The influence of rotational movement exercise on the abdominal muscle thickness and trunk mobility – Randomized control trial

Trunk rotations are important functional movements which form the foundations of human motion pattern, especially in the functions of walking and running. They prevent the functional impairments and structural lesions resulting from axial overloading in static positions such as sitting. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of rotational movement training exercises on the abdominal muscle thickness and spinal mobility range. Study design: Randomized controlled trial. The study involved 73 individuals aged 18–45. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The study group (TG) comprised 40 people who performed rotational movement exercises over the period of 4 weeks (16 training sessions). In the control group (CG) the training was not applied. Changes in the thickness of selected abdominal muscles on ultrasound imaging were evaluated, as well as trunk mobility, based on the trunk lateral flexion test. The analysis of the obtained data has demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the thickness of the abdominal internal (IO) (p