Transversus Abdominis and Obliquus Internus Activity During Pilates Exercises: Measurement With Ultrasound Scanning (original) (raw)
Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
The transversus abdominis (TrA) is a core muscle that contributes to functional mobility and lumbar stability. This study aimed to compare the changes in TrA thickness during different Pilates exercises, and to identify the exercise that elicited the greatest TrA activation. Forty-four healthy women were divided into two groups: young (25–35 years old) and middle-aged (36–55 years old). TrA thickness was assessed by ultrasound while the participants performed five Pilates exercises: basic position, hundred, hip roll, side plank, and dead bug. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that the dead bug exercise induced a significantly higher increase in TrA thickness (relative to rest) than the other exercises (p < 0.05). The young group also showed a significantly higher overall TrA thickness than the middle-aged group (p < 0.05). The findings suggest that the dead bug exercise is the most effective for enhancing TrA activation among the Pilates exercises tested. The b...
Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2005
The neuromuscular system acts to maintain postural stability and reduce the impact of deleterious loads on the spine. Exercising of the abdominal muscles has become widely used in the management of low back pain in order to provide this supplement to spinal stability. Several exercise programmes have been advocated to promote stabilization but evaluation is difficult. This study evaluates two common forms of exercise effects on the ability to appropriately contract Transversus Abdominis (TrA) muscle, whose normal function is regarded as significant in spinal stability.
International journal of sports physical therapy, 2015
Military personnel and first responders (police and firefighters) often carry large amounts of gear. This increased load can negatively affect posture and lead to back pain. The ability to quantitatively measure muscle thickness under loading would be valuable to clinicians to assess the effectiveness of core stabilization treatment programs and could aid in return to work decisions. Ultrasound imaging (USI) has the potential to provide such a measure, but to be useful it must be reliable. To assess the intrarater and interrater reliability of measurements of transversus abdominis (TrA) and internal oblique (IO) muscle thickness conducted by novice examiners using USI in supine, standing, and with an axial load. Prospective, test-retest study. Healthy, active duty military (N=33) personnel were examined by two physical therapy doctoral students (primary and secondary ultrasound technicians) without prior experience in USI. Thickness measurements of the TrA and IO muscles were perfor...
Muscle activity in upper and lower rectus abdominus during abdominal exercises
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 1996
Objective: To compare the intensity of the upper versus lower rectus abdominis (RA) muscle activity provoked by each of two different abdominal exercises and to contrast the intensity of contraction elicited by two different abdominal exercises on each RA muscle portion. Design: Nonrandomized control trial. Setting: Kinesiology laboratory in a university medicine faculty. Participants: Convenience sample of 33 healthy volunteers. Subjects who had practiced endurance or strength training activities (1.5 hours 3 days a week for 3 years) and those who had not accomplished that criterion comprised a high and a low physical activity group, respectively. Each of these two groups was divided by the ability to perform the exercises into two subgroups: correct and incorrect performers (cp, ic). Main Outcome Measure: Average surface iEMG was compared between upper and lower RA and on each muscle portion performing curl-up (CU) and posterior pelvic tilt (PT) exercises. The coefficient of variation, a two-way analysis of variance, and the t test were calculated. Results: The upper RA showed significantly greater activity during performance of CU exercise by the cp subgroups of both high (t = 2.14302, 95%) and low (t = 2.35875, 95%) activity groups. Only the cp subgroup of the high activity group showed that PT was significantly more strenuous than CU exercise on lower RA (t =-2.06467, 95%). Conclusions: Among correct performers, CU produces greater activity on upper RA. For persons who have a high level of activity, PT is more strenuous than CU on lower RA. Among incorrect performers, either exercise indistinctly activates the muscle portions.
Using ultrasound to assess the thickness of the transversus abdominis in a sling exercise
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 2015
Background: Activation of the deep stabilizing trunk muscle transversus abdominis (TrA) is important for trunk stabilization and spine stability. Sling exercises are used for the activation of trunk muscles, therefore we determined the thickness of the TrA in a standardized sling exercise in comparison to rest and abdominal press. Furthermore we propose a standardized measurement method, which can be used to compare relative muscle thickness levels in different exercises.
Can activity within the external abdominal oblique be measured using real-time ultrasound imaging
Clinical Biomechanics, 2007
Background. Differences in the function of the anterolateral abdominal muscles have been the subject of much investigation, but primarily using electromyography. Recently changes in thickness of transversus abdominis and internal oblique measured from real-time ultrasound images have been shown to represent activity within these muscles. However it is still unclear if such a change in thickness in external oblique similarly represents activity within that muscle. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between change in thickness and muscle activity in the external oblique using real-time ultrasound and surface electromyography.
M-mode ultrasound: a reliable measure of transversus abdominis thickness?
Clinical Biomechanics, 2002
Objective. The purpose of this study was to establish a reliable method for measuring transversus abdominis thickness in asymptomatic human subjects in supine lying, standing and walking. Design and methods. This was a single operator reliability study using ultrasound imaging to measure 22 subjects on three separate occasions. A purpose built high-density foam reinforced belt was used to house and position the transducer over the midpoint of the transversus abdominis. Each subject was imaged in supine, standing, and treadmill walking at 3 kph. Intraclass correlation coefficients and standard error of measurement analysis were used to measure the data. Results. The correlation coefficient data analysis resulted in intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.94 (standard error of measurement 0.35) in supine lying, 0.88 (0.66) in standing and 0.88 (0.56) in walking. Conclusion. The method described is a reliable tool for measuring changes in thickness of transversus abdominis in supine lying, standing and walking. Relevance This procedure has the potential to detect dysfunctional changes in abdominal muscle activity for patients with low back pain in a functional setting.
Revista Brasileira de Cineantropometria e Desempenho Humano, 2013
Análise comparativa da atividade elétrica dos músculos abdominais durante exercício tradicional e método pilates sob duas condições Abstract -The use of Pilates-based exercises for trunk strengthening has been reported in the literature. The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the electrical activity of the rectus abdominis and external oblique muscles during a traditional abdominal exercise program and an exercise program based on the Pilates method using a ball and an elastic band. The sample was composed of 10 healthy women, non-practitioners of Pilates, who performed the traditional abdominal exercise and roll-up with the ball and elastic band. The sign was normalized by the electromyographic peak of the dynamic activity and was adjusted for 2000 samples/s; the filter was set in a frequency band from 20 to 450 Hz. In the comparison between exercises, the external oblique muscle in the concentric phase had a higher recruitment in the roll-up with the ball (P = 0.042). In the comparison between muscles in each exercise, the rectus abdominis showed a higher activation in the concentric phase (P = 0.009) and in the eccentric phase (P = 0.05) of the traditional abdominal exercise. Activation percentages ranged from 15% to 22%. The traditional abdominal exercise had the largest activation percentage.