08/19/2025
Effects of exercise intensity on shear modulus in regional lateral abdominal muscles during the abdominal draw-in maneuver.
(Transverse Abdominis Contraction)
"Abstract
The abdominal draw-in maneuver (ADIM) is designed to enhance neuromuscular function of the transversus abdominis (TrA) by distinguishing its activation from the internal oblique (IO) and external oblique (EO). However, a standardized implementation method has not yet been established, and previous studies have not quantitatively defined ADIM exercise intensity or examined regional muscle activation patterns. The lateral abdominal muscles have multiple anatomical attachment sites, suggesting region-specific functional differences. Therefore, identifying the optimal exercise intensity for ADIM requires a regional approach. This study investigated the effects of exercise intensity—defined as a length change in abdominal circumference—on the shear modulus in different regions of the lateral abdominal muscles. Twenty healthy young male participants were included in this study. Five exercise intensity levels (0 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, and 100 %) were established based on the change in length between the abdominal circumference at resting expiration (0 %) and during ADIM retraction of the abdomen with maximum effort (100 %). The shear modulus of the TrA, IO, and EO were measured using shear wave elastography (TrA: upper, middle, lower; IO: middle, lower; EO: upper, middle). The shear modulus of the upper, middle, and lower TrA and lower IO increased progressively from 25 % to 100 % (p < 0.05). The middle IO and upper and middle EO increased from 75 % to 100 % (p < 0.05), but not from 0 % to 50 %. This finding suggested that the optimal ADIM exercise intensity is between 25 % and 50 % when the TrA and lower IO are selectively activated.
Introduction
The transversus abdominis (TrA) is the deepest of the lateral abdominal muscles and runs transversely across the abdomen. It stabilizes the lumbar spine by increasing tension in the thoracolumbar fascia (Barker et al., 2004, Barker et al., 2006) and enhancing intra-abdominal pressure by decreasing abdominal circumference (Cresswell et al., 1992, Hodges et al., 2005). Additionally, the TrA is the first trunk muscle to activate, preceding limb movement (Hodges and Richardson, 1997, Hodges and Richardson, 1999). These findings suggest that the TrA plays a crucial role in force transmission to the limbs and smooth motor control through trunk stabilization. Furthermore, the lateral abdominal muscles, including the TrA, are categorized into upper, middle, and lower regions based on differences in anatomical attachment sites and morphology (Urquhart et al., 2005a), nerve innervation (Sakamoto et al., 1996), and activity patterns (Urquhart et al., 2005b, Urquhart et al., 2005c, Urquhart and Hodges, 2005d). Therefore, each region could perform distinct functions.
Several studies have reported that lateral abdominal muscle activity patterns differ between individuals with low back pain (LBP) and healthy individuals. Specifically, LBP is associated with delayed neuromuscular onset of the TrA (Hodges and Richardson, 1996, Hodges and Richardson, 1998) and a compensatory increase in internal oblique (IO) and external oblique (EO) activity (Ehsani et al., 2016, Hides et al., 2009) compared to those of healthy individuals. These changes appear to be characteristics of LBP, highlighting the importance of exercises that enhance TrA neuromuscular function. The abdominal draw-in maneuver (ADIM) is a commonly used exercise in clinical practice that involves retracting the abdomen during exhalation. It is designed to facilitate neuromuscular re-education by selectively activating the TrA. A study that examined the immediate effects of ADIM found that the TrA is engaged with minimal IO and EO activation when the abdomen is lightly retracted (Urquhart et al., 2005b). Additionally, ADIM improves TrA neuromuscular onset timing compared to exercises involving whole-trunk muscle activity (Tsao and Hodges, 2007), and this improvement persists over the long-term (Tsao and Hodges, 2008). These findings suggest that ADIM is an effective method of improving TrA neuromuscular function.
A consensus regarding a standardized implementation method of ADIM has not yet been reached; however, efforts have been made to establish an effective implementation method. Recently, Morito et al. (2022) reported that lateral abdominal muscle activity varies depending on the intensity of abdominal retraction performed according to different verbal instructions (Morito et al., 2022), highlighting the need to determine the optimal exercise intensity for ADIM that selectively activates the TrA and minimizes IO and EO involvement. However, many previous studies of ADIM did not specify exercise intensity (Hubley-Kozey and Vezina, 2002, Lee et al., 2020). Shimizu et al. (2019) investigated the effects of exercise intensity for ADIM, which was defined as a length change in abdominal circumference, on the shear modulus of the lateral abdominal muscles (Shimizu et al., 2019). Shear modulus is an index of tissue stiffness determined using elastography and has the advantage of enabling non-invasive evaluations of deep muscles compared to EMG.
Additionally, several previous studies have reported a strong correlation between the shear modulus measured using shear wave elastography and muscle force (Ateş et al., 2015, Bouillard et al., 2011). Their findings showed that the shear modulus of both the TrA and IO increased even at low intensity, contradicting a previous study that reported selective TrA activation at low intensity (Urquhart et al., 2005b). However, the present study evaluated the shear modulus of the TrA and IO only in the lower region and the EO only in the middle region (Shimizu et al., 2019). Because the lateral abdominal muscles are structurally divided into upper, middle, and lower regions that each have potentially distinct functions, evaluating only a single region is insufficient to determine the optimal exercise intensity for ADIM. This study had two primary objectives. First, it aimed to investigate the effects of exercise intensity for ADIM, which was defined as a length change in abdominal circumference (a clinically measurable parameter), on the shear modulus of each lateral abdominal muscle region. Second, it sought to clarify the optimal exercise intensity for ADIM based on regional differences using a length change in abdominal circumference as an index. We hypothesized that the TrA and lower IO, which have muscle fiber orientations that are approximately horizontal (Urquhart et al., 2005a), would exhibit changes different from those of the other regions of the IO and EO in terms of their contributions to decrease in abdominal circumference.”
Kazuyoshi Kozawa, Gakuto Nakao, Ginji Nara, Risa Adachi, Koki Ishiyama, Keita Sekiguchi, Tsuyoshi Morito, Koji Kaneoka, Keigo Taniguchi, Effects of exercise intensity on shear modulus in regional lateral abdominal muscles during the abdominal draw-in maneuver, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 190, 2025, 112867, ISSN 0021-9290,