Acute effect of foam roller exercises in addition to dynamic stretching exercises on active sprint, squat sprint and swimming performance

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of dynamic stretching (DG) and dynamic stretching plus vibrating foam roller exercises on the performance of active jump, squat jump and 50 m freestyle swimming (15 m and 25 m transitions) in swimmers aged 15-18 years. Twenty male swimmers with at least two years of regular swimming training participated in the study and the participants were evaluated in a single group. Results were evaluated by paired groups t-test after normality analysis and SPSS 22 software was used. In the first session, swimmers practiced the test parameters with dynamic stretching and foam roller exercises; this session was designed to minimise learning effects. In the second session, athletes performed a 5-minute low-intensity warm-up followed by a 10-minute dynamic stretching protocol, and active jump, squat jump and 50-metre freestyle swimming performance tests were performed. In the third session, vibrating foam roller exercises were added to the same protocol. All sessions were conducted at 48-hour intervals. The results of the study showed that 50 m swimming performance increased with dynamic stretching and dynamic stretching + vibrating foam roller exercises (t(19)= 3.854, p=0.001; p<0.05). The results are in parallel with the literature; although myofascial stretching techniques do not affect jump performance, they positively affect swimming performance.