A Study on the Impact of Body Mass Index on Lower Back Extensor Endurance in Apparently Healthy Subjects

This study has been carried out with the objective of finding out whether the body mass index has any influence on lower back extensor endurance in apparently healthy subjects. 180 healthy subjects participated in the study and they were categorized into three groups based on the values of their body mass index as underweight, normal weight and overweight. The lower back extensor endurance was tested using prone double straight leg raise test, and the data collected were analyzed statistically for correlation and the results were found to be -0.561,-0.557,-0.579 for overall, males and females respectively and all of them were significant. The equality of the level of endurance for the three groups namely under weight, normal weight and overweight was tested by ANOVA procedure and the F statistic was found to be 34.619 with a corresponding p value 0. Therefore it has been inferred that greater the BMI lesser will be the lower back extensor endurance and the average endurance level of the three groups is not the same.