Effects of upper body exercise on dynamic postural control

Abstract

To determine the immediate effects of an upper body fatigue protocol on performance of the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), 20 fatigue subjects and 20 control subjects participated in this study. We measured the reach distances in centimeters (cm) and averaged 3 reaches in each of the 8 directions while the subjects stood on each leg for data analysis. Using the Borg scale, we also measured ratings of perceived exertion before, during, and after the fatigue protocol or rest period. We used two factors ANOVA with Group and Time as the levels. The main effect of group (P = 0.001) and pre-posttest (P = 0.01) were significant in both cases, but most interestingly the interaction effect of Group (control and fatigue) x Time (pre-fatigue, post-fatigue) (P = 0.013) was statistically significant as well. The rating of perceived exertion scores were significantly different between the fatigue and control group at the middle (10.5 ± 1.1 vs 2.5 ± 0.6) and end (19.3 ± 0.7 vs 2.5 ± 0.6) of the fatigue or rest period. Our results demonstrated that the SEBT reach distance decreased immediately after the fatigue protocol, demonstrating that balance ability diminished.