The effectiveness of an eight week exercise program on lumbopelvic stability of women with lumbar hyperlordosis deformity

Currently exercise prescription is one of the most common correction procedures for lumbar hyperlordosis deformity. Nevertheless, despite the lumbopelvic stability dysfunction in individuals with increased lordosis, less attention has been paid to the issue in the prescribed exercises. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an eight week exercise program including stretching, resisting with emphasis on endurance and stability exercises on lumbopelvic stability of women with lumbar hyperlordosis deformity. 30 female students aged between 18 and 25 with lumbar curvature angle greater than or equals to 54 degrees were selected purposefully. Afterwards they were randomly divided in two experimental and control groups of 15 subjects. The experimental subjects participated in an eight week exercise program. Lumbopelvic stability was measured by McGill stability tests in pre- and post-test. Data were analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results indicated that the lumbopelvic stability index for experimental group was increased significantly (p=0.001). Furthermore, the effectiveness of provided exercise program in increasing lumbopelvic stability which was measured based on Cohen's d method, was very large. (Effect size=3.16) It might be considered that individuals with lumbar hyperlordosis face with lumbopelvic stability dysfunction. According to the mentioned results a desired effectiveness on increasing rate of lumbopelvic stability is achievable by presenting a purposeful exercise program. Therefore using such program is recommended to patients with similar deformity.