Comparison of the Effects of Passive Stretching of the Cervical and Iliopsoas Muscles on Pulmonary Functions

This study aims to compare the effect of passive stretching of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and iliopsoas muscle on pulmonary functions. Thirty-two university students were participated in this study. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the sternocleidomastoid stretching group (16 people) or the iliopsoas stretching group (16 people). The pulmonary functions (forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, peak expiratory flow rate, and maximal voluntary ventilation) were measured using a Pony FX. All subjects measured pulmonary function before and after the interventions. All pulmonary functions were significantly improved after the sternocleidomastoid stretching group (p<.05). In the iliopsoas stretching group, there was no statistically significant difference in forced vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate, however forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity and maximal voluntary ventilation increased significantly after the intervention. As a result of comparing the difference values before and after the intervention, maximal voluntary ventilation of iliopsoas muscle passive stretching group was significantly improved compared to the sternocleidomastoid muscle passive stretching group (p<.05). Therefore, in this study, passive stretching exercise for the sternocleidomastoid muscle is recommended to improve overall lung function, and passive stretching exercise for the iliopsoas muscle, which affects the major respiratory muscles, is recommended to improve maximal voluntary ventilation.