Efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on dynamic stability, athletic performance, and range of motion of the lower limb – A narrative review

Abstract

The proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques such as contract-relax-antagonist-contract and contract-relax have been adopted by many researchers in the sports fields to investigate their effects on athletes and amateurs, either alone or by comparing these techniques with other modalities. The researchers to date have been published considerable controversial amounts of literature about the effectiveness of PNF techniques on the athletes' range of motion (ROM), dynamic stability, and performance. This review article aims to analyze the various effects of PNF stretching techniques and how they could be effective for athletes' ROM, dynamic stability, and performance-based on recent scientific evidence. After critically analyzing the published literature, the PNF techniques can increase the muscle flexibility in athletes as well as might be a reasonable method to enhance medial-lateral dynamic stability. However, its effectiveness on athletic performance is still questionable, and further high-quality studies are required.