|
Home / Exercising / Fitness tests / Strength tests / Core tests / Trunk flexion test
Trunk Flexion Test
Introduction
To measure the strength of your lower back, a trunk flexion test is a great option to use.
A trunk flexion test is designed to determine the strength levels of your back and then use the results to gauge progress.
|
What is the point?
The lower back itself is made up of a number of smaller muscles coupled in with some larger muscles so you could see why it would be very prone to injuries. If any of these muscles start to become inflamed or a lot of stress is placed upon them due to twisting actions or high impact activities, they make become torn, tight or shifted out of place. By ensuring that they are strong and fully capable of supporting the activities you wish to perform you can help reduce the chances that you experience any of these problems.
The objective of the Trunk Flexion test is to evaluate the strength of the muscles of your back to prevent injury.
What do you need?
- A bench
- A weight
- An assistant
How do you do the test? - To start the trunk flexion test, you should lie off of a bench with your hips just at the edge so you are fully able to bend and lower your upper body towards the floor. Have a partner hold your feet in place so that you do not start falling downwards.
- Grab a hold of a weight and place it next to your chest, with your arms crossed over to ensure it stays in place.
- Once you are ready, beginning with the head close to the floor, extend the back upwards until your body is now in a straight line.
- After you have reached this point, hold the position for a second and then begin to lower back down once again to complete the rep.
|
 |
What results you'll get :
If you are using the assessment to measure muscular strength, you will want to try holding onto the heaviest weight as possible and recording that. Note however that if this is the case, you do still need to be maintaining proper form and have to watch that you don't try and push too hard and suffer from a back injury.
If you would prefer to measure muscular endurance, then you should choose a moderate weight (and use this same weight during further assessments) and see how many reps you can complete until fatigue.
From then on you can use the results of this trial to gauge future trials and see if you have improved in strength or endurance.
What is being measured again?
This test measures the strength and endurance of the muscles that make up your back.
|
|
