An electromyographic comparison of a modified version of the plank with a long lever and posterior tilt versus the traditional plank exercise |
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Authors: | Brad J Schoenfeld Bret Contreras Gul Tiryaki-Sonmez Jeffrey M Willardson Fabio Fontana |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Health Sciences, CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, NY, USA;2. Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand;3. Kinesiology and Sports Studies Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA;4. School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USA |
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Abstract: | The purpose of the study was to compare core muscle activation of the tradition prone plank with a modified version performed with a long-lever and posterior-tilt using surface electromyography. To further determine if a specific component of this modified plank was more effective than the other in enhancing muscle activity, the plank with a long lever and the plank with a posterior pelvic tilt were studied individually. Nineteen participants performed all four variations of the plank for 30 seconds in a randomized order with 5-minute rest between exercise bouts. Compared to the traditional prone plank, the long-lever posterior-tilt plank displayed a significantly increased activation of the upper rectus abdominis (p < 0.001), lower abdominal stabilizers (p < 0.001), and external oblique (p < 0.001). The long-lever plank showed significantly greater activity compared to the traditional plank in the upper rectus abdominis (p = 0.015) and lower abdominal stabilizers (p < 0.001), while the posterior tilt plank elicited greater activity in the external oblique (p = 0.028). In conclusion, the long-lever posterior-tilt plank significantly increases muscle activation compared to the traditional prone plank. The long-lever component tends to contribute more to these differences than the posterior-tilt component. |
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Keywords: | Core stability core performance abdominal muscles long-lever posterior-tilt plank |
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