his study examined changes in hip joint flexion angle after an intermittent or a continuous static stretching protocol of equal total duration. Twenty-seven female subjects aged 19.9 &plusmn, 3.0 years (14 artistic and rhythmic gymnasts and 13 team sports athletes), performed 3 min of intermittent (6 &times, 30 s with 30 s rest) or continuous static stretching (3 min) of the hip extensors, with an intensity of 80&ndash, 90 on a 100-point visual analogue scale. The order of stretching was randomized and counterbalanced, and each subject performed both conditions. Hip flexion angle was measured with the straight leg raise test for both legs after warm-up and immediately after stretching. Both stretching types equally increased hip flexion angle by ~6% (continuous: 140.9&deg, &plusmn, 20.4&deg, to 148.6&deg, 18.8&deg, p = 0.047, intermittent: 141.8&deg, 20.3&deg, to 150.0&deg, p = 0.029) in artistic and rhythmic gymnasts. In contrast, in team sports athletes, only intermittent stretching increased hip flexion angle by 13% (from 91.0&deg, 7.2&deg, to 102.4&deg, 14.5&deg, p = 0.001), while continuous stretching did not affect hip angle (from 92.4&deg, 6.9&deg, vs. 93.1&deg, 9.2&deg, p = 0.99). The different effect of intermittent vs. continuous stretching on hip flexion between gymnasts and team sports athletes suggests that responses to static stretching are dependent on stretching mode and participants training experience.

Gastrocnemius medialis (GM) architecture and ankle angle were compared between flexibility trained (n = 10) and not trained (n = 6) female athletes, aged 8&ndash, 10 years. Ankle angle, fascicle length, pennation angle and muscle thickness were measured at the mid-belly and the distal part of GM, at rest and at the end of one min of static stretching. Flexibility trained (FT) and not trained athletes (FNT) had similar fascicle length at the medial (4.19 &plusmn, 0.37 vs. 4.24 &plusmn, 0.54 cm, respectively, p = 0.841) and the distal part of GM (4.25 &plusmn, 0.35 vs. 4.18 &plusmn, 0.65 cm, respectively, p = 0.780), similar pennation angles, and muscle thickness (p &gt, 0.216), and larger ankle angle at rest (120.9 &plusmn, 4.2 vs. 110.9 &plusmn, 5.8&deg, respectively, p = 0.001). During stretching, FT displayed greater fascicle elongation compared to FNT at the medial (+1.67 &plusmn, 0.37 vs. +1.28 &plusmn, 0.22 cm, respectively, p = 0.048) and the distal part (+1.84 &plusmn, 0.67 vs. +0.97 &plusmn, 0.97 cm, respectively, p = 0.013), larger change in joint angle and muscle tendon junction displacement (MTJ) (p &lt, 0.001). Muscle thickness was similar in both groups (p &gt, 0.053). Ankle dorsiflexion angle significantly correlated with fascicle elongation at the distal part of GM (r = &minus, 0.638, p &lt, 0.01) and MTJ displacement (r = &minus, 0.610, p &lt, 0.05). Collectively, FT had greater fascicle elongation at the medial and distal part of GM and greater MTJ displacement during stretching than FNT of similar age.