Remote Effects of Lower Limb Stretching

February 1, 2016 updated by: Prof. Dr. Dr. Winfried Banzer, Goethe University
Recent research suggests that the skeletal muscles and the fibrous connective tissue form a body-wide network of myofascial chains. A systematic analysis of dissection studies suggests that fascia links at least a variety of muscles to myofascial chains (Wilke et al. 2015). As fascia can modify its stiffness, strain transmission along these meridians is supposable (Norton-Old et al. 2013). Tensile transmission along myofascial chains might contribute to the proper functioning of the movement system. However, despite solid evidence from in vitro studies, scarce data is available concerning the in vivo behavior of the meridians. The present study is conducted to resolve this research deficit and to elucidate whether stretching of the lower limb muscles increases neck mobility. Healthy subjects (n = 3 x 20) participate in the randomized controlled trial. One group performs three 30 s bouts of static stretching for the gastrocnemius and the hamstrings respectively. A control group remains inactive for the same time. Participants of the third group perform 6x30 s bouts of static stretching of the cervical spine in zhe sagittal plane (flexion only). Pre and post intervention as well as 5 min after the intervention, maximal cervical range of motion (ROM) in flexion/extension, lateral flexion and rotation was assessed using an ultrasonic movement analysis system.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

63

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Hessen
      • Frankfurt/Main, Hessen, Germany, 60487
        • Department of Sports Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • healthy participants after subscribing informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • severe orthopedic, cardiovascular, neurological, psychiatric or endocrine diseases, not completely healed traumata, drug intake in the past 48 hours, pregnancy and presence of muscle soreness.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Static Stretching lower limb
Three 30 s bouts of static stretching for the gastrocnemius and the hamstrings respectively
Active Comparator: Static stretching Cervical
Six 30 s bouts of static stretching of the cervical spine in the sagittal plane (flexion only)
No Intervention: Ctrl
No intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Maximal cervical range of motion in flexion/extension
Time Frame: 2 min.
2 min.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Maximal cervical range of motion in lateral flexion
Time Frame: 2 min.
2 min.
Maximal cervical range of motion in rotation
Time Frame: 2 min.
2 min.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 29, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 29, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

September 30, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 2, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 1, 2016

Last Verified

February 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SpM2015-001

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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