Work

Electromyographic Characterization of Core Muscle Activation During Steel Club Exercises in Trained Males

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background: Steel club training is a form of strength and conditioning exercise that involves swinging weighted clubs through circular and pendular movements, thereby imposing substantial rotational and multiplanar demands on the trunk. However, the core muscle activation patterns elicited by these exercises remain poorly characterized. Purpose: This study aimed to characterize global, muscle-specific, and side-to-side core muscle activation across a battery of steel club exercises and compare it with that of conventional plank variations. Methods: A within-subject experimental design was used in a single-session laboratory setting. Fourteen trained males (n = 14) performed ten steel club exercise conditions (comprising seven distinct movement patterns, with unilateral variations performed bilaterally) using 8 and 16 kg clubs and four isometric plank variations; data from n = 13 were available for the Shield Cast 16 kg condition and the omnibus ANOVA due to one excluded signal. Surface electromyography was bilaterally recorded from the rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and multifidus muscles and normalized to maximal voluntary contraction (% MVC). Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to assess global and muscle-specific differences across exercise conditions, and paired-samples t-tests were used to evaluate side-to-side differences. Results: Global core activation significantly differed across exercises (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.798) and was generally greater during steel club exercises than during conventional planks. The Lateral Pendulum to Shoulder Cast (54.77 ± 9.32% MVC), Gamma Cast (47.79 ± 8.96% MVC), and Shield Cast (43.96 ± 11.25% MVC), all performed with 16 kg, elicited greater global activation than each of the four plank variations (all adjusted p < 0.05). The internal oblique showed the greatest activation across most steel club exercises, reaching 69.40 ± 12.18% MVC during the Lateral Pendulum to Shoulder Cast. Several unilateral exercises also elicited significant side-to-side differences, particularly Mills and Reverse Mills (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Among experienced steel club practitioners, these exercises elicited exercise-specific, dynamic, and multiplanar core activation patterns, with several exercises—particularly those performed with 16 kg—producing greater global activation than conventional plank variations. These findings support steel club training as a complementary modality for dynamic core training, although the independent contributions of movement pattern and external load, as well as long-term adaptations, remain to be established.

Source: Applied Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/app16168344