Learn to move well before moving often.  Learning how well your body moves right now is the first step. This is called your movement baseline, which you can establish for yourself through a Functional Movement Screen, setting you on your way to moving with peace of mind.

This screen was created to find asymmetries in the way our body moves and correct them before they lead to injury. After completing seven fundamental movements, you will have an understanding of which daily movements or exercises you are doing great with (green light), which ones to be cautious with (yellow light), and which movements need to be corrected before they can be loaded (red light).

Injuries can happen when we overload a movement pattern that is faulty, much in the same way that driving on a flat tire can lead to larger vehicle damage. Functional movement screens detect and prioritize these dysfunctional movement patterns, correcting them before they leave to injury.

We need to walk before we can run. Or, using our car analogy again, it would make sense to fix your flat tire before fixing the car’s stereo, even though both repairs will improve your car’s overall function.  All of this information is reviewed with you so that you leave the appointment understanding which of your movements can be continued as you are currently performing them or even increased with frequency and weight, and which of your movements need to be corrected to prevent injury in the future.

Movement is a part of everyday life, not just exercise. This researched, data-driven tool allows us to assess and grade movements that are part of both everyday life and part of exercise routines, making this process an obvious choice for holistic and health-conscious movers of all ages.

Movement is not just exercise. These could be simple everyday movements such as squatting to pick something up off of the ground, picking up your children or grandchildren,  gardening, completing household chores, or getting in & out of your vehicle.

Grading each of your movements from 0-3 on each side of your body allows us to direct corrective exercises in order to affect the body’s movement as a whole. Considering this data in combination with your lifestyle and goals for the screening, your Physical Therapist prioritizes which movements should be focused on first to help you live, work and play better.  

Your Movement Baseline.  The best part of the Functional Movement Screen is that it can be repeated! After working on corrective exercises, the test may be redone to assess progress against your movement baseline. If the movement has improved to be considered functional, then you can comfortably increase the load of that movement. Who doesn’t love to see the progress they have been made in the form of good hard data? 

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