Comparing the effects of inspiratory muscle training and core training on core muscle function

Abstract

This study was designed to test the effects of inspiratory muscle training on core function compared to a typical core training program. One group performed inspiratory muscle training for six weeks while another performed a core training program of the same duration. A third group served as controls. Core function was assessed pre and post training using a side bridge, prone extension and Stabilizer test of transversus abdominis contraction. Maximal inspiratory pressure was also assessed before and after the six week training period. A two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significance of inspiratory muscle training and core training on the tests of core function. The results showed a significant increase in maximal inspiratory pressure in the inspiratory muscle training group from 1.06(sd=0.37) to 1.72 cm H20 (sd=0.42), p=0.000. The core training group significantly improved their time of the prone extension test from 114.0 (sd=53.0) to 154.0 seconds (sd=77.6), p=0.014. The inspiratory muscle training group had a significantly improved performance over the core training group on the Stabilizer test, with the core training group actually showing a poorer performance following training. The inspiratory muscle training group improved on the Stabilizer test from a mean score of -6.9 mm Hg (sd=12.6) to -10.0 mm Hg (sd=11.0), p=0.038. Six weeks of core training and inspiratory muscle training can both improve core function and target different muscles. Acknowledgements I am grateful for the many people in my life who have helped me through this process. My fellow graduate students have assisted in the project, from helping recruit subjects to entertaining me during countless hours spent in the physiology lab. Anuja Choudhari deserves a special thank you for her assistance with the daily training sessions. I would also like to thank Drs. Kathleen Knutzen and Brandi Row for their support and contribution to this thesis. Thank you Dr. Lorraine Brilla for the time, patience, and straight talk I needed in order to be successful. I would like to acknowledge my mentors Jill Wolfson and Ron Arnold have helped in bridging the gap between my academic lessons and the workplace, giving my hard work a purpose. Both have inspired me to complete my thesis and my graduate studies and pursue a career I am passionate about. My best friend and future husband, Ryan Kauffman, has provided the comic relief I have so desperately needed over the last two years. It would not have been possible