Affiliations: [a] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Korea | [b] Biomedical Engineering Institute, Yeungnam University, Korea | [c] Medical Devices Clinical Trial Center, Yeungnam University, Korea | [d] Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa city, IA, USA | [e] Department of Anesthesiology, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Kansas Spine Institute, Wichita, KS, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Sang Ho Ahn, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine & Spine Center, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, 317-1, Daemyung-Dong, Nam-Gu, Daegu, 705-717, Korea. Tel.: +82 53 620 3268; OPD: +82 53 620 3450; Fax: +82 53 625 3508; E-mail:spineahn@ynu.ac.kr
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Trunk muscle exercises are widely performed, and many
studies have been performed to examine their effects on low back pains.
However, the effect of trunk muscles activations during walking with pelvic
floor muscle contraction (PFMC) and abdominal hollowing (AH) has not been
clarified. OBJECT: To investigate whether walking with PFMC and AH is more
effective for promoting local trunk muscle activation than walking without
PFMC and AH. METHODS: Twenty healthy men (28.9 ± 3.14 years, 177.2 ± 4.25 cm,
72.1 ± 6.39 kg, body mass index 22.78 ± 2.38 kg/m2) were
participated in this study. Surface electrodes were attached over the
multifidus (MF), lumbar erector spinae (LES), thoracic erector spinae (TES),
transverse abdominus-internal oblique abdominals (TrA-IO), external oblique
abdominals (EO), and rectus abdominus (RA). The amplitudes of
electromyographic signals were measured during a normal walking with and
without PFMC and AH. RESULT: PFMC and AH while walking was found to result in
significant bilateral increases in the normalized maximum voluntary
contraction (MVC) of MFs and TrA-IOs (p< 0.05). Ratios of local muscle
activity to global muscle activities were increased while performing PFMC
and AH during normal walking. Bilateral TrA-IO/EO activity ratios were
significantly increased by PFMC and AH (p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Performance of the PFMC and AH during walking resulted
in significantly more recruitment of local trunk muscles. This study
suggests that PFMC and AH during normal daily walking improves activation of
muscles responsible for spinal dynamic stabilization and might be useful if
integrated into low back disability and pain physical rehabilitation
efforts.
