The road to recovery for athletes after an injury doesn’t just involve healing the physical tissue. It’s crucial to assess movement patterns to identify any underlying weaknesses or imbalances that could hinder a safe and successful return to sport. This is where the Functional Movement Screening (FMS) comes in.
What is the Functional Movement Screening (FMS)?
The FMS is a systematized approach to evaluating seven fundamental movement patterns that are essential for athletic performance and daily activities. It’s a quick, reliable tool used by sports rehab professionals to identify potential limitations and asymmetries that could increase the risk of future injuries or hinder performance.
The FMS is not a diagnostic tool, but rather a screening mechanism. It highlights areas where an athlete might lack optimal mobility, stability, or motor control. By pinpointing these limitations, therapists can design a targeted corrective exercise program to address them before athletes progress to more demanding training or competition.
How Does the FMS Help with Return to Sport?
A successful return to sport (RTS) strategy goes beyond simply regaining strength and range of motion after an injury. It requires ensuring that an athlete’s movement patterns are efficient and adaptable to the specific demands of their sport. The FMS plays a vital role in this process by:
- Identifying movement dysfunction: The FMS can uncover limitations in squats, lunges, shoulder mobility, core stability, and other fundamental movements. These limitations could be due to tightness, weakness, or faulty movement patterns.
- Reducing reinjury risk: By addressing movement dysfunction, the FMS helps to create a more balanced and resilient foundation for athletic movement. This can significantly reduce the risk of reinjury as athletes return to sport.
- Optimizing performance: Efficient movement patterns are essential for peak athletic performance. The FMS helps to identify areas where an athlete’s movement might be hindering their power, speed, or agility. By correcting these limitations, athletes can potentially unlock their full potential.
- Guiding corrective exercise prescription: The results of the FMS provide a roadmap for therapists to design corrective exercise programs. These programs can address specific movement deficits revealed by the screen, ultimately improving overall movement quality.
- Monitoring progress: The FMS can be re-administered periodically throughout the return to sport process. This allows therapists to track an athlete’s progress and adjust the rehabilitation program as needed.
The Seven Movements of the FMS
The FMS consists of seven basic movement screens that assess:
- Deep Squat
- Hurdle Step
- Inline Lunge
- Shoulder Mobility
- Active Trunk Stability
- Rotary Stability
- Push-Up
Each movement is scored on a scale of 0 to 3, with 3 indicating optimal movement and 0 indicating significant limitations. A low score on a particular screen doesn’t necessarily mean an athlete can’t return to sport. However, it does highlight an area that requires attention through corrective exercises.
Benefits of Using the FMS in Sports Rehab
The FMS offers several advantages for sports rehab professionals and athletes alike. Here are some key benefits:
- Simple and efficient: The FMS is a quick and easy tool to administer, requiring minimal equipment and space.
- Standardized scoring: The scoring system ensures consistency and allows for easy comparison between athletes and over time.
- Objective assessment: The FMS provides a data-driven approach to evaluating movement, removing subjectivity from the assessment process.
- Improved communication: The FMS results provide a clear communication tool between therapists, athletes, and coaches, allowing everyone to be on the same page regarding movement limitations and goals.
- Proactive injury prevention: By identifying and addressing movement dysfunction early on, the FMS can help to prevent future injuries.
Conclusion
The Functional Movement Screening (FMS) is a valuable tool in the sports rehab professional’s toolbox. It offers a standardized and efficient way to assess movement patterns, identify limitations, and guide corrective exercise programs. By incorporating the FMS into the return to sport process, therapists can help athletes move more efficiently, reduce their risk of reinjury, and ultimately optimize their performance.
Sources:
- Functional Movement Systems: https://www.functionalmovement.com/ (2014)
- The Functional Movement Screen: A Reliable Tool for Assessing Movement Dysfunction [abstract]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4060319/ (2013)
- 7 Movement Patterns in a Functional Movement Screen: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4060319/ (2023)
