Stretching Exercises

With the exception of its golf conditioning studies, South Shore had not previously included stretching exercises in its fitness classes. Although participants experienced modest improvements in hip/trunk flexibility as a result of their full-range strength-training movements, it was decided to study the effects of specific stretching exercises.

Class members were randomly assigned to one of three training groups. One group (no stretch) did no stretching exercises throughout the 10-week training program. Another group (static stretch) performed a 20-second static stretch following each strength exercise for the muscle group that had just been worked. For example, they did a 20-second quadriceps stretch after the leg extension exercise, a 20-second hamstring stretch after the leg curl exercise and so on for all 12 strength exercises. A third group (StretchMate Stretch) performed six instructor-supervised stretches on a commercial stretching apparatus. Both the static stretch group and the StretchMate stretch group spent about six to 10 minutes of each class in stretching activity. Table 2 shows the results obtained by the three training groups in the Sit and Reach Test.

Consistent with previous studies, the group that performed full-range strength training without stretching experienced a modest improvement in hip/trunk flexibility. The subjects who performed static stretching for each muscle group made greater gains in flexibility, and the group that did instructor-supervised stretches on the stretching machine attained the best results.

The StretchMate group improved hip/trunk flexibility almost twice as much as the static stretch group. Their better results may have been partly due to more focused stretching on specially designed equipment, and partly due to personal instruction and supervision during each stretching session.

Flexibility gains were similar for subjects who did the stretching exercises during the middle and latter phases of their workouts.

Based on these findings, South Shore has added a stretching component to its fitness classes. It also places greater emphasis on supervised stretching exercises in our golf conditioning program. As shown in Figure 1, the golf conditioning participants who performed both strength training (16 machines) and stretching exercises (six StretchMate stretches), increased their club head speed twice as much as those who did strength training only, indicating a powerful practical benefit of enhanced flexibility.