many dysfunctions are increasing in modern society due to excessive sedentary hours , which 
 are a result of advancements of industrial society , and a lack of exercise .
excessively 
 sedentary lifestyles cause weakening of the abdominal muscles and poor posture , as well as 
 physical imbalance .
spinal deformity due to these factors can cause serious health problems 
 and low back pain1 .
in particular , 
 excessive biomechanical burdens due to a sedentary lifestyle can induce weakening of 
 abdominal muscles , general muscle weakening , instability of spinal joints , pain in the 
 lumbar spine , reduced endurance , and restriction of flexibility and joint range of motion 
 ( rom)2 .
abnormal posture can cause various problems , including flat - back syndrome , cervical 
 kyphosis , and local organ ailments , such as uterine prolapse and gastric herniation3 .
a 
 number of studies have reported the importance of the transversus abdominis , which 
 contributes significantly to lumbar stability and posture5 . to improve reduced lumbar stability caused by modern sedentary lifestyles , running in place 
 while contracting the transverse abdominis and the multifidus through abdominal drawing - in 
 has been recommended .
exercises similar to running in place , such as plyometrics6 , circuit training7 , and core stability exercises8 , have been proposed .
these exercises improve trunk muscle strength 
 and flexibility because they strengthen the core muscles that together maintain lumbar 
 stability9 .
these include lumbo - pelvic 
 stabilization and postural improvement through bridge exercises10 and various mat exercises11 , lumbar stabilization improvement through running in place12 , and gait improvement13 .
however , plyometrics , circuit training , core stability exercises , bridge exercises , and mat 
 exercises require systematic programs under the supervision of experts , as well as equipment 
 and appropriate locations for the exercises . because of these drawbacks , typical students 
 and workers can not employ such exercises for the purpose of postural correction . in 
 contrast
although studies on running in place have been conducted to report on lumbar stability 
 improvement , none have been conducted on running in place to verify postural 
 improvements .
therefore , this study aimed to determine the effects or running in place , which can be done 
 regardless of time and place and without the aid of tools or equipment , for six weeks on 
 postural changes .
this study choose 30 university students and randomly divided them into a training group ( 2 
 males and 13 females ) that participated in running in place and a control group ( 2 males and 
 13 females ) that did not run in place .
the selection criteria were as follows : no structural 
 abnormality of the spine before participation in the experiment , no pain in the spine ( such 
 as low back pain ) , no medication , no neurological diseases , no drinking before the 
 experiment , and not overweight .
those who performed weight training , which can affect 
 posture , and those who performed regular exercise were excluded from the experiment .
this 
 study was approved by university s institutional review board and the subjects were safely 
 protected during all of the processes of the experiment .
all of the subjects understood the 
 purpose of this study and provided written informed consent prior to participation in the 
 study in accordance with the ethical standards of the declaration of helsinki .
the mean age , 
 height , and weight of the training group were 22.60.3  years , 161.53.1  cm , and 56.36.5  kg 
 respectively . the mean age , height , and weight of the control group were 21.80.6  years , 
 162.55.3  cm , and 56.25.3  kg respectively .
analysis of gender was done by  
 test , and analysis of age , height , and weight was done by independent t - test . in the 
 analysis ,
no statistically significant difference was found ( p>0.05 ) , so that no issues 
 were found to be homogeneous between the two groups . to maintain correct posture while running in place , a 30  30-cm square mark was placed on 
 the floor and the subjects were positioned in its center .
the subjects kept their waists 
 straight and looked to the front by pulling in the chin , thereby maintaining the neutral 
 position of the cervical spine .
they contracted the transverse abdominis and multifidus 
 muscles through abdominal drawing - in in order to maintain a neutral position of the waist 
 and pelvis and ran in place in the limited square space without wobbling to the front , back , 
 right , or left . to apply the principle of incremental loads and an appropriate 
 exercise - strength setup , only two sets were performed during the first and second weeks out 
 of a total of six weeks , and three sets were performed during the third to sixth weeks .
each 
 set consisted of 20 running units followed by a 15-sec rest , 20 running units followed by a 
 15-sec rest , 30 running units followed by a 20-sec rest , 30 running units followed by a 
 20-sec rest , and then 30 running units .
one running 
 unit was defined as the feet touching the ground one after the other .
the speed of running 
 in place was set to 17 running units per 10 sec12 . a 5-min warm - up
was conducted before the main exercise began and 
 light stretching was conducted as a cooldown after the main exercise for 5  min , resulting in 
 30  min of exercise three times a week for six weeks .
the subjects in the control group 
 performed their normal daily routines without any particular exercise and were subjected to 
 two sets of measurements . to measure posture , backmapper ( abw , frickenhausen , germany ) , a three - dimensional - image 
 spine diagnostic system , was used .
this equipment can measure the shape and location of the 
 spine , and the degree of twist in the pelvis relatively precisely , by viewing the spine from 
 the front , back , lower , and upper sides , as well as in the sagittal plane .
it can also 
 analyze trunk inclination ( tin ) in the sagittal plane , trunk imbalance ( tim ) in the coronal 
 plane , pelvic position ( ppo ) , pelvic torsion ( pto ) , pelvic rotation ( pro ) in the horizontal 
 plane , and position of the scapulae ( psa ) by showing the muscles , fat distribution , position 
 of the skeleton , and various other factors .
the measured data were analyzed with the spss 12.0 ko statistical program , and the 
 collected data are presented as means and standard deviations . the paired t - test was used as 
 a significance test in each group before and after the experiments , and an independent 
 t - test was used as a significance test for between - group differences .
comparison of the results between the training group and the control group before and after 
 the experiment showed that the training group showed statistically significant changes in 
 tin , tim , ppo , pto , and psa , while the control group showed no statistically significant 
 changes in any items ( p<0.05 ) ( table 
 1table 1.comparison of tin , tim , ppo , pto , pro and psa between before and after the 
 experiment in each group ( meansd ) ( unit : tin , tim , ppo , pto and pro , degrees ; 
 psa ,  mm)categorygroupbeforeaftertintraining g2.51.31.20.8control g2.50.92.41.4timtraining g2.52.41.10.8control g2.51.52.51.4ppotraining g2.41.21.20.7control g2.41.42.81.6ptotraining g3.62.41.10.3control g3.22.93.02.0protraining g2.31.51.50.7control g2.31.62.291.53psatraining g4.62.72.61.3control g4.72.94.53.0p<0.05 .
tin : trunk inclination ; tim : trunk imbalance ; ppo : pelvic 
 position ; pto : pelvic torsion ; pro : pelvic rotation ; psa : position of scapulae ) .
comparison of the differences between the training and control groups before 
 the experiment , after the experiment , and between the first and last measurements showed 
 that none of the items were statistically significantly different before the experiment ; 
 however differences in tin , tim , ppo , pto , and psa showed statistical significance after the 
 experiment , and tim and ppo were statistically significantly different between the first and 
 last measurements ( p<0.05 ) ( table 
 2table 2.comparison of tin , tim , ppo , pto , pro and psa between the training group and 
 control group ( meansd ) ( unit : tin , tim , ppo , pto and pro , degrees ; psa ,  mm)categorytraining gcontrol gbefore experimenttin2.51.32.50.9tim2.52.42.51.5ppo2.41.22.41.4pto3.62.43.22.9pro2.31.52.31.6psa4.62.74.72.9after experimenttin1.20.82.41.4tim1.10.82.51.4ppo1.20.72.81.6pto1.10.33.02.0pro1.50.72.21.5psa2.61.34.53.0change between before and after the experimenttin1.21.40.11.7tim1.42.30.01.4ppo1.11.5 - 0.41.7pto2.42.50.234.4pro0.71.70.02.3psa2.02.60.14.4*p<0.05 ) .
tin : trunk inclination ; tim : trunk imbalance ; ppo : pelvic 
 position ; pto : pelvic torsion ; pro : pelvic rotation ; psa : position of scapulae
correct posture is very important because it can affect not only the efficiency of bodily 
 functions but also posture and outer appearance14 .
therefore , this study aimed to determine the effect of running in 
 place on postural correction for normal adults . running in place can reduce muscle fatigue 
 and put loads on various muscles , thereby improving aerobic exercise ability and muscle 
 strength at the same time , as well as strengthening the trunk and abdominal muscles that 
 contribute to lumbar stabilization12 . in 
 addition , it can improve trunk muscle strength and flexibility and changes in posture by 
 improving gait and lumbar stability due to the dynamic motion of the lower and upper body . 

exercises similar to running in place , such as pilates , core stabilization exercises , 
 plyometrics , and circuit training have been previously studied .
endleman reported that 
 performance of intensive pilates that focused on the core by 18 healthy adult females and 
 eight adult males for six months resulted in a significant difference in the transversus 
 abdominis after measuring its muscle thickness and in the internal oblique abdominis , 
 thereby proving the positive effect of core training on abdominal strength and trunk 
 stabilization15 .
brill proposed that 
 core stabilization exercises can maintain spinal balance based on contraction of the 
 transverse abdominis , thereby increasing lumbar muscle strength and stability9 .
myer proved that plyometrics and core 
 stabilization exercises were effective in controlling the nerve roots and muscle power by 
 having female high school athletes perform such exercises three times a week for seven 
 weeks16 . in a study on postural changes ,
cho placed 15 female university students into a pelvic 
 adjustment group and 15 female university students into a stretching group and then 
 performed pelvic adjustment through the gonstead technique , which had a positive effect on 
 postural changes14 . in a study on running 
 in place , cho and jun divided 30 participants into a training group and a control group , 
 each containing 15 subjects
; the training group performed running in place for six weeks and 
 the results showed improved dynamic lumbar stability12 .
cho reported that running in place can improve step length 
 difference , swing phase difference , single support difference , and step time difference13 .
comparison of the results of the training group and the control group before and after the 
 experiment in the present study showed that the training group had statistically significant 
 changes in tin , tim , ppo , pto , and psa , while the control group had no statistically 
 significant changes in any items .
these results showed that running in place can improve 
 mobility of the waist and pelvis , which are related to posture .
they also showed that 
 positive changes in posture can occur as a result of running in place , accompanied by 
 dynamic movements in the upper and lower extremities , in a square - shape space with no 
 wobbling while maintaining muscle contraction of the transversus abdominis and applying the 
 abdominal drawing - in method .
although various exercise methods for postural correction have 
 been proposed previously , the methods required systematic programs under the supervision of 
 experts , as well as equipment and appropriate locations for the exercises .
therefore , we 
 expect that running in place can be utilized as an exercise for postural correction by 
 students or workers in the clinical field who are restricted by time and place .
 [ purpose ] this study aimed to determine the effect of running in place accompanied by 
 abdominal drawing - in on the posture of healthy adults . 
 [ subjects ] a total of 30 subjects 
 were divided into a training group and a control group , each containing 15 subjects . 
 [ methods ] the training group performed running in place accompanied by abdominal 
 drawing - in for 30  min daily , three times a week for six weeks . 
 trunk inclination ( tin ) , 
 trunk imbalance ( tim ) , pelvic position ( ppo ) , pelvic torsion ( pto ) , pelvic rotation ( pro ) , 
 and position of the scapulae ( psa ) were assessed using backmapper for both the training 
 group and the control group before and after the experiment . 
 [ results ] comparison of the 
 results of the training and control groups before and after the experiment showed that the 
 training group had statistically significant changes in tin , tim , ppo , pto , and psa , while 
 the control group had no statistically significant changes in any items . 
 [ conclusion ] 
 running in place can be conveniently utilized by students or workers , regardless of time 
 and place , as an exercise for postural improvement . 
INTRODUCTION
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION