| The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that stretching modalities have on physical fitness performance in middle school-aged participants. Male subjects (n=33) and female subjects (n=17) performed three physical fitness tests: Vertical jump, standing broad jump, and T-agility test using a counterbalanced random assignment model. Paired samples t-tests were used to determine if there was a significant effect. With p<.05, significant effects were found in the standing broad jump. In the male population there was significant effect when comparing the no stretching modality (67.26 inches) with the static stretching modality (65.77 inches), and again between the dynamic stretching modality (67.42 inches) and the static stretching modality (65.77 inches). In the female population there was significant effect when comparing the no stretching modality (49.44 inches) with the dynamic stretching modality (50.88), and again between the static stretching (49.06) and the dynamic stretching (50.88). No significant effect was found in the vertical jump and T-agility test. Further research is warranted in order to better understand the effect that static stretching and dynamic stretching have on the stretch shortening cycle. |
