The efficacy of Pilates-based exercises on rectus abdominis engagement in comparison with the FITNESSGRAM in Collegiate dancers.

Engagement of the core abdominal muscles is essential to maintain proper alignment, technique, and safety. This study compared the muscular amplitude of the upper and lower rectus abdominis muscles' EMG during six Pilates-based abdominal exercises with the FITNESSGRAM in order to determine which may be more effective for dancers. A sphygmomanometer is used as a training tool for neutral pelvis stability; therefore this study also investigated the muscle activation of the Pilates-based exercises with and without the use of a sphygmomanometer to determine which would be more effective in muscular engagement. Twenty-nine female dancers (age = 19yrs ± 1.12, height = 163.3 cm ± 6.5, mass = 59.8 kg ± 8.93) completed 4 abdominal exercises: 3 exercises were repeated using a sphygmomanometer. Rectus abdominis were assessed through surface electromyography (EMG). The mean of the area under the curve (AUC) of four repetitions per exercise was the dependent variable. When comparing the Pilates-based exercises with and without the sphygmomanometer, all exercises showed a significant decrease in the upper rectus abdominis (URA) with the sphygmomanometer. The FITNESSGRAM curl test (FGCT) showed a significant difference in %AUCMVIC between the Pilates exercises and FGCT for the URA (p = 0.013); both the biofeedback with legs up to legs diagonal (BioLULD) (p = 0.032) and the biofeedback legs up (BioLU) (p < 0.001) %AUCMVIC were significantly lower than the FGCT. There was no significant difference in muscle activation in the lower rectus abdominis (LRA) between all exercises.