Unilateral static and dynamic hamstrings stretching increases contralateral hip flexion range of motion

Abstract

Static (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS) can lead to subsequent performance impairments or enhancement with the stretched limb. Crossover or non-local muscle fatigue (NLMF) refers to unilateral fatigue-induced impairments in a contralateral or non-exercised muscle. Whereas there are conflicting findings in the NLMF literature, there are few studies examining the effect of an acute bout of SS or DS on contralateral flexibility, torque or power. Fourteen highly trained subjects (means ± standard deviations: 18±2years; 179·4±4·6cm; 70·5±6·3kg; %body fat: 10·7±2·5%) were tested before and following separate sessions of eight repetitions of 30s of unilateral hip flexion SS or DS. Pre- and postintervention testing at 1 and 10min included hip flexor range of motion (ROM), isokinetic leg flexion torque and power at 60°.s-1 and 300°.s-1 of the stretched and contralateral limbs. The stretched limb had a 6·3% (P=0·01; ES: 0·91) ROM increase with DS at 10min. The contralateral non-stretched hip flexors experienced ROM increases with SS of 5·7% (P=0·02; ES: 0·68) from pretest to 1min post-test, whereas DS showed 7·1% (P<0·0001; ES: 1·09) and 8·4% (P=0·005; ES: 0·89) increases, respectively. There were no relative differences in ROM changes between conditions or limbs nor any stretch-induced changes in isokinetic torque or power. In conclusion, unilateral SS and DS augment contralateral limb ROM likely through an increased stretch tolerance.