The Effect of Core Stability Exercises on Static and Dynamic Balance in Healthy Older Men

Disturbance in maintaining balance and controlling posture is one of the consequences of aging, which, with changes in standing and walking patterns, causes a decrease in functional readiness in the elderly, which leads to a decrease in the sense of balance, loss of coordination, and muscle weakness in these people. As a result, it causes many problems such as frequent falls while standing or walking in this group of people. Therefore, it is very important to design sports exercises in order to improve functional readiness and prevent loss of balance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the effect of core stability exercises on the static and dynamic balance of older men.

This study is a cross-sectional, comparative, quasi-experimental research with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. Thirty healthy elderly men between 60 and 70 years old were selected through purposive, convenience sampling method. They were randomly divided into two groups: core stability exercises and control group in equal numbers. The experimental group received a 45-mintue training program three sessions per week for 6 weeks, while the control group went about their daily lives. The participants were evaluated using Romberg and Sharpendromberg balance tests for static balance and FRT and TUG balance tests for dynamic balance before and after 6-week training program. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, paired T-test and One-way ANOVA test were used at the alpha significance level (P ≤0.05) using SPSS software (version 26).

The results showed that by performing 6 weeks of core stability exercises, the mean post-test scores were significantly different from the pre-test scores of the experimental group in all 4 tests (P=0.001). Moreover, the findings revealed that the core stability exercises have a significant effect on static balance (P=0.001) and dynamic balance (P=0.001), in the post-test scores of the experimental group compared to the control group.

It can be concluded that in order to improve balance and reduce the risk of falling in the elderly, core stability exercises can be used. Due to the ease of doing these exercises, it is recommended for sports coaches and people who work with the elderly to use core stability exercises to improve the static and dynamic balance of the elderly