Effectiveness of Contract Relax Antagonist Contraction Technique and Muscle Energy Techniques to Improve Hamstring Muscles Flexibility in Collegiate Females

Abstract

Background: Flexibility is an essential element of normal biomechanical functioning in daily life. The hamstring muscles are important to control the human movement and are thus involved in activities such as running, jumping and a range of postural actions. The hamstring muscle tightness produces decreased range of motion and reduced flexibility of the pelvis, hip and knee joints. Muscle stiffness of the lower extremities and the subsequent decrease in joint flexibility are considered major etiological factors in musculoskeletal injuries.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of contract relax antagonist contraction technique and muscle energy techniques to improve hamstring flexibility in collegiate females.Methods: A total of 60 subjects were included in the study, with 30 assigned to one of the two groups. The outcome measure was the hamstring muscle tightness, assessed with the execution of the Active Knee Extension test at pretreatment and posttreatment sessions. Participants in Group A were treated with Contract Relax Antagonist Contraction techniques, and in Group B were treated with Muscle Energy Techniques for three treatment sessions per week for three weeks. Paired and unpaired t-tests were used for both within and between-group comparisons.Results: The results revealed that both the groups had improvements in hamstring flexibility from pre- to posttreatment sessions (p<0.05). However, Group B showed larger improvements than Group A in improving the hamstring flexibility.Conclusions: The Muscle Energy Techniques appear to be more effective in increasing hamstring flexibility as compared to Contract Relax Antagonist Contraction.
Keywords: Flexibility, Hamstring tightness, contract relax antagonist contraction, muscle energy technique, active knee extension test
Cite this ArticleGewali G, Bhattacharya U, Das L, et al. Effectiveness of Contract Relax Antagonist Contraction Technique and Muscle Energy Techniques to Improve Hamstring Muscles Flexibility in Collegiate Females. Research and Reviews: Journal of Neuroscience. 2017; 7(2): 16–21p.