Trunk Muscle Activation and Low-back Loading during the Performance of Standard and Suspended Push-up Exercises

Push-up exercises are normally performed to challenge muscles that span upper extremity joints. However, it is also recognized that such exercises provide an effective means by which to challenge muscles of the “core”, especially when the hands are in contact with a labile support surface (Freeman et al., 2006). The purpose of this study was to compare trunk muscle activation levels and resultant low-back loads when standard push-ups (STAN) and suspended push-ups (SUS) were performed (Figure 1). It was hypothesized that variables of interest would differ between the push-up exercise variants.