Comparing the effects of aquatic exercises with or without high intensity on the functional status, muscular endurance, and performance of patients with chronic low back pain.

Background: The prevalence of low back pain is lower when physical fitness (aerobic and muscular) is higher. Strength exercises are important for subjects with low back pain, but there are few studies on the inclusion of aerobic exercise in low back pain programs. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of aquatic exercises with or without high-intensity component on the functional status, lumbar and abdominal muscle endurance, and performance of subjects with chronic low back pain.

Methods: Forty-eight volunteers between 20 and 60 years old were randomly allocated to an experimental group AEDWR (aquatic exercises plus deep-water running group, N.=25) or to a control group AE (aquatic exercises only group, N.=23). The dependent variables included functional status (Repeated Sit-to-Stand test), lumbar (Sorensen test) and abdominal (One Minute Abdominal test) muscle endurance, and physical performance (Maximum Physical Fitness test), which were measured before and after the 9-week intervention and at 21 weeks of follow-up.

Results: Lumbar endurance was higher in the AEDWR group at the end of the treatment, with a mean difference (MD) of 43.2 seconds, 95% confidence intervals (CI) (9.6; 76.7), P=0.01, d̅=0.74, and better in the follow-up with MD=40.2 seconds, 95% CI (7.1; 73.3), P=0.02, d̅=0.71, than in the AE group. Participant performance also improved on the 9 week in the AEDWR group, with an MD=0.53 kgf, 95% CI (0.008; 0.98), P=0.02, d̅=0.60.

Conclusions: The addition of deep-water running exercise to aquatic exercises improved lumbar muscle endurance and performance when compared with aquatic exercises only, and this effect was maintained during the follow-up to lumbar muscle endurance.