MOVING MORE IS NOT ALWAYS THE RECIPE FOR BETTER FITNESS

We live in a culture that is obsessed with diet and exercise. Or at least in a culture that promotes quick-fix meal plans guaranteed to drop 50 pounds, and high intensity exercise programs with names like Insanity, Body Beast, and TurboFire. We live in a culture known for world-leading medical and scientific breakthroughs. Yet we live in a culture where more than two-thirds of the population are in a state of physical decline. We live in a culture where obesity, heart disease, joint pain and sedentary lifestyles are spiraling upwards at a rate equal to that of our federal deficit.

 

In  an attempt to combat the continuous decline in our society's health problem, physicians, clinicians, celebrity trainers and local politicians are tell people to start an exercise program. Or at least to simply "move more." Unfortunately, millions of people are unable to move, yet alone exercise, due to severe pain. Millions more have lesser degrees of pain, and so they push through an exercise program hoping the pain will go away. But pain is often a health issue, and trying to remedy this with a fitness solution will rarely work. For these people, we need to discover the movement equivalent of the chicken and the egg scenario: Do people move poorly because they're in pain, or are they in pain because they move poorly?

 

Enter the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). The FMS is a system. It is a standard operating procedure for appraising movement pattern proficiency. The FMS consists of 7 basic movement patterns that we knew how to do by the time we were 3 years old, with a simple ranking and grading system. It can be completed in about 12-15 minutes, and it tells the administrator if an individual has dysfunctional and/or asymmetrical movement patterns that can increase his/her risk for injury. The FMS is not intended to diagnose orthopedic issues--it simply lets us know if a person has physical limitations that need to be addressed for optimal movement.

 

Many people who are aware of the FMS believe that its' use is limited to athletes. And while this assessment tool is used by professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS, as well as by PGA and LPGA players, it is not sport-specific. As FMS founder Gray Cook states, "The FMS is species-specific." These patterns show themselves in everyday movements because we are all human beings. Like an Equal Opportunity Employer, it does not discriminate due to age, sex, etc.

 

Testing movement patterns is crucial. The human brain understands movement relationships, not isolated muscle and joint activities. The interconnection between adequate mobility and stability creates balance, efficiency, and economy of movement. But if pain or dysfunction exists, these patterns result in compensations to maintain movement quantity at the expense of quality. Left unaddressed, altered movement patterns can lead to further complications, including debilitating, career-ending injuries.

 

But once movement deficiencies are uncovered, the certified health and fitness professional can then work with the client to correct those inadequacies. Oftentimes, the problem can be corrected in a few weeks. One of our clients, a male in his mid-50's, had knee pain attempting to perform the deep squat pattern, and low back pain in the press-up movement. In fewer than 6 weeks, he was able to satisfactorily complete both movements fully with NO PAIN. Additionally, after only 3 weeks on his program, he was sleeping through the night (as opposed to waking up 3-4 times), he significantly increased his energy levels, his blood pressure is lower than it has been in 3 years, and is performing exercises he never thought he could do.

 

FMS evaluations are also being used more frequently in business and industry due to the successes seen in the athletic world. Fire departments that have incorporated the FMS into their pre-employment process as well as into their wellness programs have seen costs per injury reduced by as much as 67% (from about $22,500 to around $7,500 for one Southern California department). A major utility company with approximately 1,500 employees in 3 Midwestern states saw their workers' compensation claim costs from strains, sprains, and body motion injuries fall from "more than $1,000,000 to under $300,000" in just 4 years.

To wrap it up, whether you are an athlete who wants to improve her performance on the court, a 47 year-old corporate executive looking to drop 30 pounds before that upcoming high school reunion, a grandmother who simply wants to play with her grandkids, or an athlete coming off of an ACL injury rehabilitation program, don't jump into an exercise routine without first finding out where you have movement limitations, and what you should do to correct them. We need to live in a culture of First move better, then move more.

Don Holly
www.successfitnessreno.com

Certified Lifestyle Fitness Coach (NESTA)
Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM)
Precision Nutrition Level 1 Specialist
FMS Level 1 certified