THE ACUTE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF STRETCHING ON HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY AND SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY ACTIVITY ON STUDENTS OF INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA KUANTAN CAMPUS (IIUMK)

Abstract

Background: Stretching is known for its benefits in preventing sports injury due to hamstring tightness. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of passive and active stretching on International Islamic University Malaysia Kuantan Campus (IIUMK) students with hamstring tightness by hamstring flexibility through active knee extension (AKE) and hamstring activation through surface electromyography (EMG) evaluation. Methods: Subsequent analyses on correlation of range of motion (ROM) through AKE and EMG were performed. 26 subjects were recruited among IIUMK students following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The results demonstrated that passive stretching improves hamstring activation with mean EMG signal amplitude value of 793.85±335.37 MVIC while active stretching improves hamstring flexibility with mean AKE measurement value of 158.85±11.60 degree. The result of AKE and EMG reported no significant difference between passive and active stretching in terms of hamstring flexibility and hamstring activation. In terms of correlation, it is proven no significant correlation between AKE and EMG either in passive or active stretching. Conclusion: It is hope that this study is able to bring useful insight on potential treatment for hamstring tightness in the future.