Young, W., & Elliott, S. (2001). Acute effects of static stretching, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching, and maximum voluntary contractions on explosive force production and jumping performance. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72, 273-279.

Excessive stretching before a measured performance has been shown to have a detrimental effect on performances involving high levels of force production. This investigation assessed whether a particular form of stretching had different effects to other forms. Static, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), maximally explosive ballistic stretching, and a control condition of no stretching were compared. Squat jumps (one practice, three test trials) and drop jumps (one practice, three test trials) were the performance tasks.

Drop jump performance was significantly decreased by static stretching. PNF and maximally explosive ballistic stretching did not cause performances to be decreased. In both measures, although not significant, the control group achieved the best scores.

Implication. Static stretching as a warm-up exercise could detrimentally affect subsequent strength and explosive activities.

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