What Is It and How Does It Work?
- Corrective Exercise is method developed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and is designed to asses and fix human movement patterns that exhibit compensations and imbalances.
- The goal of Corrective Exercise is to improve the overall quality of movement during exercise and everyday life.
- In addition, Corrective Exercise techniques can help in the following ways:
- relieve or eliminate daily aches and pains, over time, associated with muscle related causes.
- prepare muscles and joints for the demands of training sessions
- aid in the recovery between training sessions
What Are the Corrective Exercises Techniques?
- Inhibit
- Release tension of overactive, or tight, muscles, to reduce pain, soreness, and increase blood circulation to muscles and joints.
- How do we release tension?
- Self-myofascial release.
- We will teach you several techniques on how release tension using a variety of tools, such as massage balls, barbells, and massage guns.
- Self-myofascial release.
- Why is this important?
- If you have overactive, tight muscles, it is very possible you are experiencing pain somewhere in your body.
- As long as there are not other serious issues present causing you pain or discomfort, performing self-myofascial release will help alleviate symptoms over time.
- Lengthen
- Return muscles to their original, resting length to reduce stiffness in your muscles and joints, increase range of motion, and improve your posture.
- How do we lengthen our muscles?
- We use static and dynamic stretches to help lengthen muscles and prepare your body for the demands of day to day activities and training sessions.
- Activate
- Here, our goal is “turn-on” underactive, weak, or dormant muscles that have not been used in a while and help them return to their normal fucntions.
- How do we activate weak muscles?
- Through the use of elastic bands and cables, we can target weak muscles and help them move through their normal range of motion.
- Added benefits of muscle activation exercises include:
- improved muscular endurance
- correction of muscle imbalances (using your left side more than your right side)
How Does This Prepare You For Training?
- Integration is the final step to a successful Corrective Exercise program.
- This means we slowly introduce dynamic, total-body exercises to reinforce the changes made during the early stages of your Corrective Exercise (self-myofascial release, stretching, and band work).
- Ultimately, we allow for your body to return to normal human movement patterns safely and effectively, and hopefully pain free!
Inhibit + Lengthen + Activate + Integrate = Normal Human Movement
NASM’s Corrective Exercise Continuum
- Taking the extra step to employ corrective exercise techniques into your training can be the difference between success and failure.
- Addressing obstacles before hand could save you time, money, and effort trying to “work through” pain or the effects of past injuries.
- Instead, make these techniques a part of your training program and everyday life!