Comparison of the Effectiveness of American Academy of Sports Medicine Approach and Traditional Approach Exercises on Correction of Kyphosis Angle and Forward Head Posture in Adolescent Boys

 Kyphosis and forward head posture (FHP) is one of the most common abnormalities in the upper extremity among adolescent students. There is no agreement on which exercise methods can be the most effective approach in the correction of these abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of the 12 weeks of exercise based on the American Academy of sports medicine (NASM) approach and based on the traditional approach on the kyphosis angle and FHP in male adolescent students.

 The current study was of an experimental type with a pre-post-test design with a control group. The participants were 60 male students aged 14 to 17 years old from the 5th educational district of Tehran with kyphosis and forward head deformity, who were selected, based on the inclusion criteria, and randomly included in three groups. The age, height, and weight of the participants were (16.78 ± 0.74), (1.74 ± 4.99) and (73.16 ± 4.10), respectively. The group of the traditional exercises did the exercise based on the traditional approach and the American NASM group did exercise based on this approach for 12 weeks and three 45-minute sessions each week. Before and after intervention exercises, kyphosis and FHP were measured using flexible rulers and photogrammetry. ANCOVA and Bonferroni were used to analyze the data.

 Both groups showed significant improvement before and after the training in dependent variables (p < 0.05). The results also showed further improvement in interested variables in the training group with the approach of the NASM compared to the traditional approach group.

 Both approaches are effective in correcting these abnormalities, but corrective exercises based on the NASM are more effective in correcting these abnormalities, and it is recommended to use this approach to correct kyphosis and FHP.