Influence on Strengthening Core Muscles in Healthy Individuals Using Stable and Unstable Surface Exercise Training: A Comparative Study Protocol

Background: Stronger core muscles increase the body's stability, which reduces lower back and lower body pain by enhancing neuromuscular summations. Strengthening core muscles is also necessary for many daily chores and sports. It is an essential prerequisite. Numerous muscles make up the complex of core muscles. Core strength training is a useful and safe training technique that greatly enhances the health and skill-related components of physical fitness for individuals in normal health. An imbalance or weakening in the muscles that make up the core might result in more weariness, a reduced capacity to sustain sports injuries, and a higher risk of getting hurt. For overall musculoskeletal health, rehabilitation, and performance enhancement, instability resistance training, or IRT, is widely used. Numerous equipments make an effort to create an unstable surface. Literature partially advises to perform strength training on unstable surfaces as opposed to stable ones. Thus the need of this study arises to see the impact of core strengthening exercises using stable and unstable surfaces in normal healthy individuals.

Methodology: Participants from constituent colleges of Sumandeep Vidyapeeth will be contacted and given information about the study. Individuals who satisfy the eligibility requirements and express interest in taking part in the research will be asked to complete an informed consent form. Participants who meet the exclusion requirements will not be allowed to continue with the study. Using basic randomization, participants will be assigned at random to either the interventional group or the control group. Following the completion of the assessment, the patient will receive care in accordance with the treatment plan developed for either the interventional group or the control group. Both the interventional group and the control group will administer a 4-week course of treatment to their subjects, with three days of intervention per week. Both primary and secondary outcome measures will be taken as per the schedule.

Outcome Measures: Primary Outcome: Core muscle Strength assessment by pressure biofeedback, and Secondary Outcome: Core muscle Strength assessment by Plank Test

Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics will be done by taking help of a Biostatistician. The latest version of SPSS software available with the Biostatistician will be used for doing the statistical analysis.

Conclusion: This RCT study protocol will see the impact of core strengthening exercises using stable and unstable surface in improving core muscle strength in normal healthy individuals, the results will help in the decision making of the strength training protocols.

Clinical Trial Registration: The study is registered with Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI), with the registration number for the trial being CTRI/2023/06/053533.