BACKGROUND Many lower limb disorders are related to calf muscle tightness and reduced dorsiflexion of the ankle. To treat such disorders, stretches of the calf muscles are commonly prescribed to increase available dorsiflexion of the ankle joint. HYPOTHESIS To determine the effect of static calf muscle stretching on ankle joint dorsiflexion range of motion. STUDY DESIGN A systematic review ...

BACKGROUND Ankle joint equinus, or restricted dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), has been linked to a range of pathologies of relevance to clinical practitioners. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of conservative interventions on ankle joint ROM in healthy individuals and athletic populations. METHODS Keyword searches of Embase, Medline, Cochrane and CINAHL da...

Morton, SK, Whitehead, JR, Brinkert, RH, and Caine, DJ. Resistance training vs. static stretching: Effects on flexibility and strength. J Strength Cond Res 25(12): 3391-3398, 2011-The purpose of this study was to determine how full-range resistance training (RT) affected flexibility and strength compared to static stretching (SS) of the same muscle-joint complexes in untrained adults. Volunteer...

The aim of this study was to determine acute effects of hamstring stretching in thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures and pelvic tilt. Fifty-five adults (29.24 ± 7.41 years) were recruited for this study. Subjects performed a hamstring stretching protocol consisting of four exercises. The session consisted of 3 sets of each exercise and subjects held the position for 20 seconds with a 30-second...