Surface electromyography comparison of the abdominal hypopressive gymnastics against the prone bridge exercise

Objectives: Abdominal hypopressive gymnastics (AHG) is a little-researched method designed to train the muscles of the abdominal wall and pelvic floor under low stress. This study’s objective is to compare levels of muscle activation in AHG against prone bridge by surface electromyography (sEMG) of the abdominal wall muscles. Methods: Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled to measure the muscle activity of the rectus abdominis (RA), transversus abdominis/internal oblique (Tra/IO), and external oblique (EO) during three exercises: prone bridge (PB), orthostatic hypopressive (OH), and hypopressive bridge (HB). Root mean square values normalized to the PB (%PB) as a baseline were used to compare the PB against OH and HB. Results: The median PB ratio (%PB) for the Tra/IO showed –10.31% and +59.7% activation during OH and the HB, respectively, whereas the RA showed –77.8% and +19.3% and the EO –39.8% and +9.8%. Significant differences were found for all muscles except the Tra/IO during the OH. Conclusion: This study’s results suggest that hypopressive exercises facilitate the activation of the Tra/IO similar to bridge exercises while simultaneously reducing RA and EO activity. This suggests that hypopressive training is a valid alternative for activating the abdominal muscles, isolating the Tra/IO at low intra-abdominal pressure.