The effects of myofascial release using foam rolling versus resistance band routine as warm up protocol on lower body power and flexibility among Malaysia rugby players / Ammar Md Zaini

Warm-up prior to physical activities has the potential to improve performance and work as injury prevention. Myofascial release using foam rolling is warm-up approach that widely applied on site of sport settings. However, there is limited evidence on its effectiveness on lower body power and flexibility. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of myofascial release using foam rolling versus resistance band routine as warm-up protocol on lower body power and flexibility among Malaysian rugby players. Fifteen elite Malaysian male rugby players were recruited. This study is a repeated-measures study design consists of control and two types of warm-up exposures. Participants exposed to three trials; control trial with no additional warm-up (C), myofascial release using foam rolling (MFR), and resistance band routine (RB). During each trial, participants performed two sets of ten repetitions of dynamic stretching and followed by prescribed warm-up exposure before proceed to countermovement jump (CMJ) test and Y-balance test (YBT). Participants preformed all warm-up exposure with two sets of ten repetitions in three non-consecutive days of trials within three weeks. The data was analysed by using one-way ANOVA with repeated-measures. As results, CMJ peak power had improved significantly (p=0.001) after iv MFR (3.24%) and RB (1.57%) warm-up protocol when compared to control. When compared between two warm-up protocols, MFR is 1.65% superior to RB (p=0.001) for peak power in lower body. YBT score had improve significantly (p=0.04) after MFR (1.63%) and (p=0.001) RB (3.74%) when compared between warm-up protocols with RB is 2.08% superior to MFR (p=0.011) for composite reach distance in enhancing flexibility. In conclusion, the present study found that performing MFR and RB as warm-up protocols; two sets of ten repetitions in addition to dynamic stretching able to improve lower body power and flexibility with MFR having superior effects on lower body power and RB on flexibility among Malaysian male rugby players.