ABDOMINAL PRESSURIZATION AND MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING SUPINE TRUNK CURLS

Abstract

Trunk curls are common exercises in sports training. A multitude of practical recommendations exist on how to best perform this type of exercise to reach a specific effect. Since abdominal muscles can contribute to breathing, it was thought of interest to study the effects of systematic variations in breathing on the pattern of abdominal muscle activation during trunk curls. Of particular interest was the influence of fluctuations in the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), since changes in IAP have been shown to be coupled to the activation of the innermost abdominal muscle, the Transversus abdominis (TrA), and also to be able to contribute to an extensor moment of the trunk.