The Effects of Heat and Active Stretch on Subjects Performing the Wingate Power Test: 838 Board #234 May 27, 2

Pre-participation static stretching (SS) along with heat application to increase the temperature of the tissues is performed to improve joint range of motion (ROM); presumably by increasing the elasticity of connective tissue during eccentric and concentric muscle actions that are components of dynamic exercise. PURPOSE: To compare the effect of the following conditions ): no static stretching (nSS), heat no static stretch (HnSS), Heat and static stretch (HSS), and static stretch (SS) on indices of the Wingate Power Test (WPT); peak power (PP), mean power (MP), total work (TW), total time to peak power (TTPP). METHODS: 12 male (age 20.2 ± 1.2 yr, ht 181 ± 5.3 cm, wt 73.1 ± 7.9 kg) intercollegiate soccer players were randomly assigned to 4 treatment conditions using a counterbalanced order for nSS, HnSS, HSS, and SS. 7 ROM exercises (plantar/dorsi flexion, Achilles tendon stretch, hamstring/quadriceps stretch, hip abductor, and gluteal stretch) were performed by subjects for a duration of 7 min on dry land or immersed up to the level of the umbilicus in a temperature control (T 43.3 ± 1.6 °C) water bath. WPT was performed within 4 min of condition. A 1-way ANOVA for repeated measures set at the p< .05 level and a post hoc analysis was used to determine contrasting conditions. RESULTS: MP, passive heat (HnSS) or combined with exercise (HSS) were significantly different than the no stretch (nSS) condition (p