What is corrective exercise training?
Corrective exercise is a technique that fixes imbalances in the body and corrects movement compensations. By utilizing a combination of anatomy, kinesiology, and biomechanics, corrective exercise training addresses the root cause of imbalances to improve the quality of movement.
As a Draper clinic that offers chiropractic services and massage therapy, we apply corrective exercise training to help our clients move and feel better in their everyday life. Based on individual assessment, our therapists can identify the underlying dysfunction to develop a corrective strategy.
What are the benefits of corrective exercise?
Often, issues with balance, posture, and total body coordination lead to muscle pain and joint instability. By determining the root cause and assessing the body as a whole, we can fix faulty movement patterns and correct the imbalance.
Corrective exercise training helps:
- Improve posture
- Increase stability
- Correct mobility issues
- Improve neuromuscular control
- Reduce the risk of injury
- Increase flexibility
- Improve coordination
- Improve joint stability
- Increase muscle activation
- Enhances muscle recovery
- Advances the body for high-intensity exercise
- Enhances movement for optimal performance
The four phases of corrective exercise training
The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) specifies a four-phase plan to approach corrective exercise techniques. The Corrective Exercise Continuum consists of:
1. Inhibition Phase – Decreases activity of overactive muscles and tissues in the body with myofascial release techniques. An example of this phase is utilizing a foam roller to release tension in the muscles, relieve muscle soreness, and improve circulation.
2. Lengthening Phase – Lengthening techniques are applied to increase range of motion, reduce stiffness, improve posture, and increase the extensibility of the same targeted area in the inhibition phase. This can include active or static stretching.
3. Activation Phase – By using isolated strengthening exercises and isometrics, this phase retrains individual underactive muscles to improve muscular strength and endurance.
4. Integration Phase – In the integration phase, the function of all muscles and their subsystems are collectively re-educated. Dynamic exercises are applied to progressively improve movement patterns, total body coordination, and overall performance.
Final thoughts
Regardless of your lifestyle and occupation, movement is a part of everyday life. Our bodies work as an interconnected system to function and handle daily activities. Corrective exercise training is an integrated approach to restore functional movement patterns and improve the client’s quality of life.