INTRODUCTION The benefits of preexercise muscle stretching have been recently questioned after reports of significant poststretch reductions in force and power production. However, methodological issues and equivocal findings have prevented a clear consensus being reached. As no detailed systematic review exists, the literature describing responses to acute static muscle stretch was comprehensi...

Enzyme activity plays an essential role in many physiological processes and diseases such as pulmonary emphysema. While the lung is constantly exposed to cyclic stretching, the effects of stretch on the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during digestion have not been determined. We measured the mechanical and failure properties of elastin-rich ECM sheets loaded with static...

In the pulmonary vasculature, mechanical forces such as cyclic stretch induce changes in vascular signaling, tone and remodeling. Nitric oxide is a potent regulator of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), which drives cGMP production, causing vasorelaxation. Pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) express inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and while iNOS expression increases during late ...

BACKGROUND Conservative treatment protocols to effectively treat knee flexion motion restrictions are dependent in part on the torque applied to the joint. HYPOTHESES Clinicians apply greater torque with the test leg in a simulated prone position than in a seated position. Clinicians also apply greater torque than a dynamic splint or a static progressive stretch brace. Finally, clinicians app...

The purpose of this study was to determine which phase of a 30-m sprint (acceleration and/or maximal velocity) was affected by preperformance static stretching. Data were collected from 20 elite female soccer players. On two nonconsecutive days, participants were randomly assigned to either the stretch or no-stretch condition. On the first day, the athletes in the no-stretch condition completed...

BACKGROUND Positional MRI (pMRI) allows for three-dimensional visual assessment of navicular position. In this exploratory pilot study pMRI was validated against a stretch sensor device, which measures movement of the medial plantar arch. We hypothesized that a combined pMRI measure incorporating both vertical and medial displacement of the navicular bone induced by loading would be correlated ...

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of static and dynamic stretching protocols within general and activity specific warm-ups. Nine male and ten female subjects were tested under four warm-up conditions including a 1) general aerobic warm-up with static stretching, 2) general aerobic warm-up with dynamic stretching, 3) general and specific warm-up with static stretching and 4) ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of unilateral ankle plantar flexors static- stretching on surface electromyography (sEMG) and the center of pressure (COP) during a single-leg balance task in both lower limbs. Fourteen young healthy, non-athletic individuals performed unipodal quiet standing for 30s before and after (stretched limb: immediately post-stretch, 10 and 20 ...