Effect of repeated eight-minute muscle loading on the angle of straight-leg raising.

The right lower extremities of 10 experimental subjects were passively loaded for 8 minutes on three consecutive days to determine the effects of such loading on the angle of straight-leg raising. The angle was determined cinematographically each day after loading for 15 seconds, every 30 seconds thereafter during 8 minutes of loading, and 10 minutes and 24 hours after loading. Twenty-four hours after three days of loading, the straight-leg-raising angle of the Experimental Group was an average of 4.4 degrees greater than it was initially. This increase was not statistically significant. The comparable angle of 10 control subjects increased an average of 0.6 degrees. The 4.4 degree increase suggests that muscle lengthens slowly in response to 8 minutes of stretching applied on three consecutive days.