I often get a statement from clients and personal trainers: “My doctor has told me that I have some scoliosis in my spine. What can I do about it?” After training people with scoliosis and hearing these questions from several trainers and coaches, I created Effective Exercises for Scoliosis.
I am a huge devotee of learning. Every few months, I like to look into the research to see what is new regarding scoliosis and exercises. I am at a conference in San Diego, and before the meeting, I am writing this post at a local coffee shop at 4:30 am.
Research Looked At:
What effect does a 6-week aerobic training program have on girls with mild scoliosis compared to a control group?
What are the Results of the Corrective Exercise and Scoliosis Research:
- The aerobic training program led to an improvement anaerobic threshold in both groups.
- There was a significant change in body composition in the scoliosis group.
- The VO2 max grew 17% in the scoliosis group and 10% in the control group.
Rick’s Comment on the Research:
This shows that those with scoliosis can benefit from aerobic exercise. Yes, slow, boring cardio. Getting those with scoliosis to work on their cardiovascular fitness leads to developing cardiovascular levels and body shape.
In fitness, there has been a trend in discouraging cardiovascular training. With special populations, like those with scoliosis, there are physiological and anthropometric benefits from filling it in. Those with scoliosis should be encouraged to exercise cardiovascular and work with fitness professionals to help guide them on what to do.
This will lessen pain levels, slow down the process of their scoliosis, and improve self-image in girls with scoliosis.
We need to educate girls with scoliosis that it is okay, safe, and valuable for them to do cardiovascular fitness.
Is Corrective Exercise Good for those with Scoliosis?
This is What the Researchers Looked At:
A group of 94 children aged 8 to 13 with scoliosis performed a 6-month corrective exercise program in the water to help the curvature of the spine and movement.
What the Corrective Exercise Program Looked Like:
The corrective exercise program was divided into three parts.
The first part of the corrective exercise program was to prepare the child’s body for physical effort. This was 10-minutes long, including a hot shower, dry land movements, and swimming a short distance.
The second phase was the central part of the program, which was the intensive main. Some exercises were backstroke with a kickboard under the head and thoracic spine, scissor kicks with a kickboard and movements with a waist float.
The third part was a 5-minute recovery phase with a whirlpool, warm shower, and water massage in the shower.
The Results of the Scoliosis Research:
- There was a significant increase in the length of the spine.
- The bending angle of the spine improved.
- Shoulder mobility and erector spinae strength improved.
Rick’s Take on the Research:
This is more evidence of the importance of exercise for chronic injuries like scoliosis. The thought is that people with chronic wounds, like scoliosis, should be cautious when exercising. Yes, they should be, but they must incorporate this into their lives. This will help improve their scoliosis.
It is excellent to see corrective exercise moving more and more into the research, but it is interesting to see what these researchers from Poland called “corrective exercise.” This differs from what many fitness professionals in North America call corrective exercise.
Their corrective exercise program includes a dynamic warm-up, followed by the main program and wrapped up with recovery strategies. This research shows it is excellent for scoliosis clients, but this is a program structure that will help anyone.
That is it for this morning’s learning on scoliosis and exercise.
Now it is off to learn some training techniques for fat loss. It should be fun.
If you are looking for an exercise program targeted at scoliosis, check out Effective Exercises for Scoliosis:
Rick Kaselj, MS
Here are a few more articles on scoliosis and exercise that may interest you:
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