The static stretching protocol comprised eight exercises, performed for 30 seconds per bilateral muscle group (with the exception of the sitting toe touch and butterfly stretch), and included the hip, knee, and ankle. Each subject completed each stretch before progressing to the subsequent one. The stretches were maintained until the subject experienced mild discomfort, but not pain.

The PMT was performed by the two physiotherapists using an OUTSO 06® Fascia Gun equipped with a 5 cm diameter soft attachment head. Throughout the PMT, the physiotherapists carefully maintained a consistent level of moderate pressure on the skin, and followed the direction of the muscle fibers. In the S-PMT group, the treatment was applied for 25minutes.

The PMT was performed by the two physiotherapists using an OUTSO 06® Fascia Gun equipped with a 5 cm diameter soft attachment head. Throughout the PMT, the physiotherapists carefully maintained a consistent level of moderate pressure on the skin, and followed the direction of the muscle fibers. In the L-PMT group, the treatment was applied for 40 minutes.

The static stretching protocol comprised eight exercises, performed for 30 seconds per bilateral muscle group (with the exception of the sitting toe touch and butterfly stretch), and included the hip, knee, and ankle. The subjects were instructed to perform the following sequence of stretches: forward lunge, supine knee flexion, lateral quadriceps stretch, sitting toe touch, semi-straddle, straddle, butterfly stretch, and a straight knee ankle extensor wall stretch. Each subject completed each stretch before progressing to the subsequent one. The stretches were maintained until the subject experienced mild discomfort, but not pain.

The intensity of muscle pain was quantified using the visual analogue scale (VAS), which comprises a 10-cm straight line with one end labelled (score of 0) and the other end labelled intolerable pain (score of 10). Subjects were required to provide a rating of their perceived lower-limb muscle soreness for each leg on a scale of one (no soreness) to ten (maximal soreness). Two measurements were recorded on the VAS scale, and the average was calculated.

A modified kneeling lunge was employed to assess knee joint ROM. The procedure was as follows: the subjects left leg was bent at the knee, the thigh was parallel to the ground, and the left lower leg was perpendicular to the ground; the right leg was bent at the knee, and the upper body was maintained in an upright position. The subject was required to adjust the position in order to stretch the right hip to the point of discomfort. The angle to which the right hip was stretched was measured and used as a criterion for subsequent measurement of the ROM. The investigator then bent the subjects right knee until the level of discomfort was reached. At this point, the angle between the thigh and calf was recorded using a goniometer, with the following landmarks: the lateral malleolus, the lateral epicondyle, and the center of the vastus lateralis. A larger angle indicated a smaller ROM of the knee joint.

The CMJ was performed in accordance with the established methodology described in the existing literature, and the variables with the CMJ were evaluated using a BTS P-6000 three-dimensional force platform (BTS Bioengineering, Milan, Italy), with a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz. Three trials were conducted for each subject, and the highest vertical jump height was selected for analysis. The variables obtained included the jump height, the peak ground reaction force during the propulsion phase, and the propulsion impulse. The jump height was calculated from the time spent in the air. The peak ground reaction force was obtained from the force-time curve, and the calculation of the propulsion impulse was based on the previous literature.