The Fitness Orb Changed My Life

When it comes to LBP we look to the evidence first but often the answer lies in the experience.  I am in my mid-40s and frankly the fitness orb has changed my life. 

Tim

Comments

[Jim Cenova]

Dwight strengthening his core....awesome!

[britt smith]

I will run out and get my fitness orb today! Wonderful. Britt

[Paul Simonetti]

Dwight: "Forget everything you thought you knew about ab workouts."

Jim: "Done."

[Carina Lowry]

Wow,

Someone who could potentially meet all 5 of the criteria for the LBP CPR with that fall. Maybe a good PR op for PT!

Could it be that the "fitness orbs" are just another way to perform general core strengthening?

Abstract
Practice guidelines recommend various types of exercise and manipulative therapy for chronic back pain but there have been few
head-to-head comparisons of these interventions. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to compare effects of general exercise,
motor control exercise and manipulative therapy on function and perceived effect of intervention in patients with chronic back pain.
Two hundred and forty adults with non-specific low back pain P3 months were allocated to groups that received 8 weeks of general
exercise, motor control exercise or spinal manipulative therapy. General exercise included strengthening, stretching and aerobic
exercises. Motor control exercise involved retraining specific trunk muscles using ultrasound feedback. Spinal manipulative therapy
included joint mobilization and manipulation. Primary outcomes were patient-specific function (PSFS, 3–30) and global perceived
effect (GPE, 5 to 5) at 8 weeks. These outcomes were also measured at 6 and 12 months. Follow-up was 93% at 8 weeks and 88% at
6 and 12 months. The motor control exercise group had slightly better outcomes than the general exercise group at 8 weeks
(between-group difference: PSFS 2.9, 95% CI: 0.9–4.8; GPE 1.7, 95% CI: 0.9–2.4), as did the spinal manipulative therapy group
(PSFS 2.3, 95% CI: 0.4–4.2; GPE 1.2, 95% CI: 0.4–2.0). The groups had similar outcomes at 6 and 12 months. Motor control exercise
and spinal manipulative therapy produce slightly better short-term function and perceptions of effect than general exercise, but
not better medium or long-term effects, in patients with chronic non-specific back pain.

From: article in press as: Ferreira ML et al., Comparison of general exercise, motor control exercise and spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low back pain: a randomized trial. Pain
(2007), doi:10.1016/j.pain.2006.12.008