Comparison of Abdominal and Lumbar Muscles Electromyography Activity During Two Types of Stabilization Exercises

Abstract

Background: Stabilization exercises lead to improve muscle performance and can be used to prevent and treat of low back pain. Objectives: Aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare the level of abdominal and lumbar muscles activity during two types of stabilization exercises. Patients and Methods: Thirty healthy females aged between 20-30 years old participated in this quasi-experimental study. Muscle activity was recorded from Transversus Abdominus (TrA), Internal Oblique (IO) and multifidus on both sides with electromyography (EMG) device during the quadruped and dead bug exercises. EMG data were normalized to the percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction and paired t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean muscle activity in the right arm reach of quadruped and dead bug exercises showed that right IO and TrA muscles produced greater activity during quadruped exercise (P = 0.015, P = 0.001, respectively). The comparison between the mean muscles activity in the left leg reach of two exercises showed that right and left TrA muscles produced greater activity during left leg reach in quadruped exercise (P = 0.005, P = 0.046, respectively). Also, the comparison between the mean muscle activity in simultaneous movements of left leg and right arm reach in the 2 exercises showed that right TrA muscle was activated at a higher level compared to the other muscles in the quadruped exercise (P = 0.002). Conclusions: The results showed quadruped exercise can provide stability, coordination, and smoothness of the movements in healthy subjects and all considered muscles participated in this exercise.

A Comparison between Core Stability Exercises and Muscle Thickness Using Two Different Activation Maneuvers

“…The TrA is activated prior to each limb movement and is activated in anticipation of lower limb movement [ 35 , 38 , 39 ]. The bird dog exercise involves moving one foot and the opposite hand simultaneously [ 17 ]. This movement shifts the body’s weight to the other limbs, which can affect the strength and stability of the trunk muscles and the pressure on the spine.…”

“…The muscles on the weight-bearing side are responsible for contracting against the effects of gravity and body mass to maintain proper alignment. The IO muscle is essential for stabilizing the spinal column by directing the load and responding to upper and lower limb movement [ 17 ]. The central nervous system (CNS) predicts the effects of movement and plans the recruitment of muscles to overcome disturbances.…”

“…The thickness of the right relaxed abdominals (TrA/IO) and LM was measured in the supine and prone positions, respectively. The selected exercises for comparison were based on previous studies [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ] that demonstrated their effectiveness in activating the deep muscles of the trunk. Then, participants performed seven exercises using the bracing and hollowing technique, in random order as follows ( Figure 2 ): The plank exercise with elbow support and one arm extended: this variation of the traditional plank exercise primarily targets the core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, erector spinae, transverse abdominis, and lumbar multifidus.…”

“…Research studies have compared various core stability exercises and their variations, such as the plank, supine position, side plank, dead bug, bridge, and bird dog, to determine which one activates the core muscles the most [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. However, each study suggested that a different exercise (e.g., plank, side plank, dead bug, bridge, bird dog) can achieve a greater increase in muscle thickness than the others.…”

“…For example, Imai et al [ 19 ] found that the plank exercise activates all the muscles of the trunk to a greater extent. Emami et al [ 17 ] found that the bird dog exercise is most effective for activating deep spinal muscles, while Moghadam et al [ 14 ] argue that the bridge exercise leads to the greatest increase in trunk muscle thickness. Consequently, data on core training programs and their efficacy in everyday, mild and recreational exercise are incomplete.…”