Abdominal Core Strength, Fatigue, and Incidence of Low Back Pain in Distance Runners

This study investigated absolute and relative abdominal strength, fatigue, and low back pain differences among distance runners. Runners (45 female and 52 male) were evaluated by ABTEST for abdominal strength and  fatigue. Age, gender, weight, and incidence of low back pain data were recorded for each participant. Runners were self-classified into groups based on their own perceived level of fitness as either beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Maximal abdominal force and the rate of fatigue over a 10 second time interval were recorded for every participant. Relative abdominal strength was determined by adjusting for body weight. Differences were noted for absolute abdominal strength between male and female groups with males having significantly greater force. Female advanced distance runners possessed greater absolute abdominal strength than female beginner distance runners. No differences were found to exist for abdominal fatigue, relative abdominal strength, or low back pain. Age comparisons of absolute abdominal strength revealed moderate negative correlations for males and females. Conversely, age comparisons of abdominal fatigue resulted in a moderate correlation for males. Findings indicate that a strong core does not result in less low back pain, males and females do not differ in  abdominal fatigue or relative abdominal strength, and that age declines in strength may be moderate.