Article #38 of 50: I have made it a goal of mine to share at least 50 research articles with you to review in 2012. These articles will be shared with no opinion of mine, just purely the information provided in the research and where to go to read more about the topic. This weekly challenge will feature many different aspects of the field: strength, conditioning, nutrition, psychology, etc. If you would like to submit research articles to be included in this segment, please email me a PDF version of the peer reviewed journal article.

Eur J Appl Physiol (2012) 112:1671–1678.

Abstract: Little is known about the effect of performing common resistance exercises standing compared to seated and unilaterally compared to bilaterally on muscle activation of the core. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the electromyographic activity (EMG) of the superficial core muscles (i.e. rectus abdominis, external oblique and erector spinae) between seated, standing, bilateral and unilateral dumbbell shoulder presses. 15 healthy males performed five repetitions at 80% of one repetition maximum of the exercises in randomized order. Results were analyzed with a two-way analysis of variance and a Bonferroni post hoc test. The position 9 exercise interaction was significantly different for rectus abdominis (P = 0.016), but not for external oblique (P = 0.100) and erector spinae (P = 0.151). The following EMG results were observed: For rectus abdominis: *49% lower in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P.001), similar in standing bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.408), *81% lower in bilateral seated versus standing (P 0.001), *59% lower in unilateral seated versus standing (P 0.001); For external oblique: *81% lower in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P 0.001), *68% lower in standing bilateral than unilateral (P 0.001), *58% lower in bilateral seated versus standing (P 0.001), *28% lower in unilateral seated versus standing (P = 0.002); For erector spinae: similar in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.737), *18% lower in standing bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.001), similar in seated versus standing bilateral (P = 0.480) and unilateral (P = 0.690). In conclusion, to enhance neuromuscular activation of the superficial core muscles, standing exercises should be used instead of seated exercises, and unilateral exercises should be used instead of bilateral exercises.

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