Jumping exercise restores stretching-induced power loss in healthy adults

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of jumping exercise (JE) immediately after different stretching protocols on flexibility and power in healthy adults. This study was conducted with a balanced crossover design. Thirteen healthy males (25.4±3.46 years old) voluntarily participated in this study. All participants randomly completed four trials, including three different stretching protocols; 1) static stretching (SS), 2) dynamic stretching (DS), 3) proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (PNFS), and 4) a non-stretching control (NS) followed by the JE with seven-day intervals between tests. JE was composed of three sets of five tuck jumps. Flexibility was determined by the ability to perform a straight leg raise (SLR) and power by vertical jump performance (VJP). Both SLR and VJP were measured at four time points; 1) baseline, 2) post-jogging, 3) post-stretching, and 4) post-JE; 4 × 4 repeated measures analysis of variances were applied. There were significant interaction effects on SLR (F=8.935, p < .001) and VJP (F=3.965, p=.009). The SLR score increased in all stretching protocols except the NS protocol post-stretching and post- JE. After stretching, the VJP score decreased in the NS (-2.6%), SS (-3.6%), and PNFS (-4.4%) protocols but maintained a positive score for the DS (1.8%) protocol. However, the VJP score recovered to the previous value in the SS (3.2%) and PNFS (6.5%) protocols after the jumping exercise. The present study suggests that jumping exercise immediately after SS and PNFS protocols could be an efficient program for restoring stretching-induced power loss in healthy adults.