Lumbar trunk muscle use in standing isometric heavy exertions.

A study was conducted to see whether a biomechanical model previously validated for predicting the lumbar spine internal loads imposed by the performance of easy and moderately strenuous physical tasks was also adequate for predicting loads imposed by heavy exertions. Lumbar trunk muscle myoelectric activities were measured in 10 healthy young adult men performing a variety of less strenuous and more strenuous tasks while standing upright, and these were compared to the lumbar muscle contraction magnitudes predicted by the model. For the less strenuous tasks, measured activities and predicted forces showed strong linear correlations, confirming the validity of the model at those load levels. Model predictions for the more strenuous tasks were often found to be inadequate. Contrary to model-incorporated assumptions, substantial antagonistic muscle contractions sometimes occurred, intraabdominal pressurization may sometimes have contributed substantially to the maintenance of structural equilibrium, and the ligamentous tissues of the trunk seemed sometimes to develop substantial passive resistances to bending and twisting moments.