Abstract
This study recruited nine young women who performed a leg raising exercise under six test combinations of three holding postures (lying supine, placing the shanks on a yoga ball, and elevating the legs at 60° against the wall) and two time arrangements (continuous vs. intermittent) for a period of 15 min. The intermittent arrangement included an additional 1-min rest set in the middle of the 15 min test. The participants’ shank circumference (SC) reductions and discomfort ratings were measured after each test combination was performed. Results indicated that the most efficient method for SC reduction was the yoga ball (5.4 mm), followed by the supine lying posture (4.6 mm) and wall-supported leg raising (3.1 mm). A significant interaction of posture × time arrangement (p < 0.01) implied that the yoga ball method combined with a 1-min rest produced the greatest SC reduction (6.7 mm). Our results also showed that participants experienced the greatest discomfort (score: 4.96) when performing wall-supported leg raising, compared with both lying supine (score: 1.34) and the yoga ball (score: 1.32). This study suggests that the effectiveness of leg raising as conventionally practiced for eliminating leg fatigue or swelling requires further consideration.
Highlights
Previous investigations have indicated that prolonged standing and daily activity are likely to contribute to musculoskeletal and vascular symptoms
We examined the effect of leg raising posture and time arrangement on shank circumference (SC) reduction for varying test combinations
The ANOVA results for subjective discomfort rating (Table 4) indicated that posture experienced the greatest discomfort with wall-supported leg raising compared to the significantly influenced the discomfort score (p < 0.001)
Summary
Previous investigations have indicated that prolonged standing and daily activity are likely to contribute to musculoskeletal and vascular symptoms. Many solutions have been proposed to effectively reduce these leg symptoms, such as using floor mats [2] or graduated compression/elastic stockings [5,6], appropriate work–rest cycles [7] and static stretching [8], and intermittent walking [9] These maneuvers are limited because most of them are related to the organizational strategies/regulations and are intervened directly in people’s works and activities. Even though the PLR test has been well examined and its benefits have been verified clinically, the effect of leg raising on fatigue and swelling of the lower limbs has received less attention, especially for healthy adults. We attempted to compare the effectiveness of these leg raising postures with different time arrangements on SC reduction
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