Acute effects of “Munz Floor”® fascial stretching on autonomic nervous responses assessed by heart rate variability

Purpose: To analyze if the "Munz Floor"® fascial stretching method significantly modifies the autonomic nervous responses at rest. We tested the hypothesis of a positive influence on the parasympathetic activity. Methods: Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in thirty three (including nine females) healthy participants during a tilt test (i.e., 5-min supine followed by 5-min standing) before (pre-) and immediately after (post-) 60 min in either a control condition and 3 days later a "Munz Floor"® session. Time-domain (heart rate, HR); root mean square of the successive differences between RR intervals, (RMSSD), non-linear (standard deviations, SD1, SD2), and frequency-domain (spectral frequencies in very low, VLF; low, LF and high bands) parameters as well as the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFAα1) were measured. Results: , p < 0.01, ES = 0.31) were observed only in the "Munz Floor"® group. Conclusion: The "Munz Floor"® fascial stretching method was effective for acutely increasing the parasympathetic activity. These results suggest "Munz Floor"® fascial stretching as a potential strategy for improving recovery and reducing the impact of stress and fatigue.