Background
Athletics is a highly competitive and demanding sport that requires agility, performance, and shape. Over a long period of time, static stretching has been prescribed as the means to reach the maximum performance ( Power et al., 2004 ). Many athletes have been told to stretch before any competition and workout with the aim of raising the range of motion and significantly reducing the probabilities of injuries. A lot of research has gone to the extents of assessing the supposition that has been promoted by professionals in the sports medicine field. Such is the article titled Effects of Static Stretching in Warm-Up on Repeated Spring Performance. The rationale of choosing this study is because it aims to examine the effects of static stretching during warm-up on the repeated performance of the athletes. In other words, it seeks to identify what happens when an athlete stretches before a competition. This important as the findings will be useful in addressing whether those who have been stretching have been improving their performance and it also checks whether the reduction in performance (in cases where they exist) has been due to the static stretches.
Introduction
It is commonplace for carrying out static stretching before the competition as it has been generally regarded as a vital component of warming up. Static stretching involves applying tensile stress to muscles and lengthening it to the end of its range and maintaining it there for few seconds without feeling pain. This practice has been there to reduce the dangers of getting injuries several studies have been conducted to challenge some of the beliefs that have stayed for long on the benefits of static stretching. Sim et al. (2009) carried out a study to bridge the gap that existed in the literature. This goes with the fact that the previous researches aimed to check on a single sprint effort. However, most team sports need players to perform brief sprints repeatedly.
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Thus, Sim et al. (2009) sought to research on the effect of static stretch on the repeated performance. Through this, they formed two hypotheses. First, repeated sprint performance would be significantly slower after a warm-up with dynamic activity followed by static stretching than warming-up with dynamic activity only. Second, warming-up with dynamic activity only or with static stretching followed by dynamic activity would produce similar repeated sprint performances.
Methods
The study involved thirteen healthy, uninjured males. They were athletes and had the required mean body mass, height, and age of 69.5 kg, 1.74 m, and 24 years respectively. At the time of testing, they were in their preseason training during the experiment. The procedures included jogging 1000 meters with lap time recorded and then replicated. The protocol involved dynamic procedures with no static stretching (D), static stretching followed by dynamic ones (S-D), or dynamic performances followed by static stretching (D-S). Several sports specific dynamic bouts that targeted the major muscles of the lower limb were initiated. Static stretches were then performed standing and focused on the same muscles involved in the dynamic ones and were held for 20 seconds to the point of feeling unease. A repeated sprint ability test involved three sets of speed running of 6x20 m going after every 25 seconds and jogging back for recovery. The study was quantitative with time as the recorded factor.
The researchers did an important job of designing the project as it was because it enabled them to study the effects of a static stretch by including three set of variables. The control involved no static stretches and thus it would be possible to compare the results and see the disparity ( Christensen et al., 2011 ). The methods measured the variables in realistic settings and thus created a true impression of how things work out there. One disadvantage of such a method is that it is impossible to describe to the cause-effect relationship ( Christensen et al., 2011 ).
Summary
Results
In this research, the results included varied parameters. The total sprint time (TST) was first tabulated and the comparison was that the TST overall became slower in the three conditions throughout the sets. There was a similar percentage decrement for the repeated sprint ability tests in the D and D-S conditions in all the three sets. On the other hand, the percentage decrement was bigger in set 2 and 3 of the S-D condition as compared to the first set. Set 1 of S-D had a lesser percentage decrement as compared to D and D-S. There was a correlation between best and first 20-m sprint as they progressively slowed from set 1 to 3. Warm up preferences also were recorded as 7 athletes preferred the D-S condition and 6 the S-D and none for D.
Discussion
The authors provided a support for their hypotheses in the discussion of the research. They showed that the warm-up having the static stretch as a conclusion is least preferred for optimal repeat sprint performance as it indicated the slowest sprint time. Thus, the first hypothesis was proved. However, the results did not show any advantage of D or S-D over D-S. Secondly, there was no indication of any superiority of dynamic stretch over static one, thus proving the second hypothesis.
The discussion the authors give is detailed and conclusive of their study thus can be used as a reference point to the missing literature. One thing that the research has not taken into consideration is the effect of time on the performance of an individual. In other words, it is not known whether the repeated sprint on themselves had an influence on the performance as time passes. This is because there can be a significant effect on muscle workout ( Grassi et al., 2015) .
In conclusion, the results of the study are useful in addition to the existing literature and a bridge for the missing information. The results can be practical in the sports arena where the notion has been embedded that static stretching is essential.
References
Christensen, L. B., Johnson, B., Turner, L. A., & Christensen, L. B. (2011). Research methods, design, and analysis.
Grassi, B., Rossiter, H. B., & Zoladz, J. A. (2015). Skeletal muscle fatigue and decreased efficiency: two sides of the same coin? Exercise and sport sciences reviews , 43 (2), 75-83.
Power, K., Behm, D., Cahill, F. A. R. R. E. L. L., Carroll, M., & Young, W. (2004). An acute bout of static stretching: effects on force and jumping performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise , 36 (8), 1389-1396.
Sim, A. Y., Dawson, B. T., Guelfi, K. J., Wallman, K. E., & Young, W. B. (2009). Effects of static stretching in warm-up on repeated sprint performance: The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research , 23 (7), 2155-2162.
