The The influence of different environmental temperatures on the effectiveness of dynamic stretching

Abstract

^{The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of different environmental temperatures on the effectiveness of dynamic stretching (DS). The participants were 20 healthy male university students. The task was to perform DS on the knee flexor muscle group of the dominant leg, and joint range of motion and isokinetic muscle strength were measured before and after DS. Participants were divided into two groups: one with an environmental temperature of less than 10°C and the other with an environmental temperature of more than 30°C. There was no interaction between the groups and time, and no significant differences in the groups for SLR angle. However, the main effect of time was observed in time for SLR angle, SLR angle significantly increased in post DS. There was no interaction between the groups and time for knee extensor peak torque. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the groups, in time for knee extensor peak torque. As a factor there was not identified as influencing the difference in environmental temperature may have been that the muscle strength measurements were taken at maximum effort before the task was performed, which may have increased blood flow to the whole body, resulting in increased muscle temperature. It is also possible that DS, which stretches the target muscle by voluntary contraction, increased blood flow in the whole body, resulting in heat production and increased muscle temperature. These findings suggest that stretching and light-load exercise with muscle contraction, as in DS, may help maintain muscle flexibility and strength in environments below 10°C.}