Which stretching technique decreases muscle spindle stimulation?

• A. dynamic
• B. ballistic
• C. static
• D. passive

Answer: (C)

Muscle spindles respond to how quickly and how much a muscle is lengthened. Rapid or bouncing stretches keep the muscle length changing, which maintains spindle firing and can trigger a stretch reflex that resists the stretch. Static stretching, by contrast, lengthens the muscle and then is held at a constant length with no further change in length. Once the initial length change occurs, the rate of stretch is essentially zero, so the spindle activity decreases and the reflex diminishes. This is why static stretching decreases muscle spindle stimulation.