Effects of stretching intensity on range of motion and muscle stiffness: A narrative review

Abstract

Background: No review has yet investigated acute and chronic effects of different stretching intensities, including constant-angle (CA) and constant-torque (CT) stretching.

Objective: This review aimed to investigate the acute and chronic effects of different stretching intensities on the range of motion (ROM) and passive properties.

Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were used for literature search. Advanced search functions were used to identify original studies using the terms stretching intensity, constant-torque stretching, constant-angle stretching, ROM, passive stiffness, shear elastic modulus in the title or abstract. The keywords were combined using the Boolean operators "AND" and "OR". The search for articles published from inception until 2021 was done in electronic databases.

Results and conclusion: Five studies compared CA and CT stretching. Three studies reported a greater decrease in passive stiffness, and two studies reported a greater ROM increase after CT than CA stretching. Twelve studies investigated the acute effects of different stretching intensities, and six reported a greater ROM increase at higher stretching intensities. Five studies reported a greater decrease in passive stiffness at higher stretching intensities, but three reported no significant differences in passive stiffness among stretching intensities. Five studies investigated the chronic effect, and four reported no significant difference in ROM change among different intensities. Three studies reported no significant changes in passive stiffness after the stretching program. We suggest that the acute effect of higher stretching intensity, including CT stretching, was more effective for changes in ROM and passive stiffness, but the chronic effect was weak.

Keywords: Passive stiffness; Range of motion; Static stretching; Stretch tolerance; Stretching intensity.