Abstract
Stretching exercises are integral part of the rehabilitation and sport. Despite this, the mechanism behind its proposed effect remains ambiguous. It is assumed that flexibility increases, e.g., action on muscle and tendon, respectively, but this is not always present in the stretching protocol of the exercises used. Recently, the fasciae have increased popularity and seems that they can have a role to define the flexibility and the perception of the limitation of the maximal range of motion (ROM). Deep fascia is also considered a key element to transmit load in parallel bypassing the joints, transmitting around 30% of the force generated during a muscular contraction. So, it seems impossible dividing the action of the muscles from the fasciae, but they have to be considered as a “myofascial unit”. The purpose of this manuscript is to evaluate the mechanical behavior of muscles, tendons, and fasciae to better understand how they can interact during passive stretching. Stress-strain values of muscle, tendon and fascia demonstrate that during passive stretching, the fascia is the first tissue that limit the elongation, suggesting that fascial tissue is probably the major target of static stretching. A better understanding of myofascial force transmission, and the study of the biomechanical behavior of fasciae, with also the thixotropic effect, can help to design a correct plan of stretching.
Highlights
Stretching exercises are widely used in rehabilitation and sports
This article is not intended to be a comprehensive review but, instead, it addresses the biomechanical characteristic of the deep fascia tissue in comparison with muscles and tendons, in order to better understand the mechanisms of static stretching
Biomechanical data may not be comprehensive in order to have a clear understanding of muscle role in the biomechanics of human body, but want to underline the differences among muscle, tendon and fascia highlighting the possible role of fascia in the stretching
Summary
Stretching exercises are widely used in rehabilitation and sports. even though stretching has been demonstrated to cause instantaneous and long-lasting changes in maximal joint range of motion (ROM) (commonly referred as flexibility), its mechanism has not clearly been demonstrated yet [1]. Nakamura et al [3] demonstrated that static stretching might be effective for decreasing muscle stiffness of the medial and lateral gastrocnemius. Another doubt about stretching is “the lack of a relationship between electromyography (EMG) response and viscoelastic stress relaxation during a static stretch [4], and the incongruity between the observed EMG response and the most effective stretching technique” [5]. Magnusson et al [6] showed, in response to passive static stretch in spinal cord injury subjects, up to 38% decrease in passive torque, despite the absence of any measurable EMG activity, proving the existence of a viscoelastic stress relaxation response during a static stretch
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