Corrective Exercise Articles

May 5, 2013 As this weekend of education, inspiration and fun comes to a close, I have to say how impressed I am with the experience I shared with hundreds of West Coast personal trainers. I have been to countless fitness industry conferences and events, and this one stands out. The program was great, as usual, and the presenters were all on target. However, the attendees really made this event shine in a specific way.

Thursday, May 2, 2013 Only at a conference for personal trainers will you see people turning down the Doubletree hotel chocolate chip cookie. Not every person checking in for the IDEA Personal Trainer Institute West in Seattle bypassed the heavenly, sweet packet of fat and sugar, of course, but the front desk staff definitely had extras left over for the next crowd.

Excessive thoracic kyphosis is a disproportionate forward rounding or curvature of the middle and upper back, also known as the thoracic spine (Kendall, McCreary & Provance 2005). ETK is an extremely common musculoskeletal imbalance brought on by prolonged time in some postural positions; exercise and/or activity choices; environmental factors; myofascial dysfunction; intolerances to food and/or other allergic reactions; and psychological stress.newsletter_teaser: Excessive thoracic kyphosis is a disproportionate forward rounding or curvature of the middle and upper back. This musculoskeletal imbalance is extremely common.

Excessive thoracic kyphosis is a disproportionate forward rounding or curvature of the middle and upper back, also known as the thoracic spine (Kendall, McCreary & Provance 2005). ETK is an extremely common musculoskeletal imbalance brought on by prolonged time in some postural positions; exercise and/or activity choices; environmental factors; myofascial dysfunction; intolerances to food and/or other allergic reactions; and psychological stress.

While the psoas major muscle affects many fitness activities, there is widespread confusion about its actual role in the body. What does this muscle do, and why is it shortened in so many people? Anatomy of the Psoasnewsletter_teaser: While the psoas major muscle affects many fitness activities, there is widespread confusion about its actual role in the body. What does this muscle do?

Running has long been a favorite fitness activity for millions of people. It’s an accessible cardiorespiratory exercise, a fun social event and a natural antidepressant. However, as more people catch the running bug, more also succumb to common overuse injuries. newsletter_teaser: Running has long been a favorite fitness activity for millions of people. It’s an accessible cardiorespiratory exercise, a fun social event and a natural antidepressant.

It’s no wonder the psoas are so misunderstood. The very process of naming these muscles connecting the top half of the body to the lower half has been a series of errors spanning four centuries.

Pilates footwork: simple yet powerful, it is typically the first exercise taught on the reformer. Called the “Pilates fortuneteller” by Amy Taylor Alpers from the Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado, footwork reveals postural patterns and muscle imbalances of the hips, legs and feet and is an effective exercise for correcting them. If you are a Pilates instructor, this basic, functional movement of closed-kinetic-chain hip and knee flexion and extension allows you to help a client

People invest a lot of money in the search for eternal youth. But one of the most effective, inexpensive and pain-free ways to look and feel younger is to perform daily stretches that ward off kyphosis (rounding of the thoracic spine, resulting in a hunched shape); that keep the spine mobile; that lengthen the quadriceps to help sustain a tall, lifted posture; and that maintain a healthy range of motion in the hips. Encourage participants to practice these stretches, which will help support an active body over a lifetime. Stability Ball Chest Openernewsletter_teaser: People invest a lot of money in the search for eternal youth. But one of the most effective, inexpensive and pain-free ways to look and feel younger is to perform daily stretches.

Adding to the growing body of research documenting the benefits of Pilates exercise, an individualized clinical Pilates program has been found to provide the same benefits as a general exercise program for people with chronic low-back pain. Findings from the randomized controlled study appeared in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2012; doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e318248f665). newsletter_teaser: Adding to the growing body of research documenting the benefits of Pilates exercise, an individualized clinical Pilates program has been found to provide the same benefits as a general exercise program for people with chronic low-back pain.