Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2017

Thesis Director

Brian L. Pritschet

Abstract

Sprint performance can be enhanced by interventions for short-term (acute) purposes and/or long-term purposes. Acute neuromuscular responses are usually achieved by using different pre-exercise routines at the end of the warm-up period. Recently, there have been several studies examining the effects of various pre-exercise routines on sprint performance, yet there has not been a research study designed that compared the three most commonly used pre-exercise routines in professional and recreational sports (static stretching, dynamic stretching and foam-rolling). Therefore, this study investigated and compared the results of static stretching, dynamic stretching, self-myofascial release and the control group, in order to provide some general findings in this field of sport performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of different pre-exercise routines on 60-meter sprint performance. Moreover, the study investigated whether static stretching impairs sprint performance. Ten students from a Midwestern U.S. University were recruited to participate in this study, with 8 participants successfully finished the study. Each participant underwent all four intervention protocols in a randomized order. A repeated measures ANOVA statistical analysis indicated a significant main effect with post-hoc testing comparing 60-meter sprint results for each pre-exercise protocol did not show statistical significance amongst the selected values: SS time - DS time, SS time - CG time, SMR time - DS time, SMR time - CG time, and DS time - CG time (p=0.061; p=0.259; p=0.356; p=0.111; p=0.265; respectively). However, comparing the results from the SS group and the SMR group showed that the SMR had a significantly greater effect than the SS (p=0.024), The findings of this study indicate that using self-myofascial release is a more beneficial pre-exercise protocol for improving 60-meter sprint performance than either static or dynamic stretching. . Additionally, the results suggest that static stretching does not impair 60-meter sprint performance compared to a control group.

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