INTRODUCTION: The back muscle weakness is related with the etiology of low back pain. Nowadays, there are several methods the focus is on back muscle strengthening. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the multifidus muscle bilaterally during exercises of the Pilates method, Spine Stabilization and Williams' flexion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy female volunteers participated in the study. They performed the leg pull front support exercise from the Pilates method, the quadruped exercise from the Spine Stabilization and the fourth exercise from the additional Williams' flexion. The signal was normalized by the electromyographic peak of the dynamic activity and was adjusted to 2000 samples/s and filter with a frequency band from 20 to 450 Hz. ANOVA was used to verify differences between the exercises, the paired-sample t test was used to compare activation between the right and left multifidus for each exercise. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: When the exercises where compared, statistically significant differences were observed in the concentric and eccentric phases for the Pilates exercise, showing that this exercise is the one who activates the musculature the most between the exercises evaluated.
Electromyography; Exercises; Physical Therapy
