Acute Passive Static Stretching and Cramp Threshold Frequency.

Context:   Exercise-associated muscle cramps are a common clinical problem for athletes.

Objective:   To determine whether acute passive static stretching altered cramp threshold frequency (CTF) of electrically induced muscle cramps.

Design:   Crossover study.

Setting:   Laboratory.

Patients Or Other Participants:   Seventeen healthy college-aged individuals.

Intervention(s):   Stretching or no stretching.

Main Outcome Measure(s):   The independent variable was the static stretch versus the no-stretch condition, and the dependent variable was the CTF.

Results:   The CTF increased in both the control (pretest: 18.12 ± 6.46 Hz, posttest: 19.65 ± 7.25 Hz; P = .033) and stretching (pretest: 18.94 ± 5.96 Hz, posttest: 20.47 ± 7.12 Hz; P = .049) groups. No difference between the groups was found (t = 0.035, P = .97).

Conclusions:   Acute passive static stretching did not seem to increase the CTF.