Abstract

BECERRA-FERNANDEZ, Carlos A.; MAYORGA-VEGA, Daniel  and  MERINO-MARBAN, Rafael. How do students’ hamstring extensibility levels change through an academic year?: A longitudinal study. Educ. fís. cienc. [online]. 2017, vol.19, n.2, pp.00-00. ISSN 2314-2561.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the students’ hamstring extensibility levels through an academic year. A sample of 128 11th-grade students from a high school center was assessed by the classic sit-and-reach test in pre-, mid- and post-academic year. The results showed that students’ hamstring extensibility level statistically significantly decreased from pre-academic year (22.1 ± 8.5 cm) to mid- (19.9 ± 8.6 cm; d = -0.26) and post-academic year (18.6 ± 9.3 cm; d = -0.41) (p < 0.001) and from mid-academic year to post-academic year (d = -0.16) (p < 0.001). The results of the McNemar’s test indicated that there was a statistically significant decrease on the proportion of students with normal hamstring extensibility level from pre-academic year to post-academic year (p < 0.05). In conclusion, high-school students lost hamstring extensibility levels during an academic year. As a result of this decrease, the number of students with hamstring extensibility shortening increased by 10.9%. Physical education teachers should implement stretching programs to avoid students’ hamstring extensibility shortening.

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