A NEW APPROACH TO ACTIVE FLEXIBILITY MEASUREMENT IN STUDENTS OF SPORTS SCIENCES FACULTIES

Abstract

The aim of the study is the determination of the hamstrings, hip muscles, and lower and upper muscles' active flexibility. Thus, by using a new method of the measurement of active flexibility which is based on angle degree, we aim to provide information about the contribution ratio of hamstrings, hips, and lower and upper back muscles on reachability performance. A total of 26 physical education and sports science faculty girls (weight: 57.7kg, height: 164.2cm), and 128 boys (weight: 72.1kg, height: 176.9cm) was included. To measure the flexibility of the students the Kinovea-0.9.4-x64.exe program was used. Measurements included tests such as the LUBAD, LBLBAD, LBPAG, SRT and MSRT. In the data analysis one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and the percentage formula: “%= (X / X) *100” was used. Correlations between reachability tests such as SRT and MSRT, and tests which are supposed to measure the lower and upper back effect of reachability LUBAD, LBLBAD are statistically significant (p<0.05). In girls, just 23%, and boys 26% of active flexibility is caused by hamstrings and hip muscles, while in the girls 77%, and in boys, 74% of the active flexibility was caused by the lower and upper back muscles. The girls resulted to use a higher ratio the upper back flexibility to cover the lack of hips, and hamstrings muscles flexibility while they perform reachability tests. Thus, the reachability is not caused just by hamstrings, and hips muscles, but also it is affected by the lower and upper back muscles' active flexibility.