Exercise Therapy, Hamstring Muscles, Physical Therapy Modalities
Conditions
Brief summary
A Randomised Controlled Trial was conducted to assess increases in hamstring flexibility using two different methods, one group of participants who were stretched with PNF techniques and the other group who performed Hypopressive Abdominal Techniques (HAT). Flexibility scores of both groups were obtained and compared using pre and post measurements of a single intervention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALHypopressive abdominal techniques
Both training protocols were carried out in a single intervention for each of the participants assigned to either the HAT or the PNF stretching group. The intervention began with the measurement of hip flexion using the EPR test, and ended with a post-intervention measurement of hip flexion to observe the effects of the treatment. All measurements, as well as the interventions for each of the patients in the two groups, were carried out by the same registered physiotherapist. In order to standardise an order of examination of the lower limbs in the EPR test, the right lower limb was assessed first, followed by the left lower limb. Likewise, the same order was standardised for stretching in the PNF group.
BEHAVIORALStretching of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation
Stretching of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation
Sponsors
University of Vigo
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Participants with less than 75° in the straight leg raise test.
Exclusion criteria
* History of hamstring injury within the last year. * Pharmacological treatment or history of neurological, orthopaedic, growth or autoimmune disorders. * Training to improve flexibility in the week prior to the intervention. * Hypertension. * Pregnant women. * Inability to perform hypopressive abdominal techniques.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Straight leg raise test. | Baseline changes at the end of the intervention (approximately one hour). | The subject in supine decubitus. The patient's unscanned leg was kept stretched out on the stretcher by means of thigh straps. A digital inclinometer was placed on the other leg over the tibia before starting to lift the leg, in order to be able to quantify the degrees obtained during the test. The therapist will place one hand on the patient's heel holding the calcaneus to prevent rotation and the other on the patella to prevent the knee from flexing during the test. The examiner shall then perform a slow, progressive flexion of the hip with the knee extended, starting from 0° at rest and considering 90° when the lower limb is completely perpendicular to the examination couch. The angular value is taken as the maximum degree of flexion tolerated by the individual, the moment at which the pelvis begins to tilt in retroversion or when the examiner perceives a feeling of firm resistance. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Toe-Floor Distance test | Baseline changes at the end of the intervention (approximately one hour). | The Toe-Floor Distance test was also used as a tool to measure the flexibility of the hamstring muscles. The subject stood on a platform without shoes and with feet hip-width apart. The subject was asked to lean forward, flexing the trunk as far as possible, keeping the knees, arms and fingers fully extended. The vertical distance between the tip of the middle finger and the platform was measured with a flexible tape measure and expressed in centimetres. The vertical distance between the platform and the tip of the middle finger was positive when the subject did not reach the platform and negative when the subject could reach further. |
Countries
Spain
Outcome results
None listed