Research article - (2016)15, 65 - 74
Effects of a Stretching Development and Maintenance Program on Hamstring Extensibility in Schoolchildren: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial
Daniel Mayorga-Vega1,, Rafael Merino-Marban2, Jorge Manzano-Lagunas3, Humberto Blanco4, Jesús Viciana1
1Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Granada, Spain
2Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Málaga (UMA), Spain
3CEIP Virgen de Belén, Junta de Andalucía, Spain
4Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Chihuahua, Mexico

Daniel Mayorga-Vega
✉ Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Granada, Alfacar street, no number, 18011, Granada, Spain
Email: dmayorgavega@gmail.com
Received: 20-07-2015 -- Accepted: 09-12-2015
Published (online): 23-02-2016

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a physical education-based stretching development and maintenance program on hamstring extensibility in schoolchildren. A sample of 150 schoolchildren aged 7-10 years old from a primary school participated in the present study (140 participants were finally included). The six classes balanced by grade were cluster randomly assigned to the experimental group 1 (n = 51), experimental group 2 (n = 51) or control group (n = 49) (i.e., a cluster randomized controlled trial design was used). During the physical education classes, the students from the experimental groups 1 and 2 performed a four-minute stretching program twice a week for nine weeks (first semester). Then, after a five-week period of detraining coinciding with the Christmas holidays, the students from the experimental groups 1 and 2 completed another stretching program twice a week for eleven weeks (second semester). The students from the experimental group 1 continued performing the stretching program for four minutes while those from the experimental group 2 completed a flexibility maintenance program for only one minute. The results of the two-way analysis of variance showed that the physical education-based stretching development program significantly improved the students’ hamstring extensibility (p < 0.001), as well as that these gains obtained remained after the stretching maintenance program (p < 0.001). Additionally, statistically significant differences between the two experimental groups were not found (p > 0.05). After a short-term stretching development program, a physical education-based stretching maintenance program of only one-minute sessions twice a week is effective in maintaining hamstring extensibility among schoolchildren. This knowledge could help and guide teachers to design programs that allow a feasible and effective development and maintenance of students’ flexibility in the physical education setting.

Key words: Flexibility program, flexibility maintaining, classic sit-and-reach test, physical fitness, primary school children, physical education setting

Key Points
  • A physical education-based stretching maintenance program of only one-minute sessions twice a week is effective in maintaining hamstring extensibility among schoolchildren.
  • A four-minute maintenance program shows similar effects that the one-minute maintenance program on hamstring extensibility among schoolchildren.
  • Physical education teachers and other practitioners could carry out one-minute programs for a feasible and effective maintenance of students’ flexibility.








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