@article {Tsolakis2012669, title = {Acute effects of two different warm-up protocols on flexibility and lower limb explosive performance in male and female high level athletes}, journal = {Journal of Sports Science and Medicine}, volume = {11}, number = {4}, year = {2012}, note = {cited By 3}, pages = {669-675}, abstract = {This study examined the effects of two different warm-up protocols on lower limb power and flexibility in high level athletes. Twenty international level fencers (10 males and 10 females) performed two warm-up protocols that included 5-min light jogging and either short (15s) or long (45s) static stretching exercises for each of the main leg muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstrings and triceps surae), followed by either 3 sets of 3 (short stretching treatment), or 3 sets of 5 tuck jumps (long stretching treatment), in a randomized crossover design with one week between treatments. Hip joint flexion was measured with a Lafayette goniometer before and after the 5-min warm-up, after stretching and 8 min after the tuck jumps, while counter movement jump (CMJ) performance was evaluated by an Ergojump contact platform, before and after the stretching treatment, as well as immediately after and 8 minutes after the tuck jumps. Three way ANOVA (condition, time, gender) revealed significant time (p < 0.001) and gender (p < 0.001) main effects for hip joint flexion, with no interaction between factors. Flexibility increased by 6.8 {\textpm} 1.1\% (p < 0.01) after warm-up and by another 5.8 {\textpm} 1.6\% (p < 0.01) after stretching, while it remained increased 8 min after the tuck jumps. Women had greater ROM compared with men at all time points (125 {\textpm} 8{\textdegree} vs. 94 {\textpm} 4{\textdegree} p<0.01 at baseline), but the pattern of change in hip flexibility was not different between genders. CMJ performance was greater in men compared with women at all time points (38.2 {\textpm} 1.9 cm vs. 29.8 {\textpm} 1.2 cm p < 0.01 at baseline), but the percentage of change CMJ performance was not different between genders. CMJ performance remained unchanged throughout the short stretching protocol, while it decreased by 5.5{\textpm}0.9\% (p <0.01) after stretching in the long stretching protocol However, 8 min after the tuck jumps, CMJ performance was not different from the baseline value (p = 0.075). In conclusion, lower limb power may be decreased after long periods of stretching, but performance of explosive exercises may reverse this phenomenon. {\textcopyright} Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.}, url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84870774391\&partnerID=40\&md5=30132b6347f1fc96b787d6dc2f772ba0}, author = {Tsolakis, C., Bogdanis, G.C.} }