People either love coriander and that guacamole without it is an abomination, or they run screaming at first taste when they see the little green bits in their salsa. It’s amazing that an herb can be so divisive. Not that there are other divisive herbs.

Corrective exercises are like coriander in that they too seem to be quite divisive. In particular, they come up as a reason some people have for disliking the FMS (Functional Movement Screen). I have read many a rant about how people who use the FMS are wasting their client’s time because they spend their entire training session corrective movement patterns, and that if they want their clients to succeed, they need to get their clients squatting and deadlifting instead of wasting time with mini bands.

I completely agree. Training clients entirely with corrective exercises and doing no strength training is not great training. In fact every trainer I know who uses corrective exercises would also agree. The assumption that someone who uses corrective exercises ONLY uses corrective exercises is ridiculous. If someone tells you they like coriander, you wouldn’t assume they only eat coriander. Coriander elevates salsas and guacamole to new heights that could never be achieved without it, but without the salsas and guacamole, it’s just a plant.
Corrective exercise is the same way: Its presence elevates the training.

I view the use of corrective exercises as a very efficient way to prepare for the workout. My clients will do a warm-up that lasts between 5 and 15 minutes based on how well they move, how fit they are, and how old they are. The primary goal of my warm-up is the same as it would be if I didn’t believe in corrective exercise: To prepare the body for the work ahead. The only difference is that I accomplish this with specific exercises intended to improve weak or limited aspects of the person’s body instead of general exercises.

Ask any engineer how much they love accomplishing two outcomes with one task and you’ll understand why I love warm-ups built on customized corrective exercises.

Now that the warm-up is done, we move on to the pillars of the workout: power, agility, strength, and conditioning. My clients pick up heavy things and put them down again just like yours do.

Elsbeth Vaino, B.Sc., CSCS, is a personal trainer in Ottawa who likes to do mini-band walks before lifting heavy weights.

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