What "Corrective Exercise" Really Is

James Harris
Dec 15, 2015
2 min read

Corrective exercise gets a really bad name in the fitness industry. A lot of people say it’s witchcraft and a few people say it’s not all terrible. The real question comes down to whether or not it actually works and how to fit it into your routine. First of all, we have to define what a “corrective exercise” is and isn’t. Let’s break this down into layman’s terms.

Simply put, “corrective exercises” are meant to positively adjust how you perform other exercises. It seems odd to have one exercise correct another when the original exercise, in some circles, is meant to be corrective on it’s own. But what happens when it isn’t? What happens when that exercise doesn’t get someone in the mindset of performing it properly? That’s where we use “corrective exercise”, if you want to call it that. It’s simply exercise that helps someone create the movements they need to use in other exercises, but can’t figure out.

Here’s what “corrective exercise” isn’t:

It is not a replacement for all other exercise when whatever you’re doing isn’t working well
It is not meant to take the exerciser away from what they enjoy doing

Here is what it is:

Supplementary work in between the original exercise(s) to create correct movement patterns that can be transferred to the original exercise(s)

Take the deadlift for example.

A trainee is deadlifting with a slightly rounded upper back and their shoulders look like they’re hanging loosely from the sockets. Well, that puts them at risk for a bunch of issues. Depending on the fitness and strength level of the trainee, it might not be a big deal. But. For new clients, I usually insist the exercise is done to absolutely best of their physical ability to make sure they create good exercise habits.

If the trainee can’t get their shoulder blades to depress (move downwards) and retract (move backwards) while deadlifting, I might add the straight arm band pulldown (or something that creates a similar effect) in between their sets to help them “feel the muscle” working.

This would technically qualify that exercise as “corrective”, right? But it hasn’t take them away from doing the deadlift. It just helped them understand, in a different way, how to create that movement in the shoulder blades. Corrective, I know.

Here’s a video describing what I was talking about: