The effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises on individuals of quadriceps components in healthy male individuals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises on individual quadriceps components in healthy male individuals. This was a cross-over observational study. Ten healthy male individuals age between 21 and 35 were recruited by convenience. Each subject attended three sessions with one week apart to have (1) static stretching (SS), (2) dynamic stretching (DS) and (3) control (CON) after a 5minute self-pace treadmill running. During the SS session, each subject performed 2 stretching exercises to the quadriceps muscle, with 3 sets of 20seconds holding time. For the DS session, 15 sets of butt kick and walking lunge were performed. The subject sat for 10minutes during the control session. Rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscle stiffness were quantified by Supersonic shear imaging and flexibility of the quadriceps muscle was measured using prone knee bending test before and after the intervention. Results indicated that muscle stiffness after dynamic stretching caused a significant decrease on the RF and VL muscles (p=0.022; p=0.006); insignificant change on muscle stiffness on both tested muscles was observed after static stretching. There was insignificant change on the knee flexion angle from the prone knee bending test (p=0.108). These results suggest that dynamic stretching could decrease quadriceps muscle stiffness and is recommended to include in warm up activities for improving muscle compliance.