Combined Effects of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises Versus Conventional Physical Therapy Exercise on Core Stability and Waist Circumference in Healthy Young Individuals

March 7, 2026 updated by: Aleena Hussain, University of Health Sciences Lahore

Combined Effects of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises Versus Conventional Physical Therapy Exercise on Abdominal Muscles Strength, Endurance, Flexibility and Waist Circumference in Healthy Young Individuals

Increased sedantry lifestyle has caused a decrese in core stability. Moreover alongwith sedantry lifestyle unhealthy eating habits have also increased causing an increase in abdominal adiposity and waist circumference.

The objective of conducting this research is to determine the combined effects of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises versus Conventional Physical Therapy Exercise on Core Stability and Waist Circumference in Healthy Young Individuals.

The study design will be an assessor blinded parallel group Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study is expected to serve the society by providing public an efficient exercise combination that has the capability to increase core stability and decrease waist circumference alongwith a promising component of safety.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Core muscles are significantly important in maintaining the stability of spine and lumbopelvic region thus affecting balance and activities of everyday living . Rapid advancement in technology has led to an increase in sedentary lifestyle thereby decrease in physical activity leading to muscular imbalances which in turn significantly decreases core stability and increases the risk of disorders related to musculoskeletal system. Moreover due to sedentary living behaviors and unhealthy eating habits, a significant reduction has been seen in lean body mass and an increase in body fat.Correlation between body fat and waist circumference has been found to be positive.

Core stability is related to the active participation of local / deep segmental muscles which may include transversus abdominis, lumber multifidus etc. and global / superficial muscles which may include rectus abdominis, erector spinae etc. during high demanding physical activities. Core stabilization exercises appear to show good efficacy in preventing the incidence of injuries. Included in the components of core stability are flexibility, endurance, strength, motor control and function. The exercise that is considered a gold standard abdominal exercise is abdominal crunches. But recently it has come under debate as a potentially dangerous movement capable of increasing lumber lordosis thereby elevating the risk of low bachache thus public should avoid performing this exercise. Other recommended alternatives include Dead bug exercise, Double straight leg raises etc. The efficacy of dead bug exercise and double straight leg raises has been observed both in isolation and in combination with abdominal crunches but not in combination with each other.

As recently questions on the safety of abdominal crunches have been popping up therefore alternatives are required. Such alternatives that have the capability to provide same, nearly similar or if possible even better beneficial effects than traditional abdominal exercises such as abdominal stretches along with a promising component of safety. This research is expected to serve the society by providing public an efficient and easy to perform combination of exercises that has the capacity to improve core stability by targeting the entire abdominal musculature and the capacity to decrease waist circumference by targeting the abdominal adiposity.

The objective that lies behind conducting this research is to determine the combined effects of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises versus Conventional Physical Therapy Exercise on Abdominal Muscles Strength, Endurance, Flexibility and Waist Circumference in Healthy Young Individuals.

The study design will be a Randomized Controlled Trial, conducted in Physiotherapy Department of University of Health Sciences, Jinnah Campus, Lahore with a calculated sample size of 50 participants (25 participants per group) alongwith a dropout rate of 20%.

The study will be conducted according to CONSORT guidelines. The study will be a 2 arm parallel group single blinded/assessor blinded RCT.

Purposive sampling technique will be used to recruite participants on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria in the study. Random allocation to control and intervention groups will be done using computer-generated random sequence in Microsoft Excel.

Subjects in the control group will perform abdominal stretches 3 times per week for a duration of 6 weeks. Stretching exercises will be preceded by a 3 minutes long warm up period and followed by a cool down period.

Subjects in the intervention group will perform a combination of dead bug exercise and double straight leg raises in addition to abdominal stretching exercises 3 times per week for a duration of 6 weeks. Each session will be preceded by a 3 minutes long warm-up period and followed by a cool-down period.

The frequency, sets and intensity of exercises will be increased progressively in each group.

Baseline assessment will be done at week 0 and post assessment will be done at the end of 6 weeks.

Partial curl-up test will be used to assess abdominal muscles strength, Trunk flexion endurance test to assess abdominal muscles endurance, Core flexibility test/Active trunk extension test to assess abdominal muscles flexibility and Tape measurement method to assess waist circumference.

On the basis of data distribution (normal or not normal) statistical tests will be applied. p-value ≤ 0.05 will be considered statistically significant. Data will be analyzed using IBM SPSS 27.0.1.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab Province
      • Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan, 54000
        • University of Health Sciences Lahore

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects having no prior history of exercise training and physical activity (apparently healthy untrained individuals)
  • 18 to 30 years old individuals
  • Both males and females

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects currently taking part in any sort of training program or physical activity (trained individuals)
  • Subjects having known neurological or cardiovascular conditions
  • Subjects having known musculoskeletal system related disorders especially of lumber spine such as chronic or acute low backache

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control
Abdominal stretches
Other: Abdominal stretches
Abdominal stretches increase flexibility of abdominal musculature, improve posture and decrease core tension thereby producing overall improvement in general fitness of abdominal musculature.
Experimental: Intervention
Combination of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises, Abdominal stretches
Other: Abdominal stretches
Abdominal stretches increase flexibility of abdominal musculature, improve posture and decrease core tension thereby producing overall improvement in general fitness of abdominal musculature.
Other: Combination of Dead Bug Exercise and Double Straight Leg Raises

Dead Bug Exercise is a low intensity exercise that targets rectus abdominis, rectus oblique, erector spinae and multifidus. While Double Straight Leg Raises is a high intensity exercise that targets lower rectus abdominis and internal oblique.

In this way a combination of these 2 exercises target entire abdominal musculature with greater emphasis on lower abs where accumulation of fat is greatest. Thus these two exercises complement each other in producing effect on core stability and waist circumference.

Other Names:
  • Abdominal strengthning exercises
  • Core strengthning exercises
  • Combination of Dead Bug Exercise and Bilateral Straight Leg Raises

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Abdominal Muscles Strength measured by Partial Curl-up Test (number of partial curl-ups performed in 60 seconds)
Time Frame: Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Abdominal Muscles Endurance measured by Trunk Flexion Endurance Test (holding time of 60 degrees trunk flexion in seconds)
Time Frame: Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Abdominal Muscles Flexibility measured by Core Flexibility Test (distance between C7 and S1 on spinal extension in centimeters)
Time Frame: Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Waist Circumference measured by Tape Measurement Method (waist circumference measured in the midway between the illiac crest and lowermost rib in centimeters)
Time Frame: Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6
Baseline at week 0 and post-intervention at the end of week 6

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Health Sciences Lahore

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 2, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 5, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 19, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 7, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 7, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UHS/USERC-26/SEC/101

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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