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Objective: To analyze the effects of whole body vibration on electromyographic activity of the core muscles., Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study composed of 30 males who practice physical activity. The amplitude of the electromyographic activation (Root Mean Square - RMS) of the rectus abdominis, external oblique, longissimus thoracis, multifidus muscles were evaluated during supine bridge, side plank and frontal plank exercises, performed with and without vibration (frequency: 50 Hz and amplitude: 4 mm). A significance level of 5% was assigned for all analyzes., Results: Whole body vibration did not alter the amplitude of electromyographic activity for any of the evaluated muscle groups, showing no difference between the conditions with and without vibration during the performance of the proposed exercises., Conclusion: Under the conditions analyzed in this study, the vibrating platform does not change the activation amplitude of core muscles, suggesting that the use of whole body vibration is not necessary as an additional method to increase muscle activity during stabilization exercises in healthy men., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the comparison between a Ki-hap, defined as a psyching-up technique, and verbal encouragement, defined as a verbal command by a third party, on abdominal muscle activation during performance of the crunch exercise in healthy participants. Ninety participants were randomly allocated to the following three groups: crunch only exercise group (CG, n 1  = 30), crunch exercise with Ki-hap group (CKG, n 2  = 30), and crunch exercise with Ki-hap and verbal encouragement group (CKVG, n 3  = 30). The interventions were conducted over three trials with each group, and measurements involving each participant, were performed by a single examiner. The activation of the rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), and internal oblique (IO) muscles were evaluated using electromyography (EMG) during performance of the crunch exercise by the CG, CKG, and CKVG. Our results showed a significantly greater increase in the EMG patterns of all muscles during performance of the crunch exercise in the CKG (p < 0.05) compared to those in the CG and CKVG. The results also showed that there was a significantly greater increase in the activation of the EO and IO muscles in the CKVG (p < 0.05) compared with that in the CG. These findings demonstrated that the addition of the Ki-hap technique and verbal encouragement, during performance of the crunch exercise, improves activation of the abdominal muscles., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Lateral abdominal muscles control the lumbar region and this manages the stability of the trunk through co-contraction. Abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) is the basis method for spine stabilization to restore proper neuromuscular control., Objective: To investigate the effect of therapeutic abdominal drawing-in maneuver on abdominal muscle thickness and balance., Methods: Twenty healthy adults were divided into 2 groups. The experimental group performed a bridging exercise with ADIM whereas the control group performed a bridging exercise without ADIM. The exercise was conducted 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Ultrasonography was used to measure the thickness of abdominal muscles. Balance ability was evaluated using Tetrax device. The Wilcoxon signed ranks test for comparison of pre and post values and Mann Whitney U test for comparison between groups were used., Results: After 4 weeks, there was a significant difference in the thickness of TrA between groups (p< 0.05) whereas no significant difference in IO and EO (p> 0.05). In stability values, the experimental group showed significant changes in stability indexes of standing with eyes open (NO) and standing on the pillow with eyes closed (PC) after the exercise period and there was a significant difference in NO between two groups., Conclusions: Performing the bridging exercise with abdominal drawing-in maneuver is a more effective way to strengthen the abdominal muscles and stabilize the body than bridging exercise only.

Background: Some studies have not considered body mass as a confounder in TrA analysis, which may have led to improper interpretation of results., Objectives: To assess the differences in the effect of age, gender and physical activity between normalised for body mass and actual values of the TrA as well as to establish the effect of age, gender and physical activity on normalised for body mass TrA thickness in adolescents., Design: The study was a cross-sectional study conducted at selected primary and secondary schools, and colleges in the Silesian region of Poland., Method: A real-time ultrasound was used to obtain images of the TrA muscle. Body mass normalisation for TrA thickness was performed with allometric scaling and the following equation: Allometric-scaled TrA = TrA thickness/body mass 0.61 ., Results: Analysis has shown that boys have significantly thicker muscle by 0.27 mm (95% CI 0.04-0.50) than girls, and those who practise sports have thicker muscle by 0.30 mm (95% CI 0.06-0.52) than non-active individuals. For allometric-scaled TrA, there were no significant effects (p > 0.50). There was a significant correlation between participants age and the actual value of the TrA (r = 0.42, p < 0.05). The correlation between age and allometric-scaled TrA was insignificant and close to zero (r = -0.006, p = 0.93)., Conclusions: An analysis of TrA thickness without body mass normalisation can deliver improper interpretation of study results. Thus, it is recommended in future researches to analyse TrA thickness measurement after normalisation rather than actual values. In the adolescent population, there is no effect of gender, age and physical activity on allometric-scaled TrA thickness., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the proposed mechanisms for improving exercise tolerance, when work of breathing is experimentally reduced, is redistribution of blood flow from the respiratory to locomotor muscles. Accordingly, we investigated whether exercise capacity is improved on the basis of blood flow redistribution during exercise while subjects are breathing heliox (designed to primarily reduce the mechanical work of breathing) and during exercise with oxygen supplementation (designed to primarily enhance systemic oxygen delivery but also to reduce mechanical work of breathing). Intercostal, abdominal, and vastus lateralis muscle perfusion were simultaneously measured in 10 patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s: 46 ± 12% predicted) by near-infrared spectroscopy using indocyanine green dye. Measurements were performed during constant-load exercise at 75% of peak capacity to exhaustion while subjects breathed room air and, then at the same workload, breathed either normoxic heliox (helium 79% and oxygen 21%) or 100% oxygen, the latter two in balanced order. Times to exhaustion while breathing heliox and oxygen did not differ (659 ± 42 s with heliox and 696 ± 48 s with 100% O2), but both exceeded that on room air (406 ± 36 s, P < 0.001). At exhaustion, intercostal and abdominal muscle blood flow during heliox (9.5 ± 0.6 and 8.0 ± 0.7 ml · min(-1)·100 g(-1), respectively) was greater compared with room air (6.8 ± 0.5 and 6.0 ± 0.5 ml·min(-1)·100 g·, respectively; P < 0.05), whereas neither intercostal nor abdominal muscle blood flow differed between oxygen and air breathing. Quadriceps muscle blood flow was also greater with heliox compared with room air (30.2 ± 4.1 vs. 25.4 ± 2.9 ml·min(-1)·100 g(-1); P < 0.01) but did not differ between air and oxygen breathing. Although our findings confirm that reducing the burden on respiration by heliox or oxygen breathing prolongs time to exhaustion (at 75% of maximal capacity) in patients with COPD, they do not support the hypothesis that redistribution of blood flow from the respiratory to locomotor muscles is the explanation., (Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.)

Objective. The aim of this study was to systematically review current literature on the effectiveness of various exercises and modifications on thickness and electrical activity of abdominal muscles using ultrasonography and electromyography in healthy adults. Methods. An electronic search was carried out on PubMed, Web of science, ProQuest, Google Scholar, Cochrane and Science Direct databases covering published studies from inception until December 2022. Fourteen papers were then included according to following inclusion criteria: 1) studies assessing abdominal exercises; 2) containing control and intervention groups; 3) conducted on young and healthy samples; 4) full texts being available in English; 5) containing the analysis of at least one of the four abdominal muscles through electromyography or ultrasonography. Results. The main findings would suggest that stability challenges, rotatory exercise, combination of upper and lower limb movements, sensory cueing and grunting techniques such as Ki-hap make significant improvements in muscle structure and activity. Conclusions. Despite the averagely fair quality of included papers and difficulty to reach a conclusion with inadequate data, our review suggests that new modifications of both traditional and core exercises can cause improvements in abdominal muscle thickness or activity with the aim of focusing on control and coordination of muscles. Study registration. The protocol of the present systematic review is registered in the PROSPERO (CRD42022377864). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary incontinence is a fairly common problem in women that has a serious impact on their health and quality of life. The problem is associated with significant socio-economic costs. This study aims to trace the effect of hypopressive and specialized Kegel exercises in women with this problem. Methodology: UDI-6, IIQ-7 Questionaire and Kiel test for abdominal, back and gluteal musculature are used for assessment of the patients. Fourty-seven women were recruited and randomly divided in tree-experimental group 1 (EG 1 N=15), experimental group 2 (EG2 N=16) and experimental group 3 (EG3 N=16). For the women of EG 1 therapy includes - Hypopressive exersice, the EG 2 received Kegel exercise and EG 3 received - a combination of both. Every women received five procedures per week for 3 months. Assessment form were done before and after therapy. Results: Initial measurements from the Kiel test for abdominal muscles for EG 1 is 17.00±3.07 sec. and finally achieve 32.07±5.47 sec. The EG 2 initial values are 18.75±2.89 sec. and 43.75±7.24 sec. after treatment. For EG 3 was 17.63±4.06 sec. and 53.31±4.27 sec. We compare the results obtained after treatment between EG 1 and EG 2, EG 2 and EG 3 and EG 1 and EG 3. There were no differences between tree groups after analyze the results of UDI-6 questionnaire. The mean values of IIQ-7 for the EG 1 were as follows: 70.56±2.48 before and 50.48±2.8 after hyporpessive exercise. For the EG 2 mean values before treatment were 69.98 ±3.26, and decrease to 45.53±3.28 after treatment. There were no statistically significant difereces between EG 1 and EG 2. For the EG 3 mean values before treatment were 72.69±3.37, and decrease to 37.14±2.8 after treatment. We obtained best results in women of this group. Conclusions: Hypoprressive exercise leads to the strength of the abdominal musculature for the groups where were applied. The urinary incontinence and the pelvic floor dysfunction are equally well affected by Hypopressive gymnastics and Kegel exercises, as well as a combination of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to establish which type of exercise is optimal for Rectus Abdominis (RA) muscle, by measuring thickness and length changes using the extended field of view ultrasonography (EFOV US) during different conditions. The second purpose was to estimate the reliability of EFOV US as a muscle morphology assessment tool.Material and Methods: Segmental muscle thickness and length of 11 young healthy adults was assessed during 1) rest and isometric 2) trunk lifting, 3) leg lifting and 4) combined trunk and leg lifting exercises with the use of EFOV US.Results: RA muscle thickness was significantly greater during exercises compared to rest (p<0.05). It was also observed that proximal and proximal-middle segments showed significantly less thickness and length compared to distal-middle and distal segments (p<0.05). Even though no differences in thickness were observed between the exercises, leg lifting and combined trunk and leg lifting exercises affected more the distal segment of RA muscle (p<0.05). Moreover, no significant differences in length between exercises was found (p>0.05). Further, EFOV US displayed excellent reliability as the ICC values ranged from 0.82 to 0.97.Conclusions: According to our observations it seems that exercises that induce lifting of the legs might be more effective for the distal parts of RA muscle. EFOV appears to be a reliable diagnostic tool for measuring RA muscle thickness during rest and contracting states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: With regard to unilateral pain in some patients with low back pain (LBP), it is advisable to evaluate asymmetrical thickness of lateral abdominal muscles. This study aimed to compare abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry in patients with non specific unilateral LBP during rest and practicing several stabilizing exercises with hollowing maneuver. Materials and Methods: This research has a case-control design. Sixteen female subjects with left and right unilateral LBP and 8 healthy subjects participated in this study. Internal oblique, external oblique and transversus abdominal muscles thickness were evaluated by ultrasound imaging technique in both sides of the subjects’ bodies during rest and hollowing maneuver with 3 stabilizing exercises; bridging, four point kneeling and abdominal crunch. Results: According to the findings, abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry during exercises was more than resting position in two groups but it is not statistically significant. Also, no significant difference was seen between case and control groups regarding abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry. Conclusion: Considering the appearance of asymmetry in healthy subjects, it seems that asymmetry in abdominal muscles cannot be interpreted as pathologic phenomena in LBP subjects.

Introduction: With regard to unilateral pain in some patients with low back pain (LBP), it is advisable to evaluate asymmetrical thickness of lateral abdominal muscles. This study aimed to compare abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry in patients with non specific unilateral LBP during rest and practicing several stabilizing exercises with hollowing maneuver. Materials and Methods: This research has a case-control design. Sixteen female subjects with left and right unilateral LBP and 8 healthy subjects participated in this study. Internal oblique, external oblique and transversus abdominal muscles thickness were evaluated by ultrasound imaging technique in both sides of the subjects' bodies during rest and hollowing maneuver with 3 stabilizing exercises; bridging, four point kneeling and abdominal crunch. Results: According to the findings, abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry during exercises was more than resting position in two groups but it is not statistically significant. Also, no significant difference was seen between case and control groups regarding abdominal muscle thickness asymmetry. Conclusion: Considering the appearance of asymmetry in healthy subjects, it seems that asymmetry in abdominal muscles cannot be interpreted as pathologic phenomena in LBP subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]