High-Intensity Static Stretching in Quadriceps Is Affected More by Its Intensity Than Its Duration

Kosuke Takeuchi; Shigeru Sato; Ryosuke Kiyono; Kaoru Yahata; Yuta Murakami; Futaba Sanuki; Riku Yoshida; Masatoshi Nakamura

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.709655

High-Intensity Static Stretching in Quadriceps Is Affected More by Its Intensity Than Its Duration

Front Physiol. 2021 Jul 5:12:709655. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.709655. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Kosuke Takeuchi¹, Shigeru Sato², Ryosuke Kiyono², Kaoru Yahata², Yuta Murakami³, Futaba Sanuki³, Riku Yoshida³, Masatoshi Nakamura^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan.
² Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.

Abstract

A previous study reported that 3-min of high-intensity static stretching at an intensity of 120% of range of motion (ROM) did not change the muscle stiffness of the rectus femoris, because of the overly high stress of the stretching. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of high-intensity static stretching of a shorter duration or lower intensity on the flexibility of the rectus femoris than that of the previous study. Two experiments were conducted (Experiment 1 and 2). In Experiment 1, eleven healthy men underwent static stretching at the intensity of 120% of ROM for two different durations (1 and 3 min). In Experiment 2, fifteen healthy men underwent 3-min of static stretching at the intensity of 110% of ROM. The shear elastic modulus of the quadriceps were measured. In Experiment 1, ROM increased in both interventions (p < 0.01), but the shear elastic modulus of the rectus femoris was not changed. In Experiment 2, ROM significantly increased (p < 0.01), and the shear elastic modulus of the rectus femoris significantly decreased (p < 0.05). It was suggested that the stretching intensity (110%) is more important than stretching duration to decrease the muscle stiffness of the rectus femoris.

Keywords: range of motion; rectus femoris; shear elastic modulus; short duration; stretch tolerance.