Research and News
Posts tagged low back
Exercise Ball Core Muscle Activation: Which exercises are best?
Jul 15th
Thera-Band® exercise balls are used by therapists and trainers around the world for therapy and fitness training. Despite its widespread use, the exercise ball has lacked in research to support its clinical application. Some studies have shown that abdominal exercises performed on exercise balls produce more muscle activation than the same exercise performed on a stable surface (Vera Garcia et al. 2000). In addition to traditional abdominal crunches, the exercise ball offers a variety of exercises aimed at activating the core muscles. With the variety of exercises being performed on exercise balls, more research is needed to prove or disprove the efficacy of specific exercises.
Roll Out
Physical therapy researchers quantified the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the abdominals, latissimus dorsi, lower back, and quadriceps muscles during eight “core” exercises on the exercise ball in 18 healthy subjects. They reported their findings in the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy.
They found that the upper and lower rectus abdominus muscle were most activated during the roll-out (63% and 53% of maximum, respectively), and pike exercises (47% and 55%), while the internal and external obliques were most active during the pike (84% and 56% respectively) and skier exercises (73% and 47%). Not surprisingly, the lumbar paravertebral More >
Stable vs. Unstable: Using Exercise Balls with the Overhead Press Exercise
Apr 29th
“Functional Training” has become increasingly popular in both rehabilitation and fitness. “Core training” has often been considered a component of functional training because of the transfer of force through the trunk to the extremities. Unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band® Exercise Balls and Stability Trainers are often used with traditional exercise movements to integrate training of the trunk and extremities.
Canadian researchers Anderson and Behm have shown that instability training can provide similar muscle activation levels at lower resistance levels compared to training on stable surfaces. Unfortunately, however, unstable surface training also results in a decrease force output of prime movers. California State University researchers set out to evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of prime movers and core stabilizers during a seated overhead press exercise. 30 healthy, resistance-trained subjects performed an overhead press with dumbbells and barbells while sitting on a stable surface and on an exercise ball. The investigators were interested in looking for differences in EMG levels between the stable load (barbell) and unstable load (dumbbell), on both stable (bench) and unstable surfaces (exercise ball). Subjects used a 10RM resistance (maximum amount of weight lifted for 10 repetitions) for each of the 4 conditions; thus, each condition had a slightly different absolute load.
As expected, More >
