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GUIDED ARTICLE CRITIQUE
EFFECTS OF STATIC STRETCHING ON REPEATED SPRINT AND CHANGE OF
DIRECTION PERFORMANCE
1. Article Selection
The purpose of this article was to observe the outcome of having a subject perform a
static stretching routine during the rest/recovery periods of a repeated sprint ability and
change of direction speed test. I believe that we were given this particular article to read and
critique because the hypothesis and methods implemented give great insight into what should
and shouldn’t be done with a speed training program. Having a good understanding of all the
fundamental aspects of training for speed, quickness, and agility just isn’t enough. We also
need to have a solid grasp on proper exercise prescription for training speed, quickness, and
agility if we are to master the ability to create a sprint training program.
2. Introduction
For quite some time static stretching has been considered a pillar of sport conditioning
programs and warm ups alike. It is, however, important to know the difference between a
static stretch routine and a warm up. A warm up is designed to elevate core body temperature,
whereas stretching is performed to increase the range of motion at a single joint, or a group
of joints (Chandler 213). There is a long-standing belief that the act of stretching can increase
athletic performance, reduce risk of injury, and decrease overall recovery time from high
intensity exercise and sport. Yet on the inverse, there has been research that have proven that
stretching can actually cause a significant decrease in muscular power, torque, force,
maximal strength, jump, agility, and sprint performance. When examining the
aforementioned research further, it was shown that the majority of this experimentation was
done using just one max effort sprint or power effort. It’s important to note this because
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seldom does any competitive team sport consist of merely one single sprint or power effort.
The purpose of this article was to observe the outcome of having a subject perform a static
stretching routine during the rest/recovery periods of a repeated sprint ability and change of
direction speed test.
3. Methods
This study used twelve healthy male subjects aged 23 +/- 4 years, height 178.7 +/- 5.8cm,
and weight 72.8 +/- 5.9kg (Beckett et al., 2009). All subjects were regular team sport athletes
and were all recruited and tested toward the tail end of their respective seasons. The subjects
were required to report to the outdoor laboratory on five separate occasions, each occasion
being separated by roughly seven days (+/- 1d). The first visit being to familiarize the
subjects with the testing protocol as well as the warm up and stretch routines. After the first
visit, the subjects were then required to perform the standard warm up routine followed by
either the repeated sprint ability (RSA) or change of direction speed (CODS) performance
tests on two occasions each. Both of these tests consisted of 3 sets of 6 reps each with a 4-
minute recovery between each set. During this rest/recovery period the subject would be
required to either stand and rest, or complete the stretching routine. The control group (CON)
was instructed to stand and rest, whereas the experimental group (SS) would perform the
stretching routine. Overall, there were four experimental trials, the RSA-CON, RSA-SS,
CODS-CON, and CODS-SS, these trials were administered randomly using a Latin square
design (Beckett et al., 2009).
The warm up consisted of 5 minutes of submaximal jogging on a grass track, the subject
performed 20 laps at a pace of 15 seconds per lap on a 40m track. After the 5-minute jog, the
subjects then completed a sport specific dynamic warmup of butt kicks, high knees, straight
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leg skips, and 4 laps of an alternating direction carioca. The static stretching protocol
consisted of a total of 6 static stretches. Each stretch targeting the either the hamstrings,
glutes, hip flexors, soleus, quads, etc. The stretches were held to a point of mild discomfort
for a time of 20 seconds per muscle group, per limb. The RSA test consisted of 3 sets of 6 20-
meter sprints, with an active recovery of 25 seconds between each rep. the CODS test
consisted of again 3 sets of 6 20-meter maximal sprints at 25 second active recovery
intervals, this test included 4 changes of direction with each at 100 degrees, with a 4m
straight line of sprinting before each turn (Beckett et al., 2009).
The method for this experiment is fairly straight forward. Although I think it would have
been beneficial, if the author had thought to measure average heart rate throughout the
entirety of this experiment. I say this because, a 4-minute stretch routine will not allow the
subjects heart rate to reach a rested zone quicker than that of the control group. Not even
considering the amount of work it will take to perform the movements, this is merely from
the aspect of body positions and impeded breathing.
1. Results
Mean sprint time (MST) became slower in set 2 when compared to set 1 in the RSA-SS (P =
0.006) trial. Set 3 was significantly slower than that of set 1 in both RSA-CON (P = 0.026)
and RSA-SS (P = 0.033) trials. Similar to MST the Total sprint time (TST) also became
slower in set 2 compared to set 1 in the RSA-SS trial, and set 3 was slower than set 1 in both
RSA-SS and RSA-CON trials. In between trials the TST for set 2 was much slower in RSA-
SS when compared to RSA-CON (P = 0.031). MST and TST displayed no significant
difference within or between trial groups. Although there was a consistent pattern displayed
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in regards to slower sprint times in sets 2 and 3 for the CODS-SS trials when compared to
CODS-CON (Beckett et al., 2009).
2. Discussion
To some extent the results support the authors hypothesis. The author hypothesized that any
negative effects from static stretching would be seen within the first 5m of the RSA test.
MST was found to be significantly slower in the first 5m for the RSA-SS trial group when
compared to RSA-CON. In a study titled the Effect of Acute Static Stretching on Force,
Balance, Reaction Time, and Movement Time by David Behm, it was found that acute bouts
of static stretching impaired the warm up effect the subjects had achieved under controlled
conditioning with balance, reaction, and movement time (Behm et al., 2004) Basically the
acute bout of stretching decreased the subjects balance, and slowed the subject’s reaction and
movement time. In another study titled Duration of Static Stretching Influences Muscle Force
Production in Hamstring Muscles it was found that static stretching under the duration of 30
seconds did not have any negative effect on muscle force production (Ogura et al., 2007) I
believe that the author achieved these results through a few different factors. A 4-minute
static stretching routine is clearly too long considering the fact that previous research has
shown that under 30 seconds inhibits no negative response. Stretching is also considered to
be work, in a sense that performing a stretching routine itself will require the heart rate to
elevate, combined with impeded breathing in certain positions. This would make support the
slower times in sets 2 and 3, the subject is never truly recovering!
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, the purpose of this article was to observe the outcome of having a subject
perform a static stretching routine during the rest/recovery periods of a repeated sprint ability
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and change of direction speed test. It was found that the static stretching group achieved
slower RSA times than that of the control group, these times were significantly slower in sets
2 and 3. I believe that not only were the RSA-SS subjects effected by the 4-minute bout of
stretching, but they were also affected by fatigue as well. Past research has stated that acute
bouts of stretching lasting no longer than 30 seconds will have no negative effect on
voluntary muscle contraction. Although this is one of the first studies to test the effects of
static stretching during the rest periods of repeated sprint performance, I would be curious to
see the results if this study was repeated with constant HR monitoring, and if there were
multiple SS groups that varied in their static stretching routine duration.
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REFERENCES
Beckett, J. R., Schneiker, K. T., Wallman, K. E., Dawson, B. T., & Guelfi, K. J. (2009). Effects of
static stretching on repeated sprint and change of direction performance. Medicine &
Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(2), 444–450.
https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e3181867b95
Behm, D. G., Bambury, A., Cahill, F., & Power, K. (2004). Effect of acute static stretching on
force, balance, reaction time, and movement time. Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, 36(8), 1397–1402. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000135788.23012.5f
Chandler, T. J., & Brown, L. E. (2019). Chapter 9. In Conditioning for strength and human
performance (p. 213). essay, Routledge.
Ogura, Y., Miyahara, Y., Naito, H., Katamoto, S., & Aoki, J. (2007). Duration of static stretching
influences muscle force production in hamstring muscles. The Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research, 21(3), 788. https://doi.org/10.1519/r-18785.1
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