ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS IN ABDOMINAL MUSLCES DURING CURL-UP EXERCISES

Trunk muscle strength is necessary to maintain the core stability. Several abdominal machine exercises have been investigated through electromyographic (EMG) analysis. Escamilla, et al. (2008) studied numerous abdominal exercises and found that Ab Slide and Torso Track were the most effective exercises in activating abdominal muscles with the relative high EMG activities during abdominal exercise. High internal oblique activities and low rectus abdominis activities in bridging stabilization exercise were also found in EMG analysis (Stevens et al., 2006). One of the most common and convenient ways to strengthen abdominal muscle is the sit-up or curl exercise, which could even be performed at home in healthy populations. However, little research has been conducted to study the curl-up exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relative EMG activation levels in rectus abdominis and external oblique during the curl-up exercise. The abdominal strengthening technique with higher EMG activities would be revealed in this study