The term “corrective exercise” may seem to imply that you are “broken”. For something to be “corrected” then it must be incorrect in the first place. This often gives Corrective Exercise a bad rap and causes many people to avoid a very beneficial way to approach exercise.
When you think of people that may need corrective exercise, you often think of people with major postural disfunctions and very limited movement patterns. However, we ALL have elements in our posture or movements that may be improved on. Everyone from sedentary seniors to competitive athletes can benefit from corrective exercise from time to time.
What Corrective Exercise Is
Corrective Exercise is the process of identifying a neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction, developing a plan of action and implementing a corrective strategy. In other words, it looks for ways that your muscles and bones are moving incorrectly and finds a way to improve them.
The primary objective is to optimize movement quality. Therefore, we all can benefit from this. From performing your everyday activities of daily living, to running a marathon, or competing in a completive sport. If you are able to move easier then you will perform better.
Why we need Corrective Exercise
As we go through our typical daily activities we often repeat common movement patterns ( or lack of movement patterns). We tend to do many of the same activities every day and this “trains” our muscles in a very consistent way. Some of our muscles are being used and strengthened everyday and others get very little work and become weak. For example, always carrying your bag on one side will strengthen the side that is carrying the load while the muscles on the other side of your body get stretched and lengthened.
Inactivity also plays a major role in our muscles being able to perform their roles effectively. For example, sitting for long periods of time, stretches our hip extensors (glutes) and puts our hip flexors ( iliacus, psoas and rectus femoris) in a shortened state. This can be particularly damaging because these muscles are not only shortened but most likely are weak. This can lead to a limited range of motion and strength around the joint.
Both of these scenarios can lead to poor posture, pain and possible injury if left uncorrected.
How it works
Corrective exercise addresses these postural deviations in a very systematic way. It starts by identifying the problematic areas then it takes you through four phases to bring you back into a more balanced state.
Assess
First the deviations are identified by performing multiple assessments such as a static postural assessment, movement assessments, and mobility assessments. These assessments can identify areas of strength, weakness and flexibility.
Inhibit
Once these areas are identified the first phase of corrective exercise focuses on inhibiting the muscles are are overactive or are in a shortened state. This will help to improve some of the range of motion around the joint and make movement easier. Myofascial techniques are used to help the muscles relax and reduce tension of overactive neuromyofascial tissues in the body.
Lengthen
The second phase of corrective exercise aims to lengthen or stretch the overactive or shortened muscles providing even more range of motion and flexibility. This can be done with static stretching, neuromuscular stretching or dynamic stretching.
Activate
Once the overactive or shortened muscles are addressed then the focus can move to the other side. We can begin to focus on activating or strengthening the weak muscles. By performing simple isolated strengthening exercises we can target the weak muscles and train them to activate properly.
Integrate
The final phase in the corrective exercise continuum is to integrate. This is where we get all of the muscles to work together correctively to perform activities. We perform integrated dynamic movements using multiple muscle groups. This reeducates the human movement system back into a functional synergistic movement pattern.
How you can get started now
As a Corrective Exercise Specialist, I love working with people who want to take a more “scientific” approach to their fitness, health and wellness. This corrective exercise approach has been used by many to help improve flexibility, range of motion and mobility concerns. It has also helped to relieve pain in many cases. If this is something that you are interested in learning more about please send me an email at rebecca@vitalitytransformations.com or schedule a time for us to chat.
If you have tried to exercise and have had a hard time getting started due to pain, lack of mobility or previous injuries then corrective exercise may be the solution you are looking for.
