Effects of a Core Endurance Exercise Program on Low Back Disability, Core Endurance, and Lower-Extremity Strength in Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare the effects of a 7-week core muscle endurance exercise program and a traditional core exercise program on low back functional disability, core muscle endurance, and lower-extremity strength in adults with chronic low back pain.METHODS Twenty adults in their 20s and 30s with chronic low back pain (16 men and 4 women) were randomly assigned to a core muscle endurance exercise group (CEG; <i>n</i> = 10, 8 men and 2 women) or a traditional core exercise group (TCG; <i>n</i> = 10, 8 men and 2 women). Both groups performed their respective exercise programs three times per week for 7 weeks. Outcome measures included low back functional disability, core muscle endurance (trunk flexors, extensors, and lateral muscles), and lowerextremity strength (knee extensors/flexors and hip abductors/adductors). All variables were measured before and after the intervention.RESULTS Significant group × time interaction effects were observed for low back functional disability, all core endurance variables, and all lower-extremity strength variables. The CEG showed a larger descriptive reduction in low back functional disability and larger increases in trunk flexor, extensor, and lateral endurance, whereas the TCG showed larger descriptive increases in knee extensor, knee flexor, hip abductor, and hip adductor strength.CONCLUSIONS Compared with traditional core exercise, core muscle endurance exercise was associated with greater improvements in low back functional disability and core endurance over the 7-week intervention, whereas traditional core exercise was associated with greater improvements in lower-extremity strength. Because this study did not include a no-exercise control group, these findings should be interpreted as relative differences between two active exercise interventions rather than as evidence of absolute exercise effects.