Affiliations: [a] Sports Performance and Coaching Laboratory, Department
of Physical Education and Sports Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Theophanis Siatras, Department of
Physical Education and Sports Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
54006, Greece. Tel.: +30 2310 992179; E-mail: fsiatras@phed.auth.gr
Abstract: Warm-up and stretching exercises constitute an essential part of
physical preparation before any athletic event. The aim of this study was to
examine the acute effect of static and dynamic stretching exercises on maximal
isokinetic torque of knee extensor and flexor muscles. Thirty-two
(n=32) physical education students aged 19–22 years were
asked to perform three different protocols consisting of A) warm-up, B) warm-up
and static stretching and C) warm-up and dynamic stretching exercises, on three
non-consecutive days. Each treatment was followed by measurements of knee
extensor and flexor muscles maximal concentric torque on an isokinetic
dynamometer at 60 and 180°/s. ANOVA for
repeated-measures revealed significant differences in maximal torque following
the different protocols. Tukey's post hoc tests showed a reduced torque for
knee extensor p<0.01) and knee flexor muscles
(p<0.01) at both velocities when static stretching exercises
preceded the test. These findings indicate the negative influence of the static
stretching exercises on maximal isokinetic torque production, while dynamic
stretching approach does not seem to have any inhibitory effect.
