Measurement the thickness of the transverse abdominal muscle in different tasks.
Ling Pang, Liquan Yin, Kimiko Tajiri and 2 others
PMID 28265140WHAT IT FOUND
Lying on your back, squeezing the deep belly and pelvic floor together while resisting a sideways push at the knees thickened the transverse abdominal muscle more than squeezing either muscle alone or resting.
This was a measurement of muscle thickness, not a test of whether it treats incontinence.
Key findings
01Maximal simultaneous contraction of both the transverse abdominal and levator ani muscles with lateral resistance produced the greatest transverse abdominal thickness at 4.8 mm, compared with 2.5 mm at rest.
02Simultaneous contraction with lateral resistance produced greater transverse abdominal thickness than maximal contraction of the transverse abdominal muscle alone or the levator ani muscle alone.
03The study measured muscle thickness in response to different tasks; it did not test whether these exercises improve urinary incontinence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study measured muscle thickness in eleven healthy women, not urine loss or incontinence symptoms in women who have urinary incontinence. It is a cross-sectional measurement of tasks, not a training intervention, so it cannot show whether doing these exercises over time changes function or symptoms. The sample size is very small, and all measurements were made by a single midwife, which limits generalisability and independent verification.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or funding sources were reported in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adding lateral knee resistance to a pelvic floor and deep belly squeeze will treat urinary incontinence. The study only measured muscle thickness in eleven healthy women during single tasks, and the authors themselves state that a prospective intervention study in women with incontinence is still needed.