Plank Variations and Surface Instability: A Study on Core Muscle Activation in Males and Females

• 발행기관: 한국전문물리치료학회
• 저자명: Gyubum Choi Jinhong Choi Bokyeong Kim Hanbee Jeong Sujin Kim
• 간행물 정보: 『한국전문물리치료학회지』제32권 제1호, 83~90쪽, 전체 8쪽
• 주제분류: 의약학 > 재활의학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2025.04.30

국문 초록

Background: During daily activities, stability is maintained to enhance the function of muscles surrounding the lumbopelvic and hip structures. The core muscles such as the rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), and internal oblique (IO) responsible for this stability. One effective static exercise for strengthening these muscles is the plank. Objects: This study aimed to compare abdominal electromyographic activation when an unstable support surface was applied to the upper and lower extremities during a standard and a knee plank. Methods: A total of 30 adults (15 males and 15 females) participated in this study. Surface electromyography electrodes were placed on the RA, EO, and IO muscles. Data were collected under six conditions for males, including two plank postures (standard and knee planks) and three unstable surface conditions (a dynamic balance cushion applied to the upper extremities, lower extremities, or no cushion). Female participants performed only the knee plank. A mixed-effects model with a random intercept was used to analyze muscle activation across plank posture and surface position, with statistical significance set at α = 0.05. Results: In males, the standard plank elicited greater muscle activation than the knee plank across all muscles (p < 0.0001). Additionally, applying an unstable support surface to the upper extremities significantly increased muscle activation in both plank postures in EO and IO (p < 0.001). Other muscle, RA, was only affected by the unstable support surface in the standard plank position only. In females, the knee plank with upper limb instability resulted in the highest muscle activation for all muscles. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of surface instability in core muscle engagement. However, future studies should further investigate abdominal muscle activation with a more detailed analysis and the inclusion of a control group to enhance comparative validity.

목차

INTRODUCTION

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS

FUNDING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

ORCID

REFERENCES

키워드

Abdominal muscles Core stability Exercise Physiology Resistance training