Search results for " Stretch"
showing 10 items of 91 documents
Analysis of F response in upper motoneurone lesions
2009
The F response can provide a measure of motoneurone excitability (MNE) and so it may be used to investigate upper motoneurone disorders. This report studies the F-wave configuration in patients with stroke to evaluate the changes of the central excitability of the motoneurones at different times after an acute cerebral insult. Various parameters of the F response, including amplitude (absolute and F%/M), duration, and persistence have been determined in 26 patients with unilateral hemiplegia and in 32 healthy subjects of both sexes in the same age range. The investigation was carried out applying a series of 20 supramaximal stimuli at 0.5 Hz on tibial and ulnar nerves bilaterally. In all pa…
Do Stretch Durations Affect Muscle Mechanical and Neurophysiological Properties?
2016
International audience; The aim of the study was to determine whether stretching durations influence acute changes of mechanical and neurophysiological properties of plantar flexor muscles. Plantar flexors of 10 active males were stretched in passive conditions on an isokinetic dynamometer. Different durations of static stretching were tested in 5 randomly ordered experimental trials (1, 2, 3, 4 and 10×30-s). Fascicle stiffness index, evoked contractile properties and spinal excitability (Hmax/Mmax) were examined before (PRE), immediately after (POST0) and 5 min after (POST5) stretching. No stretch duration effect was recorded for any variable. Moreover, whatever the stretching duration, st…
Acute effects of dynamic stretching on mechanical properties result from both muscle-tendon stretching and muscle warm-up
2019
We investigated the acute effects of dynamic stretching on mechanical properties of plantar flexor muscles and tested the hypothesis that it would result from an interaction between muscle-tendon stretching and muscle warm-up. To test the stretching effect, dynamic stretching (DS) was compared to static stretching (SS). To test the warm-up effect, DS was compared to submaximal isometric muscle activity (SIMA) with similar contraction intensity. A control condition served as reference. These four conditioning activities were time matched (2×20s) and tested on separate days on 13 volunteers. Electrical neurostimulation was applied to investigate muscle mechanical properties (peak doublet torq…
Effect of manual therapy versus proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in dynamic balance, mobility and flexibility in field hockey players. A ran…
2018
To compare the effectiveness of a specific Manual Therapy (MT) protocol applied to field hockey players (FHP), versus a Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) protocol, in the improvement of dynamic balance, active range of movement and lumbar flexibility one-week and four-weeks after the treatment.Randomized controlled trial. Participants were assigned to 2 groups: MT and PNF. 30 min' sessions were performed once a week for three weeks. Three evaluations were performed: basal, one-week and four-weeks post-treatment.University of Valencia (Spain).22 in MT group and 20 in PNF group.Dynamic Balance, measured with Star Excursion Balance Test; Active Range of Motion (ROM), using a manu…
Neurophysiological insights on flexibility improvements through motor imagery
2017
International audience; The efficacy of motor imagery (MI) practice to facilitate muscle stretching remains controversial and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms unexplored. We evaluated the effects of MI practice during a sit-and reach task. Healthy participants were randomly assigned to a MI practice (n = 15) or Control (n = 15) group and completed 2 blocks of 5 sit-and-reach trials. During the first block (B1), participants performed 5 maximal stretching trials of 10s. During the second block (B2), trials were divided into two consecutive parts: i) reproducing the maximum performance of B1 (10s, B2 part 1), and ii) attempting to outperform the maximum performance of B1 (10s, B2 …
Fast increase of motor cortical inhibition following postural changes in healthy subjects.
2012
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Postural reactions are associated with changes in the excitability of the motor system. In the present study we investigated the presence of neurophysiological changes of motor cortical areas targeting muscles of the inferior limbs following treatment with a physiotherapy technique aimed to treat postural dysfunctions by stretching postural muscles, global postural reeducation (GPR). METHODS: Twenty healthy subjects were evaluated with paired-transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex and recording of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from peripheral muscles of the inferior limb before and after two GPR manoeuvres applied in different experiments (1 and 2)…
Strength training and stretching versus stretching only in the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain: a randomized one-year follow-up study
2008
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of a 12-month home-based combined strength training and stretching programme against stretching alone in the treatment of chronic neck pain. Design: A randomized follow-up study. Participants: One hundred and one patients with chronic non-specific neck pain were randomized in two groups. Intervention: The strength training and stretching group was supported by 10 group training sessions and the stretching group was instructed to perform stretching exercises only as instructed in one group session. Main outcome measurements: Neck pain, disability, neck muscle strength and mobility of cervical spine were measured before and after the intervention. Resu…
Postactivation potentiation can counteract declines in force and power that occur after stretching.
2016
Stretching can decrease a muscle's maximal force, whereas short but intense muscle contractions can increase it. We hypothesized that when combined, postactivation potentiation induced by reactive jumps would counteract stretch-induced decrements in drop jump (DJ) performance. Moreover, we measured changes in muscle twitch forces and ankle joint stiffness (KAnkle ) to examine underlying mechanisms. Twenty subjects completed three DJs and 10 electrically evoked muscle twitches of the triceps surae subsequent to four different conditioning activities and control. The conditioning activities were 10 hops, 20s of static stretching of the triceps surae muscle, 20s of stretching followed by 10 ho…
Lumbopelvic flexibility modulates neuromuscular responses during trunk flexion–extension
2016
Various stimuli such as the flexibility of lumbopelvic structures influence the neuromuscular responses of the trunk musculature, leading to different load sharing strategies and reflex muscle responses from the afferents of lumbopelvic mechanoreceptors. This link between flexibility and neuromuscular response has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lumbopelvic flexibility and neuromuscular responses of the erector spinae, hamstring and abdominal muscles during trunk flexion-extension. Lumbopelvic movement patterns were measured in 29 healthy women, who were separated into two groups according to their flexibility during trunk flexion-exten…
Stretch Reflex Responses Following Mechanical Stimulation in Power- and Endurance-Trained Athletes
1994
The basic stretch reflex responses evoked by the mechanical stimuli were investigated among different athletic groups. The tests were performed by a special ankle ergometer, which created dorsiflexion velocities from 25 deg x s-1 to 115 deg x s-1 around the ankle joint. The EMG activity of soleus (SO), gastrocnemius (GA) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles was recorded with surface electrodes. In all subjects higher angular velocities caused higher stretch reflex responses. The endurance-trained athletes were more sensitive to the used stimuli than the power-trained athletes, because of their shorter latency times (43 +/- 7 ms vs 45 +/- 7 ms, p < 0.001 for the SO muscle and 40 +/- 8 ms vs 43…