Acute Passive Static Stretching and Cramp Threshold Frequency.

Context: Exercise-associated muscle cramps are a common clinical problem for athletes. Objective: To determine whether acute passive static stretching altered cramp threshold frequency (CTF) of electrically induced muscle cramps. Design: Crossover study. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Seventeen healthy college-aged individuals. Intervention(s): Stretching or no stretching. Main Outcome Measure(s): The independent variable was the static stretch versus the no-stretch condition, and the dependent variable was the CTF. Results: The CTF increased in both the control (pretest: 18.12 +/- 6.46 Hz, posttest: 19.65 +/- 7.25 Hz; P = .033) and stretching (pretest: 18.94 +/- 5.96 Hz, posttest: 20.47 +/- 7.12 Hz; P = .049) groups. No difference between the groups was found (t(15) = 0.035, P = .97). Conclusions: Acute passive static stretching did not seem to increase the CTF.