The functional movement screen

It’s been a really busy couple of months, which unfortunately has limited the amount of time I have had to devote to blogging. However, with my new iPad and changed work schedule, there is now no excuses!

Since my last post I have travelled to the states to do the Biosignature course with Charles poliquin, spent time with Charles in a private consultation, been certified as a level 2 kettlebell instructor, a level 1 Olympic weight lifting coach, been certified in the functional movement screen and resumed teaching duties in another state. Lots of fun and lots of hard work!

Over the next few weeks I will blog about my experiences at these different workshops and courses and how what I have learnt and taken away from these courses to improve my clients results. Today I will talk about the functional movement screen and it’s relevance to training.

“first move well, then move often”
Gray Cook

This mantra is behind the entire philosophy of the functional movement screen. It is not enough to go the the gym and train hard and expect to move well, with adequate mobility and injury free. We need to identify if we do have weak links, restrictions and movement pattern flaws and have a baseline to measure them against. If we are improving in our movement, then we will be more efficient, more powerful, healthier and get better results out of our training. Period.

A lot of people in the biofeedback school of though of training have shown a general sound of disapproval of the functional movement screen and are claiming that you don’t need to screen, you just need to test movement. If you move better, it is a good movement. That is the entire essence of the FMS! You test a movement, perform a corrective strategy and see if you move better. If it helps, keep doing it! The only difference with the FMS is it compares movement to a baseline, which allows for quantification of results.

A lot of people will argue with this that because they are getting stronger, they are moving better and do not need to screen movement. Bullshit. I’m stronger in the leg press compared to the overhead barbell squat. Which exercise challenges movement more?How do you know you are moving better if you have no baseline to compare it with? If you are getting stronger without increasing efficiency and quality of movement, you are basically adding strength to dysfunction, another thought provoking sentence first said by Gray Cook.

In my opinion the FMS is a great tool to use for a trainer in the screening process of a client to identify potential problems and to quantify what you are doing. If you can quantify what you are doing, you can prove what you are doing works. Will I use the FMS in my practice? Yes. Will I rely on it as my primary tool? No. The problem with the screen is some people believe it is the right thing to us for every problem. That is absolutely not true and the inventors of the screen will tell you the same thing. It is one tool of many tools that we will use at DC Health Performance. Everything has a place at a certain time.

I would personally like to thank the instructor, Dr Mark Cheng for sharing with us his expertise, time and encouraging manner. This was Dr. Cheng’s first time instructing the FMS solo but he did a great job. If he was nervous, it didn’t show!

Until next time, move well and then move often!

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