• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the effects of neck and trunk combined exercise program and single exercise on neck angle and neck and shoulder muscle activity. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: In the single exercise group, the basic stretching, head bending and neck bending exercises were performed. The neck and trunk combined exercise group performed torso strength and trunk stability exercises to stabilize the trunk, and then performed the same neck exercise as the single exercise group. The exercise program was conducted 5 days per week for 2 weeks. One-way repeated ANOVA was used to investigate the statistical analysis of neck angle, neck and upper and middle trapezius muscle activity. Results: 1) There was no significant difference in neck angle degree after exercise in neck single exercise group. 2) In the neck and trunk combined exercise, the neck angle degree decreased continuously with the increase of the experimental period and showed a significant difference. 3) In the single exercise group, the muscles which showed significant difference compared to the post-exercise were the right upper, left and right middle trapezius. 4) In the neck and trunk combined exercise group, the right neck muscles showed significant difference after the exercise before the experiment. Conclusion: It was found that the neck and trunk combined exercise was more effective in reducing neck angle and the muscle activity of the subjects with forward head posture was decreased and increased. However, both exercises showed positive effects.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2020

Objective: Many caregivers often carry infants using baby carriers until they are approximately 36 months old. The purpose of this study was to compare the muscular activity of the trunk and lower leg muscles during trunk flexion-extension movements in correspondence to various wearing methods of a baby carrier blanket. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Sixteen healthy adult women were to wear baby carrier blankets in five different ways in terms of direction and height, followed by flexion-extension of the trunk. Erector spinae (ES), rectus abdominis, rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF) muscle activities and triaxial acceleration of trunk were investigated. Results: The front-wearing method of the baby carrier blanket increased the muscular activity of the ES muscle, and wearing the baby carrier blanket at waist height in the same direction was significantly higher than wearing it at pelvic height (p<0.05). As the angle of flexion increased during trunk flexion-extension, the muscle activity of the ES, BF, and the RF increased. There was a greater increase in muscle activity of the ES and the BF during extension compared to flexion (p<0.05). Conclusions: If it is difficult to wear a baby carrier blanket due to lumbar pain, it is recommended to lower the wearing height of the baby carrier to the pelvic level so that the external load can be transferred to the lower extremity. In addition, it appears to be necessary to hold the baby and distribute the load onto the waist through proper body control when performing flexion-extension movements of the trunk. More objective and scientific research that includes various daily tasks and evaluation methods are needed.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.523-531
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• 2013

Most patients with chronic low back pain experience functional disability of trunk muscle, and limitations in physical activity. While there are many types of exercise programs available, in recent years sling exercise has been emerging as the exercise program for spinal stabilization. It has been supported by a great amount of research with positive findings on its effectiveness. This research studies the effects of bridging exercise, conducted on a sling, on pain level and trunk muscle activation in supine, sidelying, and prone positions during a 4 weeks period. 10 healthy people(normal group, n=10) and 28 patients with low back pain participated in this study. 28 patients were divided into two groups; one group participated in exercise with the sling(experimental group, n=14) and the other group exercised without the sling(control group, n=14). They were asked to use the Numerical Rating Scale(NRS) to answer to the level of their pain they felt (no pain: 0 point, severe pain: 10 points). During sling bridging exercises, the muscle activity level in each muscle measured in each position was standardized as three seconds of EMG signals during five seconds MVIC. In conclusion, the experimental group with four weeks of sling bridging exercise experienced a statistically significant reduction in the pain level(p<.05) and increase in the muscle activities of erector spinae when in supine position, internal oblique when in sidelying position, and rectus abdominis in prone position(p<.05). Regular sling bridging exercise reduces the low back pain and enhances other trunk muscle activation, thereby positively affect spinal stabilization.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2022

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the application of abdominal brace techniques on muscle activity of the trunk and lower extremities when walking. Design: Cross-sectional study Methods: This study was conducted on 26 healthy adults in their 20s, and the subjects performed two conditions in random order: walking with the abdominal bracing technique and walking in an abdominal relaxation state (normal gait). Muscle activity was measured on the dominant side of all subjects using surface electromyography, and the attachment sites were the erector spinae, external oblique, internal oblique, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis oblique muscles. Each condition was measured three times to calculate and analyze the average value. Results: When walking using the abdominal brace technique, the muscle activity of the erector spinae, external oblique, internal oblique, and vastus lateralis increased significantly (p<0.05), and the muscle activity of the vastus medialis increased as well but was not significant. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that it is possible to be used as an effective guide to increasing the muscle activity and stability of the trunk and lower extremities through the application of the abdominal bracing technique during walking.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.125-132
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• 2014

PURPOSE: This study aims to determine the optimal knee joint angle and hip joint angle for minimizing the cervical muscle tension and maximizing the muscle activity of the trunk during the bridging exercise for trunk stabilization. METHODS: The bridging exercise in this study included seven forms of exercise: having a knee joint flexion angle of $120^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$ and hip joint abduction angle of $15^{\circ}$, $10^{\circ}$, $5^{\circ}$. The posture of the bridging exercise was as follows. To prevent the increase of hyper lumbar lordosis during the bridging exercise, the exercise was practiced after maintaining the lumbar neutral position through the pelvic posterior tilting exercise. RESULTS: The abduction angles did not result in statistically significant effects on the cervical erector, external oblique, rectus abdominis and erector spinae muscles. However, in relation to the knee joint angles, during the bridging exercise, statistically significant results were exhibited. CONCLUSION: The knee joint angle affected the muscle activity of the neck muscle. The greater the knee joint angle, the lower the load placed on the neck muscle. In contrast, the load increased as the knee joint angle decreased. In addition, the muscle activity of the neck muscle and trunk muscle increased as the knee joint angle decreased.

• 한국체육학회지인문사회과학편
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.515-525
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to compare muscular activities according to the mastery of Taekwondo kicking motions with the subjects of 8 demonstration team members and 8 undergraduates in Taekwondo major at University. The muscles mainly used for Taekwondo's front kick, tornado kick, or turning hook kick are total 8 trunk muscles and 8 lower limb muscles of the kicking foot as well as the supporting foot. Analyzing the muscular activities of those areas comparatively, the study has reached the following results. At the front kick, non-experts showed higher lower abdominal muscle, biceps thigh muscle activity of the kicking foot and lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity of the supporting foot but lower 2 spinals muscular activity than experts. At the tornado kick (or turning kick), in the turning motion, experts indicated higher activity in biceps muscle of thigh and spinalis than non-experts whereas in the kicking motion, they didn't show the difference between groups except biceps thigh muscle activity. At the turning hook kick, non-experts indicated higher lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity of the kicking foot and quadricpes femoris muscle activity of supporting foot muscular activity than experts. In summary, experts tend to use their trunk in the turning motion for rapid turning and show rather low muscular activity of their kicking foot. However, non-experts indicate high muscular activity in their kicking foot and supporting foot, which means to maintain balance in the kicking motion, they tend to make use of their lower limb more than trunk muscle, and it leads to an inefficient motion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the difference in muscle activity of the trunk and legs during flat walking with or without an abdominal drawing-in maneuver. METHODS: This study was conducted on 15 healthy males and eight females who were attending D University in Busan. This experiment was conducted after 15 minutes of abdominal drawing-in training using a pressure biofeedback unit before the experiment, and the difference in the muscle activity of the trunk and legs during flat walking with or without an abdominal drawing-in technique was investigated. Surface electromyography was used, and the electrode attachment site was the right sternocleidomastoid muscle, splenius capitis muscle, rectus abdominis muscle, external abdominal oblique muscle, transverse abdominis muscle, erector spinae muscle, vastus medialis muscle, and vastus lateralis muscle (TM DTS, Noraxon, USA). The data were analyzed statistically using a paired t-test on SPSS version 18.0 (IBM). RESULTS: The muscle activity of the rectus abdominis muscle, external abdominal oblique muscle, transverse abdominis muscle, vastus medialis muscle were increased significantly and maintained more than walking without maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (p < .05). Moreover, muscle activity of the erector spinae muscle was decreased significantly and maintained more than walking without maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver during flat walking is more effective during walking training.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.19-24
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• 2011

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of PNF lower extremity flexion pattern on the eletromyographic (EMG) activity in rectus abdominis, internal oblique abdominal, external oblique abdominal, erector spinae. Methods : Twenty-six healthy adults volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects were required complete following two PNF lower extremity patterns; flexion-adduction-external rotation with knee flexion (D1) and flexion-abduction-internal rotation with knee flexion (D2). A paired t-test was used to determine the influence of the PNF two patterns on muscle activity for each muscle and descriptive statistics was used to determine local/global muscle ratio. Results : The D1 pattern was showed significant rectus abdominis (p<.05) and Median of internal oblique/rectus abdominis ratio was 2.23 and internal oblique/external oblique ratio was 1.53. The D2 pattern showed significant erector spinae (p<.05) and Median of internal oblique/rectus abdominis ratio was 3.06 and internal oblique/external oblique ratio was 1.72. Conclusion : The D1 pattern made rectus abdominis activation increase. The D2 pattern made erector spinae activation increase. As compared D1 and D2 pattern on trunk muscle activation, it's will be useful decision making for the trunk muscle strength and stabilization.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.601-608
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of distance between trunk and desk on forward head posture and muscle activity of neck and shoulder muscles during computer work. METHODS: Twenty subjects who have healthy conditions were asked to perform computer work in two conditions (distance between trunk and desk was 0 and 15 cm). Forward head angle was analyzed with a SIMI motion analysis system. Surface electromyography recorded the upper trapezius and splenius capitis muscles. The significance of differences in distance between trunk and desk (0cm and 15cm) was tested by paired t-test. The alpha level was set at .05. RESULTS: The results showed that the change of forward head angle was significantly higher during the computer work when the distance between trunk and desk was 15cm than 0cm. The muscle activity of upper trapezius and splenius capitis was also significantly higher during the computer work when the distance between trunk and desk was 15cm than 0cm. CONCLUSION: Our study suggest that the distance between trunk and desk was should minimized for prevention of forward head posture during computer work.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of the lower trunk stabilization exercise using neurodevelopmental technique (NDT) on muscle activity in lumbar region and balance in the patients with hemiplegia. Methods: Fifteen participants were allocated in two groups: NDT group (n=8) or control group (n=7). NDT group performed NDT exercise program, while control group conducted walking exercise. Both interventions were given for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week, for 5 weeks. To measure the muscle activity in rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO) and internal oblique (IO), electromyography (EMG) was used. And, Timed-Up and Go (TUG) test and Berg-Balance Scale (BBS) were performed to assess balance before and after intervention. Results: NDT group showed a significant improvement of muscle activity in RA and EO, while control group did not show significant changes in three muscles. Also, there was a significant difference in muscle activity of RA and EO between two groups. In BBS and TUG test, participants in two groups showed significant improvements after intervention. Especially, significant difference was observed in TUG test between two groups (p<.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that NDT exercise is an effective intervention to improve the muscle activity in trunk region and to increase balance in patients with stroke. Thus, we suggested that NDT exercise program would be a treatment intervention in stroke rehabilitation.