The effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises on certain physical and physiological parameters in motor and skill learning practices in children

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises, applied during motor and skill acquisition sessions in children, on certain physical and physiological parameters. A total of 68 voluntary 9th-grade students from a high school in the Taşova district of Amasya province participated in the study. Participants were divided into three groups: static stretching (n = 22), dynamic stretching (n = 21), and control (n = 25). Pre-tests were administered to all groups, including measurements of height, weight, BMI, sit-ups, push-ups, flexibility, anaerobic and aerobic power, agility, and speed. Following the pre-tests, participants performed warm-up + static stretching or dynamic stretching exercises for 8 weeks, twice a week, before movement and skill acquisition practices during physical education classes. The control group received only the warm-up protocol. After the intervention period, the same tests were re-administered to collect post-test data. The obtained data were evaluated for normal distribution using the Shapiro-Wilk test. In addition to descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests were used for within-group comparisons, while One-Way ANOVA was employed for between-group comparisons. Tukey HSD post hoc test was used to determine significant differences, and Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to evaluate changes over time. According to within-group analysis, a significant decrease in agility performance was observed in all groups (p < 0,05). Significant improvements were found in height and weight parameters in all groups (p < 0,05). While anaerobic power significantly improved in both the static and dynamic groups (p < 0,05), aerobic power showed significant improvement only in the dynamic group (p < 0,05). In between-group comparisons of post-test results, the static group showed significant differences in push-up performance compared to the dynamic and control groups (p < 0,05). The dynamic group exhibited significantly higher anaerobic power compared to the static group (p < 0,05). Significant differences were also found in height, weight, BMI, and sit-up variables among the groups (p < 0,05). In conclusion, dynamic stretching exercises positively affected height, weight, anaerobic power, and aerobic power parameters, whereas static stretching exercises had a positive impact on height, weight, anaerobic power, and muscular endurance. Stretching exercises had limited effects on other parameters.