Effect of Using a Suspension Training System on Muscle Activation During the Performance of a Front Plank Exercise

Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine the effect of suspension training on muscle activation during performance of variations of the plank exercise. Twenty-one participants took part. All individuals completed 2 repetitions each of 4 different plank exercises that consisted of a floor based plank, or planks with arms suspended, feet suspended, or feet and arms suspended using a TRX Suspension System. During plank performance, muscle activation was recorded from rectus abdominis, external oblique, rectus femoris, and serratus anterior (SA) muscles using electromyography. All planks were performed for a total of 3 seconds. Resulting muscle activation data were amplitude normalized, and root mean square activation was then determined over the full 3 second duration of the exercise. A significant main effect of plank type was found for all muscles. Post hoc analysis and effect size examination indicated that abdominal muscle activation was higher in all suspended conditions compared to the floor based plank. The highest level of abdominal muscle activation occurred in the arms suspended and arms/feet suspended conditions, which did not differ from one another. Rectus femoris activation was greatest during the arms suspended condition, whereas SA activity peaked during normal and feet suspended planks. These results indicate that suspension training as performed in this study seems to be an effective means of increasing muscle activation during the plank exercise. Contrary to expectations, the additional instability created by suspending both the arms and feet did not result in any additional abdominal muscle activation. These findings have implications in prescription and progression of core muscle training programs.

Core Muscle Activation in Suspension Training Exercises

“…When plank exercises are performed on stable or unstable support surfaces, the reported activation level of the rectus abdominis and EO ranges from low to moderate (Garcia-Vaquero et al, 2012). When executed in suspension condition, rectus abdominis muscles also showed moderate activation (Byrne and Bishop, 2014). Only when the planks were performed with a similar technique (instability on lower limb and shoulder flexion) was the activation similar to that reported here, which was very high for the rectus abdominis (McGill and Andersen, 2015).…”

“…Although considerable research has examined more traditional means of instability training (Behm and Drinkwater, 2010), little previous research has evaluated the effects of suspension training on muscle activation. In particular, some studies focused on core-directed exercises (Atkins, 2014; Byrne et al, 2014; Czaprowski et al, 2014; Mok et al, 2014; Snarr and Esco, 2014), whereas others investigated the effect of the application of suspension system on core muscle activity in push exercises (Calatayud et al, 2014; McGill et al, 2014; Snarr and Esco, 2013). Further investigation of these exercise approaches is needed to understand their influence on muscle activation and joint load levels.…”

Effect of TRX Suspension Training on Abdominal Strength and Isometric Muscle Endurance of Police College Students

“…It lasts 15 minutes. It takes lowintensity aerobic exercise to raise the body's working temperature, improve muscle elasticity and extensibility through dynamic stretching, increase the range of joint movement and connecting sensory and motor neurons as the main training courses and avoid sports injuries [1,2].…”

Análise eletromiográfica de músculos do abdome e reto femoral em exercícios abdominais com e sem superfície instável

“…A estabilidade durante o exercício pode ficar comprometida caso a base de suporte (superfície instável) não possua uma boa área de contato com o solo 15 , desta forma, o tamanho da área de contato da base de suporte com o solo é um fator a ser considerado para se determinar a estabilidade exigida no exercício. Alguns autores analisaram a atividade eletromiográfica dos músculos do tronco em exercícios abdominais e de estabilização com e sem utilização de diferentes superfícies instáveis 3,5,[16][17][18][19] . Imai et al 20 demonstraram maior atividade do músculo OE no exercício abdominal com bosu em comparação com o tradicional.…”

“…Músculos OE e OI: os sujeitos ficaram deitados no chão sobre um colchonete em posição de decúbito dorsal com quadris e joelhos flexionados a 90º, os pés fixos no chão e o tronco em flexão e rotação pra direita ou esquerda. Foram instruídos a manter a flexão do tronco com rotação para a direita ou esquerda, sendo aplicada pelos pesquisadores uma resistência manual no ombro no sentido contrário ao movimento, ou seja, na direção de extensão e rotação contra-lateral do tronco3,18 . 3.…”