The effect of bridge exercise method on the strength of rectus abdominis muscle and the muscle activity of paraspinal muscles while doing treadmill walking with high heels.
Taewook Kang, Jaeseok Lee, Junghoon Seo and 1 others
PMID 28533614WHAT IT FOUND
Bridge exercise increased abdominal strength in young women, and prone bridge exercise lowered muscle activity beside the lower back while walking in high heels.
Not every spine region changed.
Key findings
01Both bridge exercise groups increased rectus abdominis strength after exercise, while the control group did not.
02The prone bridge group showed a significant decrease in lumbar paraspinal muscle activity after exercise, while the supine and control groups did not show a significant decrease.
03Both bridge exercise groups showed significant decreases in thoracic paraspinal muscle activity after exercise, but the change between groups was not different.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 30 healthy young female students were studied, so the results may not apply to older adults, people with back pain, or patients with other conditions. The study did not measure pain, function, injury risk, or long-term outcomes, only muscle strength and muscle electrical activity. The control group's activity was not described, and the supplied text does not report blinding or how allocation was concealed. Many between-group changes were not significant, including cervical changes and the thoracic change comparison, so the muscle-activity effects were not consistent across spine regions. The heel height was fixed at 7 cm, and the walking task was on a treadmill, which may not match everyday heel walking. Strength and muscle activity were measured only before and after the exercise session, not after repeated training or follow-up.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that bridge exercise prevents or treats back pain in high-heel wearers. The study measured muscle strength and muscle activity in healthy young women, not pain or function, and several spine-region changes were not different between groups.