a prophylactic effect of pnf stretching on mechanical parameters of agility, squat and continuous jumps following exercise-induced muscle damage

Aim: the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (pnf)stretching combined with plyometric training on agility and squat/continuous jumps in non-athlete male students. method and materials: thirty non-athlete male students were volunteered to participate in this study. participants were assigned into control (n=21) and intervention (n=21) groups. dependent variables were recorded at baseline and 48 hours after post-exercise. a vicon (200 hz) motion analysis system with six t-series cameras and two kistler force plates (1000 hz) were used to record kinematic and kinetic data. a two-way repeated measure anova (group x eimd) was used to compare the data between the two groups. findings: the agility in the intervention group was higher than in the plyometric group at 48 hours (p=0.015). within-group comparison of agility showed a difference in the plyometric & pnf group from pre- to post-training (p=0.003). there were no significant differences in squat jump test parameters from pre- to post-test between groups (p˃0.05). also, within-group comparison of continuous jump of variables (maximum vertical displacement and power average) showed no difference in the plyometric & pnf group at 48 hours (p˃0.05). conclusion: a prophylactic effect of pnf stretching on agility and components of continuous jumps following exercise-induced muscle damage was useful. therefore, pnf can be useful with a preventative method in reducing the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage in some functional parameters of the exercise.