Comparison of abdominal and lumbar muscles electromyography activity during two types of stabilization exercises

Stabilization exercises lead to improve muscle performance and can be used to prevent and treat of low back pain. Aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare the level of abdominal and lumbar muscles activity during two types of stabilization exercises. 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. 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]. 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

comparison of the effect of deep and superficial heat on healthy ankle joint position sense

Background: Heat therapy is one of the natural treatments that can affect the information transferred by the proprioceptive receptors. Heat has an effect on the conduction velocity of peripheral nerves, but the exact effect of two kinds of deep and superficial heat on the joint position sense is not known clearly. The present study aimed to compare the effect of deep and superficial heat on ankle joint position sense

Methods: Thirty healthy male students aged between 18 to 30 y/o participated in this study. Deep heat by short-wave diathermy and superficial heat by water of 42 [degree]C were applied for 15 minutes in two sessions for all participants. In all of the tests, active and passive ankle joint position sense in dorsiflexion and plantarflexion were measured by pedal goniometers prior to and after heat application. The Non-Parametric-Paired T-test Wilcoxon and Non-Parametric- Paired T-test Mann-Withney were used to analyze the data

Results: The superficial heat does not have any positive or negative effect on the ankle joint position sense. After the deep heat, the absolute angular error of active dorsiflexion was increased, but passive plantarflexion was decreased significantly. Comparing the two types of heat, the results revealed that the deep heat increased the absolute angular error of active dorsiflexion significantly more than superficial heat

Conclusion: According to the results, deep heat therapy improves passive ankle joint position sense in plantar flexion, but it worsens the active joint position sense of dorsiflexion. Therefore, it seems that after applying deep heat therapy on an ankle joint, exercise prescriptions need to be cautious

Effectiveness of treadmill training on balance control in elderly people: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Physical exercise would improve postural stability, which is an essential factor in preventing accidental fall among the elderly population. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of treadmill walking on balance improvement among the elderly people. A total of 30 community dwelling older adults with a Berg Balance Scale score of 36-48 and the ability to walk without aid were considered and divided into control [n=15] and experimental [n=15] groups. Individuals in the experimental group participated in 30 minutes of forward and backward treadmill training based on three times a week interval for a period of four weeks. Individuals in the control group were instructed to continue with their daily routine activity. Before and after training, gait speed was measured by six-minute walk test and balance ability was evaluated by Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale [FABS] and Berg Balance Scale [BBS] tests. Postural sway items such as the Center of Pressure [COP], average displacement and velocity were evaluated by using a force platform system. Data were collected in quiet standing, tandem position and standing on foam pads before and after intervention. After intervention, balance variables in the experimental group indicated a significant improvement in quiet standing on firm and foam surfaces, but no considerable improvement was shown in tandem position. A between-group comparison showed a significant reduction in COP velocity in the sagittal plane [P=0.030] during quiet standing and in the frontal plane [P=0.001] during standing on foam, whereas no significant reduction in COP parameters during tandem position was found. It is recommended that twelve sessions of forward and backward treadmill walk are effective in balance improvement in elderly people

Is abdominal muscle activity different from lumbar muscle activity during four-point kneeling?

Background: Stabilization exercises can improve the performance of trunk and back muscles, which are effective in the prevention and treatment of low back pain. The four-point kneeling exercise is one of the most common types of stabilization exercises. This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate and compare the level of activation between abdominal and lumbar muscles in the different stages of the four-point kneeling exercise

Methods: The present study was conducted on 30 healthy women between 20 and 30 years old. Muscle activity was recorded bilaterally from transversus abdominis, internal oblique, and multifidus muscles with an electromyography [EMG] device during the different stages of the four-point kneeling exercise. All the collected EMG data were normalized to the percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction. The repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-test were used for the statistical analysis of the data

Results: A comparison between mean muscle activation in right arm extension and left leg extension showed that left internal oblique and left transverse abdominis muscles produced greater activation during left leg extension [P<0.05]. The comparison of mean muscle activation between right arm extension and the birddog position showed that, except for the right internal oblique, all the muscles produced higher activation in the bird-dog stage [P<0.05]. In comparison to the bird-dog stage, the left multifidus showed high activation during left leg extension [P<0.05]

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the activity of all the above-mentioned muscles during quadruped exercise can provide stability, coordination, and smoothness of movements