Key result
Four weeks of lower-limb static stretching significantly decreased peripheral arterial stiffness (femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity) compared to a sedentary control group in middle-aged and older women.
Why the study?
It was unclear whether habitual lower-limb stretching reduces regional arterial stiffness specifically at the stretched site in middle-aged and older women.
Does 4 weeks of lower-limb static stretching reduce regional arterial stiffness in healthy middle-aged and older women?
RCT (n=14)
Randomly assigned
No
Does 4 weeks of lower-limb static stretching reduce regional arterial stiffness in healthy middle-aged and older women?
Absolute Event Rate: 1122% vs 1139.9%
p-value: p=0.0452
Four weeks of lower-limb static stretching reduces peripheral arterial stiffness at the stretched site in healthy middle-aged and older women.
Hypothesis-generating for lower-limb stretching to reduce regional stiffness in older women; larger trials needed before practice consideration.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to clarify whether habitual lower-limb stretching intervention reduces regional arterial stiffness at the stretched site in middle-aged and older women. METHODS: In this study, the effects of 4 weeks of lower-limb static stretching (of the hip extensor and flexor, knee extensor and flexor, and plantar flexor muscles) were investigated on systemic, central, and peripheral arterial stiffness using pulse wave velocity in 14 healthy middle-aged and older women randomly assigned to either a sedentary control group (67.3 ± 5.6 years; n = 7) or a stretching intervention group (63.4 ± 6.4 years; n = 7). RESULTS: The femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity (an index of peripheral arterial stiffness) significantly decreased in the intervention group (pre, 1222.4 ± 167.5 cm/s; post, 1122.0 ± 141.1 cm/s) but did not change in the control group (pre, 1122.7 ± 107.7 cm/s; post, 1139.9 ± 77.5 cm/s). However, the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity as an index of systemic arterial stiffness (control: pre, 1655.7 ± 296.8 cm/s, post, 1646.4 ± 232.1 cm/s; intervention: pre, 1637.6 ± 259.9 cm/s, post, 1560.8 ± 254.7 cm/s) and the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity as an index of central arterial stiffness (control: pre, 1253.6 ± 346.4 cm/s, post, 1223.6 ± 263.4 cm/s; intervention: pre, 1125.4 ± 204.7 cm/s, post, 1024.9 ± 164.5 cm/s) did not change in either group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that lower-limb stretching interventions may reduce regional arterial stiffness at the stretched site.
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Higaki et al. (2022) conducted an RCT in Healthy postmenopausal women (n=14). Lower-limb static stretching vs. Sedentary control was evaluated on Femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity (faPWV) (p=0.0452). Four weeks of lower-limb static stretching significantly decreased peripheral arterial stiffness (femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity) compared to a sedentary control group in middle-aged and older women.
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