NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialization covers advanced topics needed to assess and correct muscle imbalances and movement compensations across all major joints. With the help of this specialization, you’ll be able to provide a highly sought-after service for a wider range of clients—including athletes and people who are post-treatment and post-rehab for musculoskeletal disorders.
Onsite at Mudarrib Company
Approximately 24 Teaching Hours
The ability for applying the exam during 1 Year
The **Corrective Exercise Specialization (CES)** by NASM is a deep dive into the science and art of movement. This course is designed for fitness and health professionals who want to go beyond traditional training and truly understand how the body moves, compensates, and heals. It equips you with the skills to identify muscle imbalances, poor movement patterns, and postural deviations—and gives you the tools to correct them effectively.
From the very beginning, you’re guided through the foundation of **Human Movement Science**, exploring how muscles, joints, and the nervous system work together to create efficient motion. You then learn how to evaluate clients through static, movement, and mobility assessments, uncovering the root causes behind their discomfort or limited performance.
The program introduces you to the **Corrective Exercise Continuum**, a four-phase system that teaches you how to:
1. **Inhibit** overactive muscles through techniques like foam rolling, 2. **Lengthen** tight areas using targeted stretching, 3. **Activate** weak or underused muscles with precise strengthening drills, and 4. **Integrate** the entire body into coordinated, functional movement patterns.
Each section of the course takes you deeper into practical strategies for every major joint and region of the body—from the feet and ankles that ground us, to the hips and spine that control balance and power, all the way up to the shoulders and neck that affect daily posture and performance. You’ll also learn essential **recovery and self-care techniques**, helping clients handle physical stress, prevent overtraining, and enhance long-term results.
What makes this course special is its **real-world application**. By the end, you won’t just know the theory—you’ll be able to apply corrective exercise principles confidently in the gym, rehab center, or performance studio. You’ll have the expertise to design tailored programs that improve mobility, stability, and strength, reducing injury risk and boosting overall movement quality.
Whether you’re a personal trainer, physical therapist, coach, or massage therapist, the NASM-CES gives you a professional edge. It opens the door to working with a broader range of clients—from athletes and post-rehab patients to everyday individuals who simply want to move and feel better.
Ultimately, this specialization transforms the way you see the body. You’ll stop treating symptoms and start addressing the root causes of dysfunction—helping people move more freely, perform better, and live healthier, more balanced lives.
1.Assessment Skills Learn to perform movement assessment (OSHA, single-leg squat, pushing/pulling, etc.). Identify common muscle imbalances overactive/ Underactive muscles, and faulty movement patterns. Recognize signs of poor posture and compensations during exercise. 2. Corrective Exercise Knowledge. Understand the corrective exercise continuum (CEx) a. Inhabit (release overactive muscles) b. Lengthening (stretch tight muscle) c. Activate (strengthen underactive muscles) d. Integrate (teach proper movement patterns)
3. Program Design . Create personalized corrective exercise program for client. . Progress and regress corrective strategies safely. .blend corrective work with strength, conditioning, and performance training. 4. Client Outcomes . Improve client’s mobility, stability, and balance. . Reduce risk of injury and enhance movement efficiency.
Help athletes and general population move better in daily life and support. 5.Professioanl Outcomes
. Stand out as a specialist in injury prevention, posture correction, and movement optimization. . Work with a boarder range of clients (post-rehab, athletes, beginners, older adults. . Add credibility and value to your personal training, ort fitness coaching career.
As one of the most trusted sources of fitness training certifications and credentials in the world, NASM is a distinguished name that will stand out to employers. When you choose NASM for your Corrective Exercise Specialization, you’ll get access to world-class fitness experts, your top choice of gyms to work for, and much more: • Peer-Reviewed Content from the Brightest Minds in the Industry • State-of-the-Art Digital Learning Platform • Programs Designed to Meet Multiple Learning Styles • 35+ Years of Experience Training Fitness Professionals • 1.5M+ Fitness Professionals Trained • 100+ Countries with NASM Fitness and Coach Professionals
Over the course of our lives, we develop movement imbalances and compensations that lead to unhealthy movement patterns. Corrective Exercise is a series of assessment and movement techniques that address these unhealthy patterns and help improve movement quality, and therefore overall quality of life, more effective workouts, and improved function in everyday life.
As a Corrective Exercise Specialist, you'll use your knowledge and skills to assess your client's posture, joint mobility, and movement quality. You'll correct your client’s muscle imbalances and faulty movement patterns to help them gain the necessary flexibility and strength to reduce injury risk and maximize exercise performance.
Fitness professionals who should consider becoming an NASM CES include: • Personal trainers who want to help their clients move better and increase resistance to injury • Physical therapists who want to help improve their patients’ progress • Chiropractors who want to help their clients achieve better results and recovery • Fitness coaches who want to help their clients enhance their recovery and become more resistant to injury • Massage therapists who want to learn more ways to suggest self-care recovery programming • Strength and conditioning coaches who want to help athletes increase performance and durability with targeted warm-up protocols, flexibility, and strength work that improve movement quality
When you achieve your Corrective Exercise Specialization, you’ll be eligible to work at a wide range of gyms, health clubs, sports performance centers, recovery centers, health care offices, fitness studios, and more.
It’s not required, but we recommend having at least one of these credentials before you pursue the Corrective Exercise Specialization: • NASM CPT certification • Certified Massage Therapist • NCCA, NBFE or DETC Accredited Health/Fitness Certification, or a 4-year college degree in a similar field • REPs Level 3 or higher for international trainers
Yes. Once you have successfully completed your course you will be awarded 1.9 CEUs, and may count them towards your NASM CPT 2.0 CEU recertification requirement.
You will have 1 year from the day of registration to take your final exam. An extension can be purchased.
The Corrective Exercise Specialization exam is taken online inside your student portal. This exam features: • 100 multiple-choice questions • 90 minutes to complete • Open-book format • 70% required to pass • 3 test attempts included
Don’t worry! You’ll have 3 attempts to pass the final exam, and you can purchase additional retests.
No. Once you pass the final exam, your Corrective Exercise Specialization with NASM will never expire.
Although it is not required, it is rcommended that candidates have at least one of the following credentials: • NASM-CPT Certification • Certified Massage Therapist • NCCA, NBFE or DETC Accredited Health/Fitness Certification • 4-Year College Degree • REPs Level 3 or higher (international)
The student will understand the rationale and importance of delivering corrective exercise training to clients.
Discover the relationship between functional anatomy, the human movement system, and optimal movement and how this applies to the overall corrective exercise strategy.
Choose and implement the appropriate inhibitory strategies based on the current evidence gained from the assessments you’ve conducted.
Learn the rationale and proper implementation of various flexibility modalities.
Understand the guidelines, precautions, and contraindications for implementing isolated strengthening exercises.
Understand the importance of integrated dynamic movement and how to progress these movements to reach your client’s performance goals.
Learn best practices for client intake and assessment to create the most targeted training program that addresses their specific needs.
Unlock the vital first step in the corrective exercise assessment process, which gives insight into the overall body alignment of the client.
Movement assessments are the cornerstone of the assessment process. Work through the assessment flowchart, selecting the most relevant and targeted assessments.
Gain an understanding of how to further refine the assessment process with targeted mobility assessments.
Human movement is a complex balance of sensory stimulation, neuromuscular control, and biomechanical stabilization. At the root of human movement is the relationship between the foot and ankle. This chapter will review and explain the vital function of this aspect of the kinetic chain.
Because the knee is so commonly injured, it is essential to know the kinetic function of this area of the body. You will learn the basic anatomy of the knee, strategies for treating it with corrective exercises, and how to identify abnormal muscle activation patterns.
The lumbo-pelvic-hip complex (LPHC) is a region of the body that has a massive influence on the structures above and below it. Because of this influence on neighboring muscles and joints, it's an incredibly important region to understand. The Corrective Exercise Specialist will learn how to ensure clients' LPHC are moving efficiently and safely.
This chapter will delve into the anatomy of the thoracic spine and shoulder, the mechanisms for common injuries in this region, the influence of altered thoracic spine movements on the kinetic chain, and more.
The elbow joint functions as a link between the shoulder and wrist, providing a large amount of stability and motion. Given the complexity and necessity of the wrist and elbow, dysfunction can often be debilitating to normal activities of daily living. Within this chapter of the course, you will learn how to navigate this complex interplay between the wrist and elbow.
This chapter will show you anatomy of the cervical spine, how to determine appropriate systematic assessment strategies for the cervical spine, how to select the appropriate strategies, and common injuries found in this region of the body.
Intense training and life stress can place unfamiliar demands on the body. Learn recovery strategies to mitigate the effects of these stressors on the body so that your clients can perform at an optimal level.
Learn how to implement corrective exercise in a variety of scenarios and environments for clients with varying goals.
After the completion of the course, you will take an online final exam, that consists of 100 questions. Each question will be multiple-choice. The exam is timed and cannot exceed 90 minutes. To pass, you need a score of 70% or higher. Don’t fret though, if you score below that, you have up to 3 attempts to pass.
