EFFECT OF AN EXERCISE PROTOCOL ON THE ENDURANCE OF TRUNK EXTENSOR MUSCLES-A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL

This study assessed the effect of a trunk extensor endurance exercise protocol (TEEP) on trunk extensor muscle endurance (TEME) of 42 apparently healthy undergraduates. Subjects in the experimental group exercised once daily four times a week for 6 weeks while those in the control group did not exercise. The trunk extensor endurance of all subjects was assessed at weeks 0, 3 and 6 of the study using a modified Sorensen test. Data were analysed using the SPSS statistical package (version 10) and the alpha level set at 0.05. The two groups did not differ significantly (p >= 0.251) in their physical characteristics at baseline. The TEME of the experimental group changed from 178.05 +/- 54.69 at week 0 to 289.67 +/- 63.55 at week 6 while that of the control group changed from 172.91 +/- 54.47 at week 0 to 179.33 +/- 56.8 at week 6 of the study. Statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) between the TEME of the two groups occurred only at week 6. The main and interaction effects of group and time were statistically significant but the main and interaction effects of gender and time were not. The TEME of male and female subjects did not differ significantly at all the time points though the scores of the females were consistently higher. We conclude that the TEEP used in this study was effective for increasing the isometric endurance of trunk muscles.