Title: Effects of standing exercise tasks with a sloped surface intervention on trunk muscle activation and low-back pain intensity in women aged ≥ 70 years

Authors: Muhammad Tufail; Haebin Lee; YangGyu Moon; Hwang Kim; KwanMyung Kim

Addresses: Department of Design, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea ' Department of Design, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea ' The Balance Korea Incorporation, Ulsan University Industry – Academic Cooperation, Room 714, Building 35, Mugeo-dong, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea ' Department of Design, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea ' Department of Design, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, South Korea

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of standing exercise tasks with an incline-slope surface on the activation of latissimus dorsi (LD) and lumbar erector spinae (LES) muscles, and low-back pain (LBP) intensity. Sixteen LBP symptomatic subjects were equally and randomly divided into two groups, such as experimental and control groups based on standing interventions. The experimental group performed the exercise tasks with an incline-slope surface and the control group completed these tasks on a level surface. Electromyography and subjective LBP data were collected for five weeks to understand the intervention effects on the muscles and LBP intensity. The intervention significantly influenced trunk muscle activations and LBP intensity. The intensity of LBP was lowered in the experimental group as compared to the control group. Changes in trunk muscle activations suggested that standing exercises with an incline-slope surface intervention can positively influence the activation of trunk muscles and potentially reduce LBP intensity.

Keywords: trunk muscle activation; incline-slope surface; low-back pain intensity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFE.2021.118217

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2021 Vol.8 No.3, pp.245 - 260

Received: 22 Sep 2020
Accepted: 20 Feb 2021
Published online: 15 Oct 2021 *

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