Immediate effects of quantified hamstring stretching: Hold-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation versus static stretching

Abstract Purpose To compare the immediate effects of a hold-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (HR-PNF) versus static stretch (SS) on hamstring flexibility in healthy, asymptomatic subjects. Subjects Thirty subjects (13 female; mean age 25.7 ± 3.0, range 22–37) without excessive hamstring muscle flexibility were randomly assigned to one of two stretch groups: HR-PNF or SS. Methods The left leg was treated as a control and did not receive any intervention. The right leg was measured for ROM pre- and post-stretch interventions, with subjects receiving randomly assigned interventions one week apart. Data were analyzed with a 3 (intervention: HR-PNF, SS, control) × 2 (time: pre and post) factorial ANOVA with repeated measures and appropriate post-hoc analyses. Results A significant interaction was observed between intervention and time for hamstring extensibility, F (2,58) = 25.229, p