Comparison of Static Stretching on Whole Body Vibration and Strength Training for Improving and Maintaining Hamstring Range of Motion

Flexibility is a measurable physical capacity considered as a key component of physical fitness thereby contributing to the health and performance of joints and the musculoskeletal system. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that muscle weakness is a major factor behind reduced mobility. Consequently, training muscle contractility is likely to improve mobility . Regardless of terminology and of the quality of supporting evidence, stretching emerges as an intervention that elongates the tissues in attempting to improve mobility . Shortening lengthens the tissue on two out of three axes, while stretching only lengthens the tissue on one axis out of three . All training, including movement, is, by definition, training of shortening and stretching cycles (SSCs). Ergo, resistance training is also, inherently, one way to elongate . Strength training is an active, voluntary, dynamic form of stretching. Indeed, strength training is dynamic stretching. Often, strength training is performed against external resistances, but this is not mandatory. Moreover, strength training has been shown to improve mobility in sedentary adults , .