Standing and supine hamstring stretching
are equally effective

Objective:  To evaluate the relative effectiveness of standing and supine hamstring stretching in increasing hamstring flexibility as measured by increasing range of motion at the knee.

Design:  Randomized trial.

Setting:  Local academic physical therapy and physical therapist assistant programs.

Subjects:  Twenty-nine healthy subjects who exhibited limited hamstring muscle flexibility bilaterally (22 females, 7 males, age 25.9+6.13) volunteered to participate in this study.  Subjects were randomly assigned a different stretch for each leg.  Each leg was stretched 3 days per week for 3 weeks (3 x 30 seconds).  Stretching sessions were supervised.

Measurements:  Supine active knee extension was used to measure knee range of motion.  Measurements were taken before and following the three-week stretching phase by the same investigator who was blind to limb assignment.  A two-way mixed design ANOVA and Tukey's HSD post hoc tests were used to analyze data.  An independent t-test was performed to determine if the change scores in the stretching groups differed by gender. 

Results:  Statistical analysis indicated a significant difference between pre- and post-stretching measurements for both the standing and supine stretch.  No significant difference (p >.05) in change score existed between the two stretches or between genders.

Conclusions:  Results suggest that both the standing and supine hamstring stretches are comparably effective in improving flexibility.

2004 Decoster LC, Scanlon RL, Horn KD, Cleland J: Standing and Supine Hamstring Stretches are Equally Effective. J Athletic Training, Vol 39, 4, 330-334.