Immediate Effect Of Muscle Energy Technique And Passive Stretching On Hamstring Muscle Tightness In Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students: A Comparative Study

Hamstring tightness is very common in physiotherapy students due to several factors. Passive stretching is the most common method used to improve the flexibility of muscles. Muscle energy technique uses active muscle contraction followed by relaxation and passive stretch to improve range of motion. Thus, this study will help to determine whether muscle energy technique or passive stretching produces more significant immediate benefits to improve flexibility of muscles. In this study, 80 participants were included and were divided into 2 groups by random allocation method. Group A received MET and Group B received passive stretching. Hamstring tightness pre and post intervention were recorded with active knee extension test. This study concluded that both muscle energy technique and passive stretching resulted in statistically and clinically significant improvements in hamstring flexibility, while MET demonstrated a slightly greater improvement compared to passive stretching.