COMPARISON OF INSTANT EFFECT OF LUMBAL AND SACROILAC SPINAL MANIPULATION ON FLEXIBILITY AND JUMPING PERFORMANCE IN PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS

Recent evidence suggests that spinal manipulation can acutely improve mobility and lower-limb performance. This study compared the acute effects of lumbar and sacroiliac chiropractic manipulation on flexibility nd jump performance. Forty-five healthy male participants were randomly assigned to three groups: a Lumbar Manipulation Group (LMG; n = 15), a Sacroiliac Manipulation Group (SMG; n = 15), and a Control Group (n = 15). Flexibility was assessed using the V-Sit and Reach test, while performance was evaluated with vertical and horizontal jump tests. Lumbar manipulation was applied to the dysfunctional lumbar segment in the LMG, and sacroiliac joint manipulation was applied to the dysfunctional sacroiliac region in the SMG. No intervention was performed in the control group. Both manipulation techniques resulted in significant acute improvements in mobility and jump performance compared with the control group (p < 0.05), with the greatest improvement observed in vertical jump height (p = 0.001). No significant differences were found between the LMG and SMG. Spinal manipulation to the lumbar and sacroiliac regions appears to produce acute improvements in mobility and lower-limb power. These findings suggest that spinal manipulation may serve as a short-term performance-enhancing intervention.