Efficiency examination of a 6-month trunk prevention program among recruitment kayak-canoe athletes: A randomized control trial.

BACKGROUND: Trunk prevention training, which provides the basis of several conditioning training programs, is used in sports at professional and amateur levels, taking the specifications of the given sport and the age-related characteristics of the athletes into consideration.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine the strength and flexibility of muscles responsible for correct posture, the lumbar motor control ability and the posture of recruitment kayak-canoe athletes.

METHODS: Controlled, randomized examination with 103 persons (age: 15.1 ± 3.5 years), who were divided into two groups. Fifty were in the intervention group, who took part in the 6-month trunk prevention training program (height: 162.30 cm, body weight: 49.70 ± 10.32 kg), 53 in the control group (not performing trunk prevention training) (height: 158.24 cm, body weight: 51.45 ± 11.71 kg). The strength of core muscles was measured with Kraus-Weber test, muscle flexibility with Kempf-test, lumbar motor control ability with Sitting Forward Lean and Leg Lowering test and posture with photogrammetry test before and after the program.

RESULTS: Static strength of abdominal muscles (p< 0.001), superficial and deep dorsal muscles (p< 0.001), flexibility of knee extensors (p< 0.001), chest muscles (p< 0.001), the lumbar motor control ability (p< 0.001) and habitual posture (p< 0.001) significantly improved in the intervention group. The post-measurements in the intervention group were significantly (p< 0.001) better than in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the trunk prevention training the strength of core stabilization muscles, the lumbar motor control ability and the posture also improved in case of recruitment athletes.