Functional Movement Screen

Posted by: Ava Elliott, Marketing Intern and Future Dietitian

Hess Physical Therapy provides rehabilitation services in the west side of Pittsburgh. Their team of physical therapists uses a science-based approach to provide the utmost care for their patients. The following post is written by Jessica Homer, the Director of Operations, and her colleague about functional movement screening. Their services are similar to what Alex at Case Specific Athletics provides to the east side of Pittsburgh.

THINKING ABOUT YOUR FALL WORKOUTS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS?

THINK ABOUT FMS!

Functional Movement Screen

Written By: Jessica Homer, PT, DPT, COMT, HMS, OCS

Gage Swartz PT, DPT, COMT, CSCS, FMS, USAW

Alex Kalmar, CSCS

What is the FMS?The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a screening tool used to evaluate fundamental movement patterns that are necessary for an individual’s optimal performance. The FMS is designed to provide an individual with opportunities to improve movement and maximize their training results. The screen is a series of movements that highlight dysfunction where stability and mobility deficits exist. Many individuals who perform weightlifting, sports, and other activities at high levels are limited in fundamental movement, thus increasing their risk for injury. The desire to perform quantity over quality results in compensatory movements to achieve or maintain the level of performance required for that activity. The use of compensation during movement will lead to poor biomechanics. This limits gains in performance and reduces the body’s ability to remain adaptable against the risks involved in that activity or sport.Why FMS?FMS screening will provide an individual with a personalized report on areas of weakness, asymmetries, and movement dysfunction that correlates with their activity of interest. These results will highlight ways to optimize and improve performance, maximize results, and ultimately decrease risk of injury! If you want to learn how to improve your performance, maximize your results and decrease risk of injury, you will want to get an individual FMS score!SummaryFMS is a great tool to observe someone’s movement quality and highlight any asymmetries they may have. A key focus to proper training is to balance out any asymmetries. This helps mitigate compensatory movements due to strength or mobility imbalances, which will hopefully improve biomechanics and limit risk of injury in all populations.So, before you begin developing your workout program, think about FMS! For functional movement screening in the North and West Sides of Pittsburgh, check out Hess Physical Therapy and their team at hesspt.comFor FMS on the East Side, reach out to Alex Kalmar of Case Specific Athletics at alex@casespecificathletics.com