Highlights
Flexibility is considered an important fitness component in several sports and especially those requiring an athlete to move powerfully through a wide range of motion (ROM) [1,2]
Rhythmic gymnasts displayed longer fascicles compared to the volleyball athletes, at mid-belly (t18 = 8.750, p = 0.000) and at the distal part of the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) (t18 = 4.646, p = 0.000) and greater resting ankle joint angle by 7% (t18 = 4.662, p = 0.000)
Volleyball athletes demonstrated greater pennation angle compared to rhythmic gymnasts at mid-belly, by 10% (t18 = −3.185, p = 0.005)
Summary
Flexibility is considered an important fitness component in several sports and especially those requiring an athlete to move powerfully through a wide range of motion (ROM) [1,2]. Pennation angle and muscle thickness at the medial and the distal part of GM, and ankle ROM were measured at rest and during 1 min of static stretching. Results: At rest, rhythmic gymnasts displayed longer fascicles compared to volleyball athletes, at the medial (5.93 ± 0.27 vs 4.74 ± 0.33 mm, respectively, p = 0.001) and the distal part of GM During the 1 min of static stretching, gymnasts displayed greater fascicle elongation at the distal part (p = 0.026), greater maximal ankle dorsiflexion (p < 0.001) and muscle tendon junction displacement (p < 0.001) with no difference between groups in pennation angles (p > 0.145), muscle thickness (p > 0.105), and fascicle elongation at mid-belly (p = 0.063). Conclusions: Longer muscle fascicles at rest and greater fascicle elongation at the distal part of GM may contribute to the greater ankle ROM observed in rhythmic gymnasts
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