Hodges & Richardson (1996) used EMG to compare the timing of trunk muscle activation during rapid shoulder movements in 15 chronic LBP patients versus 15 matched controls, asking whether transversus abdominis — hypothesized as the spine's primary stiffness generator — fires differently in people with back pain.
When evaluating or treating chronic LBP, recognize that the core problem is often a motor control deficit — specifically failure of automatic, anticipatory TrA activation.
Rather than weakness or structural pathology alone; this is the mechanistic rationale for rehabilitation strategies that specifically retrain deep stabilizer timing (e.g., drawing-in maneuvers, real-time ultrasound biofeedback) rather than simply strengthening global trunk musculature.
Hodges & Richardson (1996) used EMG to compare the timing of trunk muscle activation during rapid shoulder movements in 15 chronic LBP patients versus 15 matched controls, asking whether transversus abdominis — hypothesized as the spine's primary stiffness generator — fires differently in people with back pain.
When evaluating or treating chronic LBP, recognize that the core problem is often a motor control deficit — specifically failure of automatic, anticipatory TrA activation.
Rather than weakness or structural pathology alone; this is the mechanistic rationale for rehabilitation strategies that specifically retrain deep stabilizer timing (e.g., drawing-in maneuvers, real-time ultrasound biofeedback) rather than simply strengthening global trunk musculature.