Farahnaz Ghaffarinejad, Shohreh Taghizadeh, Farshid Mohammadi
The objective of this study was to evaluate if a stretch regimen consisting of three 30 s stretches alters the knee joint position sense (JPS). JPS was estimated by the ability to reproduce the two target positions (20° and 45° of flexion) in the dominant knee. 39 subjects completed the static stretch which comprised a 30 s stretch followed by a 30 s pause, three times for each muscle. The angle between target angle and the subject perceived angle of knee flexion positions decreased significantly after the stretching protocols for quadriceps, hamstring and adductors in 45° of flexion, but no differences were found for values of the gastrocnemius and popliteus muscles in this angle and for the values of all muscles in 20° of flexion. The authors conclude that the accuracy of the knee JPS in 45° of flexion is improved subsequent to a static stretch regimen of quadriceps, hamstring and adductors in healthy subjects.
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2007, 41, 684-687