The effects of Foam Rolling and Static Stretching on bilateral forward jumping ability and flexibility of the hamstrings musculature

Background: Foam rolling (FR) is a promising new trend in the world of resistance training, sports and athletics. It is often used as a warm up activity as a substitute or addition to stretching modalities such as static stretching (SS). The proposed benefits behind FR is that it can lead to both acute and chronic increases in performance and flexibility. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two different warm­up intervention protocols of the hamstrings musculature on: 1) Performance in the bilateral standing long jump 2) Flexibility in a supine active­knee­extension test. Method: The study consisted of sixteen male participants who were all healthy adult recreational athletes. The two different interventions were, a) Static Stretching protocol (SS) and b) a Foam Rolling protocol (FR). These were compared to a baseline warm up (BLWU). The SS consisted of 1 x 30 seconds of active SS using the lying supine active­knee­extension position after a short warm­up. The FR consisted of 1 bout of 30 seconds of FR of the hamstrings musculature of each leg after a short warm­up. BLWU consisted of a short warm­up (5 submaximal bilateral standing long jumps). Performance was measured using a bilateral standing long jump test. Flexibility was measured with a goniometer using a lying supine active ­knee­ extension test. The student’s t­test was used to study differences between and within groups (BLWU, SS, FR). Results: No differences between BLWU and Post­SS (p=0.89) as well as BLWU compared to Post­FR (p=0.86) was detected for performance. However, an increase in flexibility was shown favoring Post­SS over BLWU (p=0.021) as well as Post­FR over BLWU (p=0.045). No significant difference was seen between changes in the Post­SS and Post­FR groups in either performance or flexibility (p=0.887 and p=0.944 respectively). Conclusion: It seems that both SS and FR are similarly viable and effective methods for acute increases in flexibility in the active­knee­extension test without subsequent decreases in performance of the bilateral standing long jump.