THE FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SCREEN AND WHY IT SHOULD BE IMPORTANT TO YOU!
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| Trainer Michael Dain Smith evaluating CAC Pine Lake Members Movements. |
Have you ever heard anyone ask
this: “you need to move well, before you move more?” This leads to the next
question: Do you give up your stability
so you can move more (mobility)? Most of us do this without knowing and we end
up with aches, pains, dysfunction and worse, injury, which can lead you to seek
out a physician or physical therapist. You may get a few exercises or maybe
some pills and the hope that it will work.
In other words, they’re just guessing when it comes to determine why
your back, shoulder, knee, etc., is dysfunctional. The following information
might just save you a trip to a health care provider.
What if I told you there is a
method, which may help prevent future aches, pain, dysfunction and injury, by
helping you move better? What if I said
with a 30-minute assessment you could find out how well you really do
move? This new tool that is widely being
used by the health and fitness industry is called the Functional Movement
Screen (FMS). Gray Cook and Lee Burton, who are both highly skilled
professionals in the fields of Physical Therapy and Strength and Conditioning,
created the FMS. Professional athletes and strength coaches use the FMS as a
screen to assess risk of injury. After
all, you don’t want a multi-million-dollar athlete succumbing to an avoidable
injury due to poor movement patterns. The FMS uses 7 different movement
patterns to identify and differentiate stability or mobility (flexibility)
issues as well as numerous corrective exercise strategies to assist in
improving the poor movement.
Why do we choose to use this
screen? As an exercise professional, it
gives me a tool to help determine what exercise programs would be most
beneficial for you.
So why is it so important? Well it’s no secret we live in a sedentary
society where many of us sit in front of desks and computers all day. Our
bodies are great at adapting to what we do most. If you spend 4-6 hours a day sitting, your
nervous system works your muscles to sit more effectively. If your shoulders
are rounded at the computer with the mouse on the right side clicking away then
the nervous system will adapt to that as well. We are what we do all
day. The only problem is when you go to stand up and walk around,
those shortened hip flexors, ineffective glute muscles and tight chest muscles
don’t allow you to move the way you should. They are what cause pain and
stiffness in the back, hips, knees and neck. So, when you decide that you’ve
had enough of the sedentary lifestyle and finally say, "I need to do
something about my health today. I need to lose weight," or “I need to
firm up,” we have to consider your current condition. If you start exercising a body with a weak
core (lack of stability), tight hips (no mobility), stretched back muscles, no
glute function (inactive due to sitting all day) and numerous other imbalances,
the running and weight lifting may just bring on more stiffness and pain. There
are people who can use this formula with success, but in many cases,
individuals who start an exercise program on this foundation are the first to
complain of hip, back, neck, or shoulder pain.
The truth is, the FMS isn't always going to have every answer for every
situation, but it tells me right away what NOT to do with someone.
Kettlebell swings, planks, squats, and push-ups are some of the best moves in
the world for functional training.
However, if you do them with bad form and technique, it will just
strength your movement dysfunctions. So you may live longer, but will you be
healthy in doing so?
The FMS is a tool that gives me
the understanding of the appropriate steps to take to help correct imbalances
and reset movement patterns. I can't begin to count how many people I’ve seen
over the years exercising and believing they are helping themselves, only to
end up injured or creating a dysfunction without their knowing. It’s not normal to constantly feel continual
soreness and pain.
So how does the FMS work?
The FMS is a grading system that
documents movement patterns that are essential to normal function. By screening
these patterns, the FMS readily identifies functional limitations and
asymmetries that can reduce the effects of training and distort body awareness.
From the FMS, you get a Functional Movement Screen Score, which is used to
target problems and track progress. This scoring system is directly linked to
the most beneficial corrective exercises to restore mechanically sound movement
patterns. As an exercise professional, I monitor your FMS score to track
progress and to identify those exercises that will be most effective to restore
proper movement and build strength.
How can you benefit from
the FMS?
I use the FMS to gather
information about you before I prescribe or recommend any exercise. If I didn’t, then I would be doing you a
disservice. It gives us a baseline that identifies asymmetries and limitations,
without extensive testing and analysis, and provides strategies to correct
those imbalances before they become chronic injuries. The FMS can be applied at
any fitness level, across a wide array of movement issues. It identifies
specific exercises based on individual results and helps me to create
customized exercises that are appropriate for you.
Bad exercise is not fitness!
Merely exercising without a purpose is not
good enough. It may have been in days
past, but we’ve advanced into a highly technical, sedentary society, removed
from the lifestyle our ancestors experienced.
In past generations, daily movement patterns allowed them to handle the
increased activity and load without breakdown or elevated risk of injury. That isn’t necessarily the case today. We don’t want to put strength and fitness on
top of dysfunction, yet many people do just that and then can’t figure out why
they constantly have nagging aches and pains.
The FMS is a great tool to help us put together better fitness programs
that are more efficient and get results!
REMEMBER
THE BEST PIECE OF EQUIPMENT YOU CAN USE IN THE GYM IS YOUR BODY!
Provided by CAC Pine Lake Personal Trainer Michael Dain Smith
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