The effect of the push-up plus on shoulder muscle activation while using a sling with a pulley.
Kim Tae Ho, Kong Kwan Woo
PMID 28626317WHAT IT FOUND
In 15 healthy adults, balance-ball push-up plus showed the highest serratus anterior activity (64.9% of the three-muscle total) and lowest pectoralis major activity (24.5%).
Sling and pulley-sling versions showed the opposite pattern. Left-right asymmetry did not differ.
Key findings
01The balance-ball push-up plus had the highest serratus anterior activity ratio (64.9% of the three-muscle total) and the lowest pectoralis major activity ratio (24.5%).
02The sling and pulley-sling conditions had lower serratus anterior activity ratios (44.73% and 50.8%) and higher pectoralis major activity ratios (44.4% and 38.5%) than the balance-ball condition.
03Left and right shoulder muscle asymmetry did not differ significantly among the three exercise conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 15 healthy adults with no musculoskeletal dysfunction and no regular exercise, so it says little about patients with shoulder pain, weakness, or scapular dyskinesis. The participants were young adults with an average age of 27.4 years, which limits generalizability to older patients. The text describes randomization into three groups and exercise assignment by drawing lots, but it is unclear whether each participant performed all three conditions or each group performed only one condition. The outcomes were brief muscle-activity measures during a 10-second posture, not pain, function, injury risk, or long-term clinical results. The left-right asymmetry finding was null.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the balance-ball push-up plus improves shoulder pain, function, or scapular control. This study only measured muscle activity during a 10-second posture in 15 healthy adults, and the left-right asymmetry comparison was not significant.