International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 159 Vol.7; Issue: 5; May 2017 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Immediate Effects of Two Different Types of Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) on Hamstring Muscle Flexibility in Young Healthy Females: A Comparative Study Joshi T M 1 , Dr. Wani. S K 2 , Dr. Shyam Ashok 3 , Dr. Sancheti Parag 4 1 BPTh; Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune. 2 MPTh in Musculoskeletal Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Musculoskeletal Sciences, Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune. 3 MS Ortho, Research Officer, Sancheti Institute of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Pune. 4 MS Ortho, Chairman, Sancheti Institute for Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Pune. Corresponding Author: Dr. Wani. S K ABSTRACT Flexibility is essential in sports related fitness as well as in daily life. Tight hamstring muscles increase the risk of injury and affect the sports performance among young athletes. Various manual therapy approaches has been studied for reducing muscle tightness. Previous available literature showed the effectiveness of muscle energy technique for increasing muscle flexibility. Variations of MET were suggested by number of authors, but very less literature is available regarding their efficacy over other. Therefore, current study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two approaches of MET- Pulsed and Isolytic technique on hamstrings flexibility in young healthy female which differed in the type of muscle contraction used. A double blinded, prospective, randomized controlled trial was carried out after taking approval from institutional ethical committee. 39 females of 18-24 years, with bilateral hamstrings tightness were included and allocated to two groups randomly. The written informed consent was sought. Participants in Group 1 and 2 were treated with Pulsed and Isolytic MET for Hamstring muscle respectively. Active knee extension test and Hamstring contracture test were assessed at pre and post intervention. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS v.20 software and level of significance was set at 0.05 at 95 % CI. Both the interventional groups showed improvement in hamstrings flexibility immediately after the intervention (pre-post analysis– p-value <0.05). However, in between group comparison showed non-significant difference post intervention (p value >0.05). Both the muscle energy techniques were found to be equally effective in improving hamstrings flexibility immediately after the intervention. Keywords: pulsed, isolytic MET, hamstrings flexibility. INTRODUCTION Flexibility is one of the most important elements of fitness and is essential in sports as well as in daily life. [1] Hamstring strains and tears are one of the common musculotendinous injuries in sports [2,3] due to its reduced flexibility. [4] Tight hamstring muscles not only increase the risk of injury but also can affect the sports performance among young athletes. [1,5] Available literature suggests that post isometric relaxation approach of Muscle