[xcskier]

Has anybody done “Functional Movement Screen”?
Was it useful or it’s mostly a waste of time?

Scott has a video of knee stability. Perhaps a more thorough
functional movement test helps addressing other deficiencies
and problems.

Topic

[Josh Gray]

Josh Gray on October 7, 2018 at 1:38 pm #13811

I personally feel it’s a waste of time. Last winter my friend who’s certified for FMS did a test on me since I was experiencing some chronic knee pain and he couldn’t figure out why I was passing everything in the screen. I consider myself pretty athletic and strong from my background and that’s why I could pass the test well. My knee pain I feel was more from poor stress management instead of lack of mobility. I guess my point is that FMS is flawed in that it may only be applicable for a a few take the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on October 11, 2018 at 1:36 am #13908

As opposed to Josh I think functional testing is quite valuable. We often see folks with greatly restricted mobility which inhibits their ability to training effectively and without pain. Endurance sports requite one to do thousands of cyclic repetitions daily. Even slight imbalances/weaknesses or misalignments can result in overuse injuries that can sideline an athlete. Movement screens can be ONE very useful way of determining if mobility is a root cause of the problem.

There is no one screening that hit all the functional movement patterns for all sports. This is a complex subject and needs nuanced testing. My little video is a very basic test because we see so many people how have knee instability due to hip weakness. We’re working on a video series to address other mobility issues but it’ll be a few months before its ready.

Scott

[Josh Gray]

Josh Gray on October 11, 2018 at 11:21 am #13917

Well I guess I should’ve been more clear, I think I might actually be more in agreement with you Scott. I more disagree with the notion behind FMS that someone scoring poorly in the testing needs to increase their “mobility” before taking on certain activities like doing squats or deadlifts for example. Take an older person that cannot do a full squat. FMS would suggest that individual would need to go through a stretching and corrective exercise protocol before it was safe for that person to to Loaded Squats. Whereas more likely that person needs to increase their strength then they would be able to do a full depth squat. Doing mobility exercise would probably be a waste of time if Strength was the limiting factor.

This is where things like this should take a much more nuanced approach for each individual and where I think FMS falls short.

[Josh Gray]

Josh Gray on October 11, 2018 at 11:25 am #13919

And I forgot to mention that I fixed my knee pain by ceasing running and going through 6 weeks of maximum strength training as well as working on managing life stress and now I’m back to trail running pain free

[xcskier]

xcskier on October 13, 2018 at 12:41 pm #13953

I look forward to seeing the upcoming video. The other short video
was *very* useful.

Can you offer some advice who (a local physiotherapist, specialized sports medicine shop?)
can actually perform these movement/mobility tests and what would a good and comprehensive
test include?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on October 19, 2018 at 7:58 am #14023

I’d look for a local PT who specializes in working with athletes. Just like an skill they are good ones and not so good ones.

Scott