Effects of Pilates Stretching on Flexibility, Strength, Power and Muscular Endurance

Summary

Introduction: The practice of stretching is commonly used in the preparation of activities and/or physical exercises that require some component of flexibility, strength, endurance and muscle power. This explains the high growth in recent decades of studies investigating the effect of stretching, mainly static and dynamic, when performed immediately before activities that aim to develop these physical capacities. Despite the growing interest of scholars on this topic, the long-term impact of dynamic stretching on flexibility, strength performance, endurance and muscle power is still not fully understood. In addition, a type of dynamic stretching little explored in the literature needs investigation: the stretches used during Pilates exercise sessions. The effects of these stretching exercises on a physical conditioning program based on Pilates exercises in the young adult population are not yet known. Objective: To verify through a randomized clinical trial the effects of stretching in a conditioning program based on Pilates exercises on flexibility, strength, endurance and muscle power. Methods: In this study, 32 young adults of both sexes will be randomized into two groups: 1) Traditional Pilates; 2) Pilates Without Stretching. The Traditional Pilates group will perform a protocol of stretching exercises followed by muscle strengthening. The Pilates Without Stretching group will perform an exercise protocol consisting only of muscle strengthening exercises. Muscle strength results will be evaluated by 1 repetition max by elastic resistance; trunk muscle strength/endurance by the 1-minute abdominal test and the Sorensen test, respectively; vertical jump performance by the sargent jump test; handgrip strength by the handheld dynamometer and flexibility by the sit-and-reach test. These physical capacities will be assessed at baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention. Interventions will be performed three times a week for 8 weeks. The analysis will be performed with intent-to-treat analysis and adjusted covariance for baseline outcomes.

Conditions

• Young Adults
• Performance
• Exercise

Interventions

OTHER

Traditional Pilates

This group will perform a traditional Pilates session, which consists of stretching exercises, followed by exercises to strengthen the core (trunk flexors and extensors), lower limbs and upper limbs. The total duration of the intervention in this group should be approximately 50 minutes.

OTHER

Pilates without stretching

This group will conduct a non-traditional Pilates session. This is because stretching exercises will be excluded. The muscle strengthening exercises will be the same as in the TP group, so that it is possible to discuss the influence of the inclusion/exclusion of stretching for the considered outcomes. The total duration of the intervention in this group should be approximately 35 minutes.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidade Estadual do Norte do Parana

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-09-05

Primary Completion

2022-11-25

Completion

2022-11-25

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations