Hirata Kosuke, Watanabe Daiki, Soga Toshiaki, Akagi Ryota
Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8574, Japan.
College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, 307 Fukasaku, Minuma-ku, Saitama 337-8570, Japan.
J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2025 May;76(3):233-238. doi: 10.3164/jcbn.24-238. Epub 2025 Mar 4.
Age-related decrease in joint flexibility leads to difficulties in activities of daily living and an increased risk of falls. The current study investigated whether nerve-directed stretching, which focuses on stretching neural tissue, could acutely improve joint flexibility and tissue stiffness more than muscle-directed stretching or not. Twenty-seven older men performed muscle- and nerve-directed stretching for 400 s (40 s × 10 times) on separate days. Before and after stretching, maximum ankle dorsiflexion angle was measured as range of motion (ROM). Shear wave propagation velocity (SWV) was also assessed as tissue stiffness of the sciatic nerve, medial gastrocnemius, posterior thigh fascia, and posterior leg fascia in anatomical position. In both stretching conditions, increment of ROM and reduction of sciatic nerve SWV were observed after stretching. The extent of these changes did not differ between the stretching conditions. The SWVs of tissues other than the sciatic nerve did not change before and after the stretching. These results suggest that acute effects of nerve-directed stretching on joint flexibility and tissue stiffness are not superior to muscle-directed stretching.
与年龄相关的关节灵活性下降会导致日常生活活动困难，并增加跌倒风险。当前的研究调查了专注于拉伸神经组织的神经定向拉伸是否比肌肉定向拉伸更能显著改善关节灵活性和组织僵硬度。27名老年男性在不同日期进行了400秒（40秒×10次）的肌肉定向和神经定向拉伸。拉伸前后，测量最大踝关节背屈角度作为活动范围（ROM）。还评估了剪切波传播速度（SWV），作为坐骨神经、腓肠肌内侧头、大腿后筋膜和小腿后筋膜在解剖位置的组织僵硬度。在两种拉伸条件下，拉伸后均观察到ROM增加和坐骨神经SWV降低。这些变化的程度在拉伸条件之间没有差异。坐骨神经以外的组织的SWV在拉伸前后没有变化。这些结果表明，神经定向拉伸对关节灵活性和组织僵硬度的急性影响并不优于肌肉定向拉伸。
