The Effect of Static Stretch Versus Retrowalking on the Flexibiliy of the Hamstring Muscle

Study Design: Pre test Post test Study Design

Objectives : To study the effect of Static Stretching and Retrowalking on the flexibility of the hamstring muscle and To compare the effect of Static Stretching and Retrowalking on the flexibility of the hamstring muscle.

Background: Previous trials have investigated the effects of Static stretching and Retrowalking on Hamstring muscle flexibility and concluded that both increase Hamstring muscle flexibility. No clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of Static stretching and Retrowalking in improving Hamstring muscle flexibility has been reported in the literature.

Method: 50 subjects were taken and randomly divided into 2 groups. The group A performed static hamstring stretches while group B performed retrowalking. Both groups performed the selected protocol for four days per week for 4 weeks. All outcome measures were evaluated at baseline and on 4th day of 4th week.

Results: The results of this study revealed that the static stretching is more effective in improving hamstring muscle flexibility than retrowalking. The Static stretch group showed a greater increase in active knee extension ROM of 10.25% than the Retrowalking group who showed an increase of 4.56%.

Conclusion: Static stretching is better than retrowalking in improving hamstring flexibility.