PTOTCohortInternational journal of sports physical therapy2025

The 30-Second Roll to Quadruped Test: Linking Muscle Strength and Endurance with Rolling.

Chris Deck, Justin Smith, Adam Veenis and 2 others

PMID 41346841

WHAT IT FOUND

Healthy young adults who rolled more times in 30 seconds had greater upper and lower body strength.

Those using a pivot strategy were stronger, while those relying on a prone-to-quadruped strategy had lower strength and activity levels. Core endurance did not correlate with rolling performance.

Key findings

01Total rolling count strongly correlated with hip and shoulder strength measures, but showed no significant correlation with core endurance.

02The pivot rolling strategy was associated with higher strength measures, whereas the prone-to-quadruped strategy correlated with lower strength, older age, and decreased activity levels.

03Male participants demonstrated significantly higher total roll counts and pivot strategy use compared to female participants, who more often used the prone-to-quadruped strategy.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs

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What it does not show

The sample was very small (n=18) and homogeneous, consisting only of healthy young adults from a physical therapy program, so results cannot be generalized to older, injured, or clinical populations. The study design is cross-sectional, so it shows association but not whether strength causes better rolling or vice versa. The 30-second duration may introduce vestibular effects (dizziness) that could confound performance independent of strength. No EMG data was collected, so the actual muscle activation patterns during the different strategies are unknown.

Declared interests

No conflicts of interest or funding sources were reported in the provided text.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume the 30RQ test measures core strength. The study found no significant correlation between rolling performance and plank hold duration, indicating that rolling ability in this sample was driven by limb strength, not core endurance.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →