Are You At Risk For Injury?

Nicole Gleason, Registered Physiotherapist 
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The number one goal we should all have with an exercise program is to prevent injury.
 
This must come before any goal of fat loss, weight loss, muscle building, or performance enhancement, because if you get hurt, then none of those goals even matter. You can’t train.
 
The primary cause of athletic injuries is neither weakness nor tightness, but rather muscle imbalance. Just because you can squat three hundred pounds doesn’t mean you won’t tear your Achilles during a squash game. Raw strength does not equal functional strength, and ignoring whole-body stability in favor of isolated muscle mass and power is a recipe for disaster.
 
We enter the world as limber, symmetrical babies but over time, we develop muscle imbalances and asymmetries. These can make us less efficient and more prone to injury. Think of it this way: Even if a car has a flat tire, you can still drive it, but that tire uses up extra energy and will eventually alter the overall alignment of the car.
 
We need to ask ourselves:

1. Are we moving correctly?
2. Is our body stable when we move?
3. Is our body balanced?
4. Are we moving as nature intended?

 
Most of us have probably answered “I think so”, but how can we really know for sure?
 
That is where the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) comes in. It is a seven-part test which helps identify muscle asymmetries, tightness, weakness and other risk factors for injury by examining the mobility and stability of the hips, core, shoulders, knees, spine and ankles. It is different from other screens as its focus is on dynamic movement.
 
                                     “Movement never lies” (Martha Graham).
 
The FMS lets us know how the brain is controlling the body and how the joints and muscles communicate.
 
You may find the movements are a bit awkward and challenging to do. That is by design - each isolates a different area of the body to prevent you from compensating and hiding weakness. It’s not magic — it’s simply good mechanics. The main purpose of the FMS is to seek out poor movement patterns so you can retrain the body to move in the most stable, efficient way possible.
 
It is essentially a quick and easy way to screen fundamental movement before you train it. If you train with a baseline of a poor quality of movement, the risk of injury is significantly increased. If, however, you correct baseline movement in a methodical, corrective exercise strategy prior to advancing performance training, the risk of injury is significantly reduced.

The FMS is designed for all healthy, active people as well as for healthy, inactive people who want to increase physical activity. It is designed for those that do not have pain or injury. 
 
With the increased desire to be fitter, stronger, and more athletic, people need to realize the importance of having fundamental movements before advancing into higher-level activities. What often happens is people are putting exercise and performance on top of dysfunctional movement, which can impair performance and cause injuries.
 
I personally believe it is very important to know how your body is moving so that you are exercising at your full potential and not increasing the risk of injury.  Movement Matters! Come in and see us for a movement analysis.
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