The efficacy of warm-up and stretching on lower extremity muscular force production and hamstring extensibility in non-power-trained individuals

Graduation date: 2001Objective: To determine the effectiveness of moderate pre-exercise warm-up, static\ud stretching, or a combination of both on muscular force production and hamstring\ud extensibility of the lower extremity.\ud Design and Setting: This experiment was a counterbalanced repeated measures\ud design of four treatment conditions. Subjects participated in warm-up, static\ud stretching, combined warm-up and stretching, and no treatment (control) on four\ud separate testing days. After each treatment, hamstring extensibility was measured\ud using the Active Knee Extension Test. Muscle force production was measured\ud using a force dynamometer and associated software. Maximal voluntary isometric\ud contractions of the quadriceps and hamstrings were assessed for the dominant limb.\ud Subjects: Seventeen moderately physically active males and females with no\ud history of lower extremity injury within the past six months were used in this study.\ud Measurements: Angular displacement in degrees was assessed to determine\ud hamstrings extensibility. Peak muscle force production (PFP) and peak rate of\ud force production (PRFP) was assessed for quadriceps and hamstring isometric\ud contractions. The differences between treatments were analyzed using a repeated\ud measure analysis of variance.\ud Outcomes: ANOVA revealed no statistically significant difference between\ud treatments for the variables of hip flexion range of motion and peak force\ud production. Post hoc comparisons revealed that peak rate of force production was\ud significantly less for the stretching treatment compared to the other three\ud conditions. The outcomes showed no difference between the active treatments and\ud the control condition in muscle force production and range of motion