The Functional Movement Screen

Preventing injury is one of our primary concerns here at Core, and that’s why we place such value on our Functional Movement Screen (FMS) evaluations. They’re not for diagnosing pain, but rather to assess seven fundamental movement patterns to improve your strength and flexibility. Here’s how it works.

First, we put you in extreme positions so that your movement deficits are noticeable, and your stability and mobility are not used. Then, your compensatory movements take over to achieve your high-performance levels in your specific activity. This way, we can strengthen these weaker movements and minimize your chances of injury.

Ideally, you would want your FMS as part of a pre-placement or pre-participation exam so you can determine the deficits that are overlooked during traditional medical and performance evaluations, and pinpoint injury risks such as muscle flexibility, strength imbalances or compensation due to previous injury.

Because an FMS will identify functional deficits related to proprioceptive, mobility and stability limitations, your athlete’s risk factors can be identified and addressed, thereby minimizing your total number of injuries.

An FMS re-screen should also be done every 4-6 weeks for feedback and to monitor improvements in movement. Re-screening in particular provides feedback that heightens the effectives of this program and gives you insight into how and when to move to higher level progressions or new movement patterns.