Effects of ballistic stretching training on the properties of human muscle and tendon structures

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 6-wk ballistic stretching training program on various parameters of the human gastrocnemius medialis muscle and the Achilles tendon. It is known that ballistic stretching is an appropriate means of increasing the range of motion (RoM), but information in the literature about the mechanical adaptation of the muscle-tendon unit (MTU) is scarce. Therefore, in this study, a total of 48 volunteers were randomly assigned into ballistic stretching and control groups. Before and following the stretching intervention, we determined the maximum dorsiflexion RoM with the corresponding fascicle length and pennation angle. Passive resistive torque (PRT) and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) were measured with a dynamometer. Muscle-tendon junction (MTJ) displacement allowed us to determine the length changes in tendon and muscle, and hence to calculate stiffness. Mean RoM increased significantly from 33.8 ± 6.3° to 37.8 ± 7.2° only in the intervention group, but other functional (PRT, MVC) and structural (fascicle length, pennation angle, muscle stiffness, tendon stiffness) parameters were unaltered. Thus the increased RoM could not be explained by structural changes in the MTU and was likely due to increased stretch tolerance.