Tape measure-based real-time feedback during the abdominal draw-in maneuver facilitates isolated transverse abdominal contraction.
Tadanobu Suehiro, Hiroshi Ishida, Kenichi Kobara and 3 others
PMID 30154604WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy men, wrapping a tape measure around the waist while drawing the lower abdomen in increased transverse abdominal muscle thickness more than doing the maneuver without feedback.
The oblique muscles did not change, so this tested muscle thickness, not pain or function.
Key findings
01The percent change in transverse abdominal muscle thickness during the draw-in maneuver was significantly greater with tape measure feedback than without it (p<0.001).
02The percent changes in internal oblique and external oblique muscle thickness were not significantly affected by tape measure feedback (p>0.05).
03There were no significant condition-by-position interactions for any examined muscle (p>0.05), so the feedback effect did not differ across lying, sitting, and standing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only twenty healthy young men were studied, so the authors state the results cannot be generalized to other populations and should be evaluated in individuals with low back pain. The authors note that external oblique thickness may not track electrical activity, so thickness is an imperfect measure of muscle activity. The study measured muscle thickness changes during the maneuver, not pain or function.
Declared interests
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K16454. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that tape measure feedback improves low back pain outcomes. The study measured only muscle thickness in twenty healthy young men, not patients with low back pain.