Velocity of isokinetic trunk exercises influences back muscle recruitment patterns in healthy subjects.

Isokinetic exercises at different angular velocities on Cybex devices are often used for assessment and therapy in chronic low back pain patients. Little is known about the effect of velocity of movement on the muscle activity during these exercises. The purpose of this study was to investigate both relative muscle activity and ratios of local to global muscle activity at the different velocities of isokinetic movements on a Cybex dynamometer.

Computed tomographic analysis of the quality of trunk muscles in asymptomatic and symptomatic lumbar discectomy patients.

Background: No consensus exists on how rehabilitation programs for lumbar discectomy patients with persistent complaints after surgery should be composed. A better understanding of normal and abnormal postoperative trunk muscle condition might help direct the treatment goals.

Methods: A three-dimensional CT scan of the lumbar spine was obtained in 18 symptomatic and 18 asymptomatic patients who had undergone a lumbar discectomy 42 months to 83 months (median 63 months) previously.

The effect of increasing resistance on trunk muscle activity during extension and flexion exercises on training devices.

Although progressive resistance training of trunk muscles on devices is very common, today, the effects of increasing resistance on trunk muscle activity during dynamic extension and flexion movements on training devices have not been reported yet. Thirty healthy subjects participated in maximal isometric and submaximal dynamic (at 30%, 50% and 70% of maximum mean torque (MMT)) extension and flexion exercises on Tergumed lumbar training devices. The normalized (as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC)) electromyographic activity of 16 abdominal and back muscles was investigated.

Trunk muscle activity in healthy subjects during bridging stabilization exercises.

Background: Trunk bridging exercises are often used as therapeutic exercises for lumbopelvic stabilization. These exercises focus on the retraining of muscle coordination patterns in which optimal ratios between local segmental stabilizing and global torque producing muscle activity are assumed to be essential. However, a description of such ratios is lacking.

The influence of specific training on trunk muscle recruitment patterns in healthy subjects during stabilization exercises.

Low back pain is a major problem involving high medical costs, therefore effective prevention strategies are essential. Stabilization exercises seem to facilitate the neuromuscular control of the lumbar spine and may be useful in prevention programs. To investigate whether specific lumbar stabilization training has an effect on muscle recruitment patterns in a healthy population, in the present study 30 subjects were recruited to perform two types of testing exercises, i.

Reliability of a functional clinical test battery evaluating postural control, proprioception and trunk muscle activity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the repeatability and reproducibility of the different tests of a clinical test battery evaluating the components of functional spinal stability: postural control (sway velocity data), proprioception (repositioning error), and muscle activation (electromyographic data).

Design: A total of 28 healthy volunteers participated in this study: 14 in the repeatability study and 14 in the reproducibility study. Each subject was tested three times, with an interval of 1 wk between the test sessions.

Electromyographic activity of trunk and hip muscles during stabilization exercises in four-point kneeling in healthy volunteers.

Stabilization exercises are intended to optimize function of the muscles that are believed to govern trunk stability. Debate exists whether certain muscles are more important than others in optimally performing these exercises. Thirty healthy volunteers were asked to perform three frequently prescribed stabilization exercises in four-point kneeling.