Electromyography assessments of the vastus medialis muscle during soccer instep kicking between dynamic and static stretching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of static and dynamic stretching within a pre-exercise warm-up on vastus medialis muscle activity during instep kicking and ball velocity in soccer players. The kicking motions of dominant legs were captured from using six synchronized high-speed infra-red cameras at 200 Hz and Electromyography at 100 Hz. There was significant difference in vastus medialis activity after dynamic stretching relative to no stretching condition (0.12 ± 0.06 mV) versus static stretching relative to no stretching condition (-0.21 ± 0.10 mV) with p < 0.001). In addition, there was also a significant difference in ball velocity after dynamic stretching relative to no stretching condition (4.53 ± 2.10 m/s) versus static stretching relative to no stretching condition (-1.48 ± 2.43 m/s) with p < 0.003. We concluded that dynamic stretching during the warm-up, as compared to static stretching, is probably more effective as preparation for optimal muscle activity and finally have high ball velocity which is required in soccer.