Abstract
Introduction: Stretching increases the range of motion. Facilitation techniques have demonstrated their effectiveness, however, the time to be used for this purpose is not clear. Objective: To estimate the effectiveness of different application times of the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation technique, hold-relax, on knee mobility ranges in healthy young adults. Methodology: Randomized, double-blind controlled clinical trial in which 34 young adult, aged between 20 and 37 years, participated. Knee flexibility assessment was performed bilaterally using the popliteal angle as a reference point through videography, using Kinovea software. The subjects were then randomized and assigned to 3 stretching intervention groups with the hold-relax technique: the first 21 seconds, the second 15 seconds, and the third control group. To estimate the effectiveness of the intervention, a generalized linear model (family: normal, link: identity) was used. Results: In the intervention groups with times of 21 seconds (group 1) and 15 seconds (group 2), the average values and standard deviation in the initial baseline assessment and final assessment after the intervention show a significant gain. of the popliteal angle bilaterally in both group 1 and group 2 compared to the control group. Conclusions: The execution of the Hold-Relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation protocol with different times showed that the 21 second protocol is not greater than the 15 second protocol, but they are superior to the control.
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