Impact of different myofascial relaxation techniques applied to sedentary individuals on flexibility

Purpose: Impact of different myofascial relaxation techniques applied to sedentary individuals on flexibility is investigated. Material and Method: 45 sedentary individuals, whose ages are between 20 and 45 and whose body mass index is between 22 and 28 kg/m2 participated in the study voluntarily. The participants were randomly distributed into 3 groups as stretching (S) group, stretching + foam roller (SF) group and stretching + percussive massage (SPM) group. Each group was composed of 15 participants (9 males + 6 females). Overhead squat, sit-and-reach and vertical jump tests were applied to each group after a 5-minute warm-up of 50-rpm cycling on the test day. Each test was applied as 3 repetitions and the highest values were recorded as the test values. Right after the exercises, the last tests were applied at the 10th and 20th minutes in 3 different intervals. Kruskal Wallis Test and Mann-Whitney-U Test were used for between-groups comparisons, while Friedman Test and Wilcoxon Test were used for within-group comparisons. Findings: Ages, body weights, heights, body mass indexes and arm lengths did not vary significantly compared to the group variable (p>0.05). There is a significant difference between S and SPM groups (p=0.000). There is a significant difference between SF and SPM groups (p=0.009). SFM group showed a greater increase compared to both S and SF groups. Conclusion: This study shows that SFM has a greater impact on angle range of motion, flexibility and vertical jump force compared to S and SF. Impact of SF is greater only than S. Foam roller and percussive massage device affected flexibility and vertical jump performance positively. Keywords: Flexibility, Fascial Release, Foam Roller, Percussive Massage Device, Angle Range of Motion, Vertical Jump Test, Sit-and-Reach Test.