Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Activation of Paraspinal and Abdominal Muscles During Manually Assisted and Nonassisted Therapeutic Exercise

2002; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 81; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00002060-200205000-00002

1537-7385

Jari Arokoski, Taru Valta, Markku Kankaanpää, Olavi Airaksinen,

Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Arokoski JPA, Valta T, Kankaanpää M, Airaksinen O: Activation of paraspinal and abdominal muscles during manually assisted and nonassisted therapeutic exercise. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2002; 81:326–335. Objective To assess the activities of the paraspinal and abdominal muscles during manually assisted therapeutic exercises (MATEs) and nonassisted therapeutic exercises (NATEs) that are used in the initial phases of the progressive exercise programs designed for the treatment of low back pain. Design Thirteen healthy subjects volunteered in the study. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded. The recorded EMG signal was averaged and normalized to the maximal EMG amplitude obtained during the maximal voluntary contraction (%EMGmax). Results In general, the %EMGmax values were higher during NATEs than during MATEs. Sitting seemed to activate lumbar L5 level paraspinal muscles to the same extent as MATEs. Conclusion MATEs require only minimal trunk muscle activities, and thus, they may not be sufficiently intense to improve the trunk muscle performance. NATEs require high trunk muscle activities that are adequate for improving the trunk muscle performance, but they may cause high compressive loading of the lumbar spine, and if unchecked, this can aggravate low back pain.