Poster presentation

Introduction: Exercising on unstable surfaces is useful in activating core abdominal muscles for training or rehabilitation. While transversely unstable surfaces like a foam roller produces increased core muscle activation compared with firm surfaces, the Oov (http://www.oov.com.au/) is a newly designed apparatus intended creating instability in both the transverse and sagittal planes whilst maintaining a neutral spine. This increased instability may create greater activation of the trunk muscles, but no research on the Oov has been conducted.

Methods: Abdominal muscle contraction (cm) was assessed by real-time ultrasound during three tasks (crook lying, dominant single leg hip and knee flexion at 90 degrees and straight leg raise) on three different surfaces (flat firm, foam roller and Oov) in a randomised order. Comparison of means (SD) of muscle thickness between conditions was undertaken using general linear modelling (P<0.025).

Results: Thirty young healthy adults (mean (SD) 21.9(2.2) years, 175.4(9.8) cm, 71.0(10.5) kg) attended the exercise physiology clinic on one occasion. Muscle activation of the Transversus Abdominus on the Oov was less than the foam roller during crook lying (P=.008) but not different from the firm surface (Firm 0.56 ± 0.11, Oov 0.56 ± 0.11 < Foam roller 0.62 ± 0.13). However when in single leg hip and knee flexion, the contralateral Transversus Abdominus muscles were activated more on the Oov than the firm surface (Firm 0.58 ± 0.12 < Oov 0.62 ± 0.11 p=.048 and not different from the Foam roller 0.66 ± 0.13 PP=.002). This pattern continued in single straight leg raise (contralateral Transversus Abdominus (Firm 0.56 ± 0.12 < Oov 0.64 ± 0.11, (P=.002), Foam roller 0.67 ± 0.14) (A similar pattern was noted in the Internal oblique.

Conclusion: The OOV provides a surface that is unstable, but less challenging than a foam roller, resulting in a way to incrementally activate deep core muscles for either rehabilitation or as part of a training program for athletes.