Gamified delivery of at-home rehabilitation for individuals with nonspecific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To measure the change in pain and disability during and after a 6-week gamified delivery of home exercise compared to a take-home packet.

Materials And Methods: A 6-week at-home exercise protocol included participants randomly allocated to a gamified delivery group or packet group. The exercise protocol included the plank, side plank, foot elevated side plank, dead bug, and bird dog completed until discontinuation.

Balance Error Scoring System Performance Differences in Figure Skaters Based on Discipline.

Background: Balance and postural stability are required of figure skaters throughout on-ice performance. Spinning, jumping, and landing each rely on this skill set to maintain control while skaters manage changing demands for each skating discipline.

Hypothesis/purpose: The aim of this study was to compare balance error scoring system (BESS) performance in figure skaters between disciplines and determine if age was related to BESS performance.

Optimizing normalization methods of the external oblique: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Adequate normalization methodology to establish maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) is needed to compare %MVIC values for core exercise completed until discontinuation. Clinicians can use %MVIC classifications to guide their preventative and rehabilitative exercise interventions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare %MVIC of the external oblique (EO) between normalization techniques of side-lying lateral trunk flexion and Roman chair lateral trunk flexion.

Relationship Between Muscle Activity and Force During Suspended Bridge Exercises.

Context: Isometric core stability exercises are commonly used to target muscles of the lumbopelvic-hip complex, including the rectus abdominis (RA) and erector spinae (ES). These exercises can be implemented in rehabilitation protocols to increase muscle strength and endurance. Difficulty can be progressed by modifying the base of support or adding an unstable element.

Rectus abdominis muscle thickness change and activation increase during planks performed on different surfaces.

Aims: The plank is a common exercise used to evaluate core function. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and ultrasound can be used simultaneously to measure muscle activity. We aimed to compare the %-thickness and %-activation during the plank performed on three surfaces and to determine agreement and relationship between rectus abdominis (RA) %-thickness of a rested tabletop position and %-activation normalized to quiet tabletop position during the plank on three surfaces.

Muscle Function Obtained with Motion Mode Ultrasound and Surface Electromyography during Core Endurance Exercise.

Motion mode (M-mode) ultrasound allows researchers and clinicians to measure the change of muscle thickness across time. Muscle thickness can be measured between fascial borders at a given time point during an exercise. This selected time point produces a one-dimensional image resulting in real-time, live observation of anatomy.

Providing Visual Biofeedback Using Brightness Mode Ultrasound During a Golf Swing.

Using ultrasound biofeedback in conjunction with verbal cueing can increase muscle thickness more than verbal cueing alone and may augment traditional rehabilitation techniques in an athletic, physically active population. Brightness mode (B-mode) ultrasound can be applied using frame-by-frame analysis synchronized with video to understand muscle thickness changes during these dynamic tasks. Visual biofeedback with ultrasound has been established in static positions for the muscles of the lateral abdominal wall.

Muscle Activation in the Shoulder Girdle and Lumbopelvic-Hip Complex During Common Therapeutic Exercises.

Context: Lumbopelvic-hip complex (LPHC) exercises are used to increase stabilization within the human body. Torso-elevated side support (TESS), foot-elevated side support (FESS), prone bridge plank (PBP), and V-sit are common LPHC exercises.

Objective: To evaluate muscle activation in the shoulder girdle and LPHC during 4 LPHC exercises and evaluate the reasoning for termination.