Comparison Between Contract-Relax Stretching and Antagonist Contract-Relax Stretching on Gastrocnemius Medialis Passive Properties.

Antagonist contract-relax stretching and contract-relax stretching is commonly used in sports practice and rehabilitation settings. To date, no study has compared these modalities regarding muscle stiffness and stretch tolerance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of contract-relax and antagonist contract-relax stretching on dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), stretch tolerance, and shear elastic modulus.

The Acute and Prolonged Effects of Different Durations of Foam Rolling on Range of Motion, Muscle Stiffness, and Muscle Strength.

"Foam Rolling" has been used in sports settings to increase range of motion and decrease muscle stiffness without decreasing muscle strength and athletic performance. However, there has been no study investigating the acute and prolonged effect of different durations of foam rolling intervention on muscle stiffness, and the minimum foam rolling intervention duration required to decrease muscle stiffness is unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the acute and prolonged effect of different durations of foam rolling intervention on ROM, muscle stiffness, and muscle strength.

The Acute Effect of Foam Rolling on Eccentrically-Induced Muscle Damage.

Previous studies have shown significant improvement in muscle soreness and muscle function loss after 300-s foam rolling intervention two days after intense exercise. However, this duration is assumed to be too long, so investigating the effect of short-term duration foam rolling intervention on an eccentrically-damaged muscle is needed. This study aimed to eccentrically induce muscle damage in the leg extensors, and to detect the acute effect of 90-s foam rolling on muscle soreness and muscle function of the quadriceps muscle.

Effects of Static Stretching With High-Intensity and Short-Duration or Low-Intensity and Long-Duration on Range of Motion and Muscle Stiffness.

This study investigated the effects of static stretching (SS) delivered with the same load but using two protocols - high-intensity and short-duration and low-intensity and long-duration - on range of motion (ROM) and muscle stiffness. A total of 18 healthy students participated in the study. They randomly performed high-intensity and short-duration (120% and 100 s) or low-intensity and long-duration (50% and 240 s) SS.

Effects of 5-Week Foam Rolling Intervention on Range of Motion and Muscle Stiffness.

Kiyono, R, Onuma, R, Yasaka, K, Sato, S, Yahata, K, and Nakamura, M. Effects of 5-week foam rolling intervention on range of motion and muscle stiffness. J Strength Cond Res 36(7): 1890-1895, 2022-In clinical and sports settings, foam rolling (FR) intervention is widely used to increase the range of motion (ROM).