PP17 ACUTE EFFECTS OF CORE MUSCLE EXERCISE ON RESPIRATORY MUSCLE FUNCTIONS

Cheng-Lin, Tsai

Department of Marine Sports, Leisure, and Tourism Management, Taipei University of Marine Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

Introduction
Core muscle exercise is kind of resistance exercise, already common and easy to perform. In addition to stabilize posture and improving muscle strength, where it can also improve respiratory muscle function requires further research.

Objectives
To investigate the acute effects of core muscle exercise on respiratory muscle functions in terms of the immediate reaction. Methodology: Recruited and randomly assign 28 healthy males to a core exercise group (COR ; n=18) and a control group (CON ; n=10). COR underwent core muscle exercises, each set of core exercises include plank, right side bridge, left side bridge and crunch, where each exercise is performed three times for 50 seconds each with a 10 second rest in between. Measurements are conducted before exercise (pre), after exercise (post). Data collected include maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), FEV₁/FVC ratio (FEV₁/FVC) and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV).

Result
In terms of acute response, FVC (4.39 ± 0.45 L) and FEV₁ (3.71 ± 0.50 L/s) were significantly lower than pre (4.46 ± 0.49 L; 3.80 ± 0.48 L/s).

Conclusion
After a single core muscle exercise, respiratory muscle fatigue cannot be induced to lower MEP and MIP. However, lung function indices FVC and FEV₁ decreased significantly, which demonstrates that core muscle exercises can stimulate respiratory muscles functions.