Effects of Plantar Flexor Stretching on Static and Dynamic Balance in Healthy Adults

Eui-Young Jung, Jin-Hwa Jung, Hwi-Young Cho and Sung-Hyeon Kim
Additional contact information
Eui-Young Jung: Department of Health Science, Gachon University Graduate School, Incheon 21936, Republic of Korea
Jin-Hwa Jung: Department of Occupational Therapy, Semyung University, Jecheon 27136, Republic of Korea
Hwi-Young Cho: Department of Physical Therapy, Gachon University, Incheon 21936, Republic of Korea
Sung-Hyeon Kim: Department of Health Science, Gachon University Graduate School, Incheon 21936, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Stretching can affect balance ability by generating biomechanical and physiological changes in the postural muscles. Stretching of the lower extremity muscles can greatly affect posture maintenance strategies and balance ability. However, the relationship between stretching and balance ability has not been clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of plantar flexor stretching on balance ability. Forty-four healthy young adults were randomly assigned to four groups (static stretching, dynamic stretching, ballistic stretching, and control). Ankle joint range of motion, static balance ability, and dynamic balance ability were evaluated before, immediately after, and 20 min after stretching. Stretching did not affect balance ability in the open-eye condition. After stretching, the sway area was significantly reduced in the closed-eye condition ( p < 0.05). After stretching, the reach distance of dynamic balance ability increased significantly ( p < 0.05). The results show that plantar flexor stretching can positively affect balance ability. Therefore, plantar flexor stretching should be considered a rehabilitation method to improve balance.

Keywords: balance; static stretching; dynamic stretching; ballistic stretching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1462/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1462/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1462-:d:1034636

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().