Personal Trainer or Corrective Exercise Specialist?
Corrective Exercise
Most people have heard of a Personal Trainer, but what about a Corrective Exercise Specialist? In a nutshell, a personal trainer helps a person get into better physical shape. A corrective exercise specialist on the other hand, works to correct muscle imbalances to improve performance. Most corrective exercise specialists double as personal trainers, and many areas of the two overlap. Corrective exercise can be thought of as a specialty within the personal training profession, and often work with people just coming out of physical therapy.
Personal Trainer
The length of time a person works with a corrective exercise specialist is usually for a set duration. Versus the indefinite length of time people work with personal trainers. Once the muscle imbalance is corrected, or repaired as much as possible, the person graduates from the program. From there, many people choose to transition to working with a personal trainer, exercising on their own, or doing nothing at all. The latter we hope doesn’t happen.
Industry Overlap
Other players within the physical fitness industry:
- Physical therapists (PT) – licensed health care professional that works either in a hospital setting or in private practice. They specialize in rehabbing injuries. And this requires a physical therapy degree.
- Athletic trainers (AT) – licensed health care professionals that usually work with sports teams. They’re the guys and gals you see on the side lines taping up the athletes. They provide various therapies like massage, ice, etc. They often times collaborate with physicians and physical therapists because they assist with rehab.
- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS) – While not a licensed profession, they earned accreditation with the National Commissions for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). They focus on improving athletic performance and often work in high school and college environments. It’s common practice to see the “CSCS” designation behind the names of both physical therapists as well as athletic trainers.
- Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) – this is not to be confused with a physical therapist (PT). As of 2016, no state requires personal trainers carry a license. And not all personal training certifications are equal. Certifications recognized by the NCCA are considered authentic, while the majority out there are not. Personal trainers usually work with individuals or small groups in private setting like gyms, studios, homes, or corporate environments. While sub-specialties exist within this, like the Corrective Exercise Specialist (not yet recognized by the NCCA), a personal trainer works to improve a person’s physical condition.
Hopefully this helped shed some light on these overlapping areas of the health and fitness industry. Grab my free report on personal training right here to help you decipher more on the various certifications. And don’t forget to live your life to the Optimum!
Melissa
OptimumCondition.com
(619) 252-4993
Empowering people through fitness, education, and coaching
