No. Physical Therapists utilize corrective lengthening and strengthening exercises as part of treatment. It is one of many tools in their tool kit. CESs and PTs differ greatly in the populations they treat. PTs are able to provide rehabilitative work for more severe injuries and chronic issues. A CES is limited to working on an otherwise healthy population. Our work as Corrective Exercise Specialists centers around optimization and prevention. If you would not be cleared by a doctor to work out or exercise, a LMT CES will be unable to provide corrective exercises. In some injury cases, it is still appropriate for a Doctor of Chiropractic to recommend Therapeutic Exercises. In cases of serious injury, we often supplement a patient’s Physical Therapy with massage and chiropractic focusing on directives outlined by the patient’s PT. Not all patients feel an injury is fully resolved during their time spent receiving Physical Therapy. If this is the case, we are typically able to help a patient continue making progress in their injury recovery & rehabilitation once they have been released from Physical Therapy, and at significantly lower cost than continuing seeing a cash practice PT.

NASM.com (National Academy of Sports Medicine) answers this question well when they say, “Movement is a reality of everyday life regardless of if you work in an office building or are a professional athlete. Corrective Exercise is imperative in identifying and addressing imbalances that cause posture, stability, and mobility issues.” NASM also notes that, “Studies show proper Corrective Exercise intervention can improve neuromuscular control, which can reduce risk of future injuries.”

It depends on the goal of the exercises. While there is no hard and fast rule, we typically find that exercises to reduce imbalance are performed short term unless the imbalance is chronic due to work or hobby demands. Corrective Exercises designed to support chronically unstable joints or maintain joint strength for a particular physical activity often become part of regular training. Many patients perform Corrective Exercises for a short time and then again, periodically, when addressing misfiring muscles.

Some movements require simple & inexpensive equipment such as bands, foam rollers, or lacrosse balls, but most exercises can be performed with only your body weight. Our Corrective Exercise Specialists are skilled in scaling movements to fit your needs.

In short, no. We have found that even a few minutes of exercise once per week can make noticeable changes in performance after just a few weeks. That being said, these exercises work just like any other exercises – the more you can commit (especially early on), the more quickly you will create noticeable changes, helping to reduce pain symptoms, improve balance/strength, or increase athletic performance abilities.

Corrective Exercise programming is an at-home or self-care component to supporting your body and optimizing performance. In the most ideal world, Chiropractic & Massage care are meant to supplement frequent, quality self-care. Practicing self-care in conjunction with professional care ensures athletes can train & compete at their highest potential.

The purpose of Corrective Exercise is to retrain your nervous system to appropriately activate your muscles or restore muscular balance. When working to engage underactive muscles, the goal of the exercises is to lightly fatigue the muscles before moving on. This focus helps avoid any compensation from synergistic muscles that are not being targeted. When restoring muscular balance, it is common to fatigue only one side, despite working both sides equally.