ABSTRACT:
Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Mckenzie exercise program on the relief of back pain and physical fitness. The subjects of this study were middle - aged women living in Seoul, Korea. Methods/Statistical analysis: The control group was able to maintain normal life without participating in the exercise program as the comparison group of experimental group. The experimental group performed the McKenzie exercise for 4 weeks for 50 minutes, including the warm up and the cool down. PASW 18.0 Statistical programs were used to present the descriptive statistics of the measurement variables. Comparisons of the two groups were analyzed by 2-way RGRM ANOVA. The significance level was set to be .05. Findings: There was a significant interaction effect between the two groups before and after the exercise program. This suggests that the McKenzie exercise program is effective in reducing pain(p<.05). There was a significant interaction effect between the two groups before and after the exercise program. This suggests that the McKenzie exercise program is effective in reducing pain (p<.05). Improvements/Applications: This study confirmed that Mckenzie exercise was effective in relieving back pain in middle - aged women with back pain. In the follow up study, it is necessary to examine the various effects of the Mckenzie exercise and to compare the results of the back pain relief program and the physical fitness program.