title: Effects of an acute bout of static stretching on 40 m sprint performance: influence of baseline flexibility.
abstract: This study investigated the effect of stretching on sprint performance. Ten trained male subjects (age 22 +/- 2.3 yrs; body mass 77.1 +/- 6.9 kg; height 179 +/- 5.5 cm) were randomly assigned to "Rest" and "Stretch" conditions. A low intensity 5 min running warm-up was followed by either 12 min of inactivity (Rest) or lower-limb stretches (Stretch). Subjects walked for 60 s before completing three maximal effort 40 m sprint trials. There were no statistically significant differences in measures of sprint performance between conditions (p > 0.05); however, there was a significant correlation between baseline sit-and-reach scores and mean change in mean velocity between conditions (r = -0.68; p = 0.03). There was a tendency for stretching to negatively effect sprint performance in subjects with comparatively high baseline flexibility. An acute bout of stretching did not exert a significant effect on sprint performance under prescribed conditions.
authors.affiliation: Health and Exercise Science, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: John-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Favero
authors.forename: Adrian W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Midgley
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bentley
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D052580:Muscle Stretching Exercises / Q000379:methods*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult