Altered abdominal muscle recruitment in patients with chronic back pain following a specific exercise intervention

The efficacy of specific exercise interventions that advocate training the co-contraction of the deep abdominal muscles with lumbar multifidus for treating chronic back pain conditions has not been tested. A randomized controlled trial involving 42 subjects with a specific chronic back pain condition investigated whether this form of intervention results in changes to the ratio of activation of the internal oblique relative to the rectus abdominis. Data were collected before and after the intervention, using surface electromyography, while subjects performed different abdominal maneuvers. Subjects were randomly allocated to either a specific exercise group or control group. Following intervention, the specific exercise group showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the ratio of activation of the internal oblique relative to the rectus abdominis. The control group showed no significant change. The study findings provide evidence that the conscious and automatic patterns of abdominal muscle activation can be altered by specific exercise interventions.