Effects Of A Short-term Core Stability Exercise On Functional Movement And Balance

Recently, the importance of maintaining the alignment of the human muscles and managing the left and right symmetry has been widely recognized in fields that study pain medicine, physical therapy and exercise rehabilitation. As a result, core stability exercise has been spotlighting. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a short-term core stability exercise on functional movement and balance in subjects with mild lower-limb discomfort. METHODS: Twenty people with mild lower-limb discomfort were randomly assigned to a non-training control (CG, n=10) and core stability exercise training group (EG, n=10). While CG maintained their daily routine, EG completed twenty 30-min training sessions consisted of 10 modified mat pilates program exercises aimed at increasing core stability. Functional movement, dynamic balance, and discomfort level were assessed before and after twenty sessions of core stability training using functional movement test, balance test and visual analog scale (VAS), respectively. Two-way (group by time) repeated measures ANOVA’s were performed for all dependent variables, and the significance for all statistical tests was set at p<.05. RESULTS: EG demonstrated a significant increase in functional movement indicated by increased hurdle step (CG; -4.7 vs. EG; 25%, p = 0.024, group × time effect) and shoulder mobility (CG; -13.04 vs. EG; 5%, p = 0.037, group × time effect). The dynamic balance score was significantly improved only in EG for both limbs (right: EG = 7.7%, p = 0.007; left: EG = 8.10%, p = 0.011, time effect). A significant reduction of VAS score in ankle was exhibited in EG (EG; -74.76%, p = 0.024, time effect). CONCLUSION: This study highlights that twenty sessions of short-term core stability exercise can positively affect the lower limb’s functional movement and balance ability in people with mild lower-limb discomfort.