For athletes, as well as the amateur sports enthusiast, stretching before and after a game, run or swim can aid in performance and protect the body from injury. One of the more commonly strained muscles in the body is the hamstring. In a recent clinical study, researchers compared the effects of both stretching and sacroiliac joint manipulation on the hamstring muscle.

As part of the three-week trial, 15 volunteers who passed the initial criteria and had a passive straight leg raise (SLR) less than or equal to 70 degrees were randomly divided into either the stretching or stretching/manipulation group.

Both groups participated in a stretching exercise two times a day and were tested twice a week using the passive SLR and back saver sit and reach (BSSR) tests. During the testing portions, the manipulation group also received bilateral sacroiliac joint manipulations. A final test was performed one week after the trial ended.

In the end, although members of both groups saw positive results, the manipulation group saw a greater benefit, as shown by both test results. The participants who received both treatments saw a mean change of almost 11 degrees in the left leg and close to 9 degrees in the right leg in the SLR test over the stretching group.

The BSSR test results only showed a little over 1cm change for the right leg and less than 0.5cm improvement for the left leg over the stretching group.

Although the results showed greater improvement for the group that combined stretching and manipulation, the researchers feel more testing must be conducted to confirm that manipulation has a greater effect.