An Analysis of Muscle Activities of Healthy Women during Pilates Exercises in a Prone Position

[Purpose] This study analyzed the activities of the back and hip muscles during Pilates exercises conducted in a prone position. [Subjects] The subjects were 18 healthy women volunteers who had practiced at a Pilates center for more than three months. [Methods] The subjects performed three Pilates exercises. To examine muscle activity during the exercises, 8-channel surface electromyography (Noraxon USA, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ) was used. The surface electrodes were attached to the bilateral latissimus dorsi muscle, multifidus muscle, gluteus maximus, and semitendinous muscle. Three Pilates back exercises were compared: (1) double leg kick (DLK), (2) swimming (SW), and (3) leg beat (LB). Electrical muscle activation was normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to assess the differences in activation levels among the exercises. [Results] The activity of the multifidus muscle was significantly high for the SW (52.3±11.0, 50.9±9.8) and LB exercises(51.8±12.8, 48.3±13.9) and the activity of the semitendinosus muscle was higher for the LB exercise (49.2±8.7, 52.9±9.3) than for the DLK and SW exercises. [Conclusion] These results may provide basic material for when Pilates exercises are performed in a prone position and may be useful information on clinical Pilates for rehabilitation programs.