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April 2020

Acute Effects of Dynamic Stretching Followed by Vibration Foam Rolling on Sports Performance of Badminton Athletes

Authors: Wei-Cheng Lin 1, Chia-Lun Lee 2 and Nai-Jen Chang 1, 3, 4

Affiliations:

  1. Department of Sports Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
  2. Center for Physical and Health Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
  3. PhD Program in Biomedical Engineering, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
  4. Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan

Journal: Journal of Sports Science & Medicine - March 2020, Volume 19, Issue 1, 420 - 428

  • Dynamic stretching (DS) with or without vibration foam rolling (VFR) significantly increased knee range of motion, jump height, and agility
  • However, DS increased thigh and calf muscle stiffness.
  • DS followed by VFR significantly decreased muscle stiffness, potentially reducing the risk of sports injury.

Dynamic stretching (DS) is performed to increase sports performance and is also used primarily for transiently increasing range of motion (ROM). Recently, vibration foam rolling (VFR) has emerged. Its underlying concept is that it combines foam rolling techniques with local vibration to improve ROM and muscular activation concurrently.

This crossover study investigated the effects of DS or DS followed by VFR (DS + VFR) during warm-ups on flexibility, muscle stiffness, power, and agility of the lower limbs in badminton athletes. Forty badminton players performed DS or DS + VFR as warm-up exercises on two occasions in a randomized order. The target muscle groups were the bilateral shoulder, anterior and posterior thigh, posterior calf, and lower back.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was knee range of motion (ROM), and the secondary outcomes were muscle stiffness, lower limb power (countermovement jump [CMJ]), and agility. Results indicated that the protocols improved performance. DS increased knee flexion ROM (% change = 1.92, ES = 0.3, p = 0.033), CMJ height (% change = 5.04, ES = 0.2, p = 0.004), and agility (% change = -4.97, ES = 0.4, p < 0.001) but increased quadriceps muscle stiffness (% change = 3.74, ES = 0.3, p = 0.001) and increased gastrocnemius muscle stiffness (% change = 10.39, ES = 0.5, p = 0.001). DS + VFR increased knee extension ROM (% change =2.87, ES = 0.4, p = 0.003), reduced quadriceps muscle stiffness (% change = -2.79, ES = 0.3, p = 0.017), CMJ height (% change = 2.41, ES = 0.1, p = 0.037), and agility (% change = -4.74, ES = 0.2, p < 0.001). DS + VFR was not significantly superior to DS, except for muscle stiffness reduction.

Taken together, we suggest that practitioners consider DS as a first line of warm-up exercise to increase ROM, CMJ height, and agility in athletes. Moreover, the addition of VFR to DS results in a large reduction of muscle stiffness, potentially reducing the risk of sports injury. Athletes, coaches and athletic professionals may consider them when selecting effective warm-up practices to augment athletic performance.

 

Keywords: Warm up exercise, foam rolling, athletic performance, sports, vibration therapy

The findings suggest that DS with or without additional VFR as a warm-up protocol significantly improves ROM, CMJ height, and agility. In addition, VFR considerately offset muscle stiffness compared with DS alone. Therefore, we suggest that practitioners consider DS as a first line of warm-up exercise to increase ROM, CMJ height, and agility in badminton athletes.

Moreover, the addition of VFR to DS results in a large reduction of muscle stiffness, which may be advantageous for improving exercise performance and reducing the risk of injury. The findings may also be useful in athletic practice settings. Athletes, coaches and athletic professionals may consider them when selecting effective warm-up practices to augment athletic performance.

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