08/16/2024
Just published 🔥
Comparison of isometric and dynamic bridging exercise on low back muscle oxygenation
👉 Low back pain (LBP) is the fourth leading cause of disability-adjusted life years globally, with LBP affecting over half a billion people worldwide. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480409/)
👉 Spinal muscle exercise is widely performed for those with LBP (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31666220/) or those recovering from spinal surgery to promote functional and muscle recovery after spinal surgery (https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/55/7/347).
🌉 One such is the bridging exercise, commonly performed in supine, where the individual is resting the shoulder/feet, holding the pelvis off the floor, and aligning their thighs with their trunk, resulting in activation of the recti abdominis, internal, and external obliques and especially the erector spinae. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20511695/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22436839/).
🌉 In clinical practice, the bridging exercise is performed in a dynamic/rhythmic or static/isometric mode. The variation depends on whether the subject holds their pelvis off the floor, aligning the trunk and thighs, and holding their joints for a fixed period (isometric) or if the individual continuously contracts and relaxes their lower trunk muscles, bringing their pelvis off, and back on to the table (dynamic).
📘 In a brand-new study, Lin and colleagues examined the influence of the mode of bridging exercise on oxygenation of the low back muscle. A near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure hemodynamic responses of the erector spinae between isometric and dynamic bridging exercise in 16 healthy participants. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39079704/)
👉 The bridging exercise began with the initial position of hip flexion, approximately 60 degrees with knee flexion for ensuring a neutral alignment of the pelvis. Participants were instructed to attain a straight line or plank-like alignment between their trunk, pelvis, and thighs. Participants with the odd participant number started with a 30-second resting, then performed a 30-second isometric bridging exercise, rested for 2.5 minutes, followed by a 30-second dynamic bridging exercise. Those with an even participant number started with a 30-second resting, then performed a 30-second dynamic bridging with 1-second up and 1-second down, rested for 2.5 minutes, followed by a 30-second isometric bridging exercise.
📊 The results demonstrated that during exercise, isometric bridging exercise significantly decreased oxyhemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin compared with dynamic bridging exercise (oxyhemoglobin, t = -3.109, p = 0.007, Cohen’s d = 0.68) and deoxy-hemoglobin, t = -2.193, P = 0.046, Cohen’s d = 0.60).
📊 Furthermore, the results show that after exercise, dynamic bridging exercise induced a significantly higher oxygenation response (oxygenation, t = -2.178, P = 0.048, Cohen’s d = 0.43).
💡 As dynamic bridging is more effective on improving muscle oxygenation compared with isometric bridging exercise, from the perspective of oxygen delivery, the popular 30-second isometric bridging exercise has less benefit on exercise induced hyperemia. In consequence, the dynamic bridging exercise might be advantageous in ischemic muscle pain and regarding tissue healing and reducing neuropathy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31670165/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29311839/).
☝️But this hypothesis must be tested in further studies.
