Abstract
Background: This study was performed to observe the relationship between prolong sitting and core muscle strength. Core muscle weakness is most common in secondary school students and it may be linked to prolonged sitting.
Objective: The major goal of this study was to modify the posture and sitting duration of students to minimize the negative impact on core muscles strength. And to assess the relationship between posture and core muscle strength.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted.
Place and duration of study: This study is a cross sectional study, performed on secondary school students of Rawalpindi and
Islamabad in time duration of 6 months i.e. May 2025 to January 2026.
Material and Methods: This study is a cross sectional study, performed on secondary school students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in time duration of 6 months i.e. May 2025 to January 2026. This study used three tests to find out core muscle endurance and strength. These are plank test, Side Bridge and McGill flexion test. The students had to hold the positions and the timing was being noted. After that, statistical analysis was done to observe the relationship of each test’s results with sitting duration.
Results: The results of the study showed different patterns. The relationship observed between sitting duration and Side Bridge
was negative, which indicated increased sitting duration decreases the strength and endurance of lateral trunk flexors. However, we found a positive relationship of sitting duration with plank and Mc Gill flexion test. This indicated that there are other factors along with prolong sitting such as, posture and sedentary behavior, that should be considered. Gender studies show that male students perform better than female in holding plank test. Also BMI statistics show that increase in BMI causes a decrease in core endurance.
Conclusion: The study concludes that almost more than half of the students showed below average holding time. This showed that prolong sitting is linked to core muscles strength. And to reduce its impact on core there should be short term breaks in between classes.
Keywords: Core endurance, strength, prolonged sitting, plank test, side-bridge endurance, McGill flexion endurance, sedentary
behavior.
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