The person I was meeting with let me know about his daughter who was in a scoliosis brace from the age of 3 to 16. He asked me for some advice on what she should be doing when it comes to scoliosis exercises.
Of all the things she can do - the number one thing - is exercise.
3 Scoliosis Exercise Tips
With scoliosis, there is a very large spectrum of clients. There are clients that can have minor scoliosis or major scoliosis.
Here are some tips for a client that has minor scoliosis. Often times this kind of client will let you know during your assessment that they have been told by their doctor that they have minor scoliosis.
What is in Each Part of the Scoliosis & Exercise Manual?
Scoliosis & Exercise REPORT
- 4 page research based article that highlights the key points when designing an exercise program for a client with scoliosis
- 1 page of resources to get more information on scoliosis and exercise
- 16 pages transcripts of the interview of the fitness professional, client and health care professional on scoliosis and exercise.
Scoliosis & Exercise INTERVIEW CD
- Audio cd that is 50 minutes in length with an interview from a fitness professional, client and health care professional on scoliosis and exercise.
- An interview with Ryan Ketchum who is a fitness professional and he provides his experience designing exercise programs for clients with scoliosis, plus he shares the keys that a fitness professionals should remember when designing an exercise program for a client with scoliosis
- An interview with a Simone Icough who is a client that suffers from scoliosis. She shares her experience with scoliosis surgery and how she manages scoliosis
- An interview with Dr. Will Kalla on providing his opinion on exercise for the scoliosis client. He talks about exercise considerations for youth and older adults with scoliosis plus share new research in the area of scoliosis
Scoliosis & Exercise MANUAL
- Resource manual that is 177 pages in length
- 107 pages dedicated to theory behind scoliosis
- 75 pages dedicated to exercises for your client with Scoliosis
- has over 168 photos
- 78 different exercises for scoliosis
- 50 question distance education exam (3 to 4 Continuing Education Credits are pending.)
The Scoliosis & Exercise manual is targeted for fitness & rehabilitation professionals that work in exercise rehabilitation, post rehab, with special populations and with clients with chronic disease. The manual will give fitness & rehabilitation professionals a resource to work with a client with scoliosis.
Exercise professions that have purchased the manual:
- Kinesiologist
- Exercise Therapists
- Exercise Physiologists
- Personal Trainers
- 3rd Age Instructors
Other professions that have purchased the manual:
- Chiropractor
- Physical Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Rehab Assistants
- University Faculty
- Pilates Studio Owner
- Personal Training Studio Manager
- Fitness Centre Owner
- Fitness Professionals in Rural Area
Continuing Education Credits
The Scoliosis & Exercise Program has been approved for:
Saturday, March 14 2009 – Peter Applebombe – The New York Times
You would not have trouble coming up with reasons to be skeptical about Tiffara Steward’s prospects as a college basketball player.She’s all of 4-foot-6 and 90 pounds, too small to get on some amusement park rides, often handed the children’s menu at restaurants. She’s blind in her right eye, which has no cornea. She’s partly deaf. She was born three months premature, weighing 2 pounds 15 ounces. She has scoliosis, which left one leg shorter than the other. Some of her vertebrae didn’t develop properly. She had six operations by age 3.
And in her blue jeans, black vest and Size 1 Air Jordans, bouncing a ball on the rubberized court where the Farmingdale State Rams play on Long Island, she could be mistaken for someone’s kid sister who managed to sneak into the gym.
What I try to do once a month is to see what is new in the exercise rehabilitation world.
There are a lot of okay places to go but I have a list of journals that I try to visit to see what is new and if there is any new information that will improve my courses or new exercises for my clients.
Let me share with you a little of what I found:
Curve Progression in Idiopathic Scoliosis: Follow-up Study to Skeletal Maturity Spine: 1 April 2009 – Volume 34 – Issue 7 – pp 697-700
This is article is at a great time. I am just wrapping up the scoliosis and exercise manual. It shows that Cobb angle is still the best predictor of long-term curve progression. This content is already in the upcoming manual and if you have subscribed to the exercise and injuries manuals, you will learn more about Cobb angle and a pre-screen for scoliosis, next week.
Take Home Message – Know what Cobb Angle is and it is the besting indicator of the scoliosis getting worse in a client.
Patellofemoral Joint Force and Stress during the Wall Squat and One-Leg Squat. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 41(4):879-888, April 2009.
This was very interesting article. The research is nice but what I am looking at is how can it help with my clients. I have a number of clients that report anterior knee pain with a wall squat. I modify their technique in order to decrease that stress. I never knew that I could change the joint angle of the squat in order to decrease the stress on the knee joint.
“When the goal is to minimize patellofemoral compressive force and stress, it may be prudent to use a smaller knee angle range between 0[degrees] and 50[degrees] compared with a larger knee angle range between 60[degrees] and 90[degrees].”
Take Home Messages:
1 – Wall squat creates more force on the patella than a single leg squat.
2 – Having the foot a short ways or a long ways from the wall created equal force on the patella in the wall squat except between 60 to 90 degrees of knee bend.
3 – A wall squat between 0 to 50 degrees of knee bend creates less force on the patella than one performed at 60 to 90 degrees of knee bend.
Breakdance Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Amateurs and Professionals Am J Sports Med April 2009 vol. 37 no. 4 797-802
Sometimes there is some fun research out there. I thought breakdancing died in the 80s. I do know one friend that goes and competes in breakdancing. I have yet to rehab a breakdancer but I will remember their recommendations:
“Breakdance injuries and overuse should not be underestimated. Physicians should be aware of the common risks in this highly acrobatic kind of dancing.”
Take Home Message – Breakdancing is dangerous like every other sport.
I only got to three journals, I guess I will have to do a little more reading.
Let me know what you think of the above, leave a comment.
