Effects of short duration static stretching on jump performance, maximum voluntary contraction, and various mechanical and morphological parameters of the muscle–tendon unit of the lower extremities

PURPOSE: Static stretching is used in sport practice but it has been associated with decrements in force and performance. Therefore, we examined the effect of short duration static stretch on the mechano-morphological properties of the m. vastus lateralis (VL) muscle tendon unit (MTU) and on the jumping performance. METHODS: Eight males and three females (mean ± SD, 25.5 ± 3.1 years) stretched their lower legs for a 15 or 60 s duration or acted as their own control without stretching in a randomized order. In a pre-post design, a passive movement (5°/s) and a maximum voluntary knee extension contraction (MVC) were performed on dynamometer while the VL tendon and aponeurosis was observed via ultrasound. Furthermore, the participants performed countermovement (CMJ) and squat jumps (SJ). RESULTS: Repeated measures ANOVA did not show significant differences in MVC, active and passive strain, stiffness, elongation, knee joint angle range, and jump performance between and within groups. CONCLUSIONS: The applied stretch stimuli (15 or 60 s) were not sufficient to trigger adaptations in the mechano-morphological properties of the lower extremities MTU which therefore did neither affect jump performance nor MVC. As a possible mechanism, we hypothesized that the dose-time dependency effect of static stretch might have important implications when measuring functional parameters of the MTU and performance. Further examination is necessary to elucidate its impact in the examination of the MTU mechano-morphological properties.