Short-term Static Stretching does not affect balance or strength training performance in young adults

Abstract

There is insufficient evidence about the acute effects of short-term static stretching on body balance and training volume in strength training. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the acute effect of different static stretching times on the performance and balance of physically active young people during strength training. Ten physically active male subjects, aged 21.5 ± 2.12 years old, participated in the experiment, which took place over seven sessions. In the first three sessions, familiarization, test and retest of 10 maximum repetitions and balance tests were performed, through the Star Excursion Balance Test. From the 4^th to the 7^th session, stretching of 0, 5, 10 or 15 seconds was used, randomly. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the stretching volumes. It is concluded that there was no reduction in the number of repetitions with the load of 10RM and the distances of the steps in the balance test when preceded by static stretching. Static stretching at moderate intensity and duration of up to 15 seconds did not affect the performance or the balance of physically active young people. Furthermore, there is no difference between stretching 5, 10 or 15 seconds for the mentioned acute strength and balance responses.