Treating & Preventing Injuries through Corrective Exercise

The subject of injuries - be it running, cycling, weight training— is a vast one and one which is discussed at length on a daily basis on social media.

Just flick though the #ukrunchat tweets after the ukrunchat hour on Wednesday and see how many questions are put to the running community about running injuries, how to diagnose and how to treat them.

Of course, the only 100% effective way to diagnose or treat injury is to seek professional advice from a qualified physiotherapist or sports therapist.

They can ask a series of questions about the nature of your injury and perform a detailed assessment on everything from your joint / muscle ROM (Range of Movement) to specific tender areas etc and make an accurate diagnosis.

However, this level of expertise, although fully justifiably, attracts a fairly hefty price tag (unless you’ve got private health care of course).

Given that the average cost for a single treatment is between £40-60, it doesn’t take long for your wallet to be in just as much pain as your injury.

Although the investment in a physiotherapist / sports therapist is often well worth it, sadly not every runner has the means to afford such an expense - often on a regular basis.

But there is an alternative…….

Corrective Exercise - A functional approach to preventing and treating injuries

Our approach to injuries at GH Training is multifaceted - but it our application of Corrective Exercise that sets us apart from other forms of injury diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

Corrective Exercise is a fast growing area of human movement assessment, applying a systemic process of identifying neuromuscular dysfunction and treating that dysfunction with a series of very simple techniques.

What does that mean in plain English?

In short, the Corrective Exercise approach to injury and / or injury prevention is to rebalance key musculature. This is done by the performing following simple procedure:

1. Identify areas of dysfunction - by performing a series of stationary and dynamic assessments.
2. Identify tight / overactive active muscles - which can then be released using a foam roller or other similar tool for “self myofascial release”
3. Identify weak / inactive muscles - which can then be activated and strengthened by performing simple exercises.
4. Integrate reactivated muscles - back into the normal / synergistic movement patterns of the body.

It’s a process that is a lot simpler than you might think - in fact there’s a good chance you are already doing it (albeit incorrectly) without even being or aware of it.

If you use a foam roller, stretch, and lift weights or do any form of resistance training, then you are already familiar with corrective exercise - all you’ve got to do now is learn which specific muscles need to be released, then stretched and then strengthened - and in what order!

Is it dangerous? Can I injure myself?

It’s not more dangerous or harmful than any current stretching, foam rolling or strengthening programme you are already following.

The key difference is that by performing the “self assessment videos” in the GH Training Running Hub, you’ll be able to find out (rather than guess) which muscles need releasing, stretching and then strengthening.

By following our corrective exercise programme, you’re far less likely to injure yourself as you won’t be stretching / releasing any soft tissue that does not need to be stretched or released.