Why Do A Movement Assessment And Why They Are A Part Of My Programs

More and more of today’s individuals are working harder to become stronger and healthier.  These people are constantly working to improve their activities by increasing their flexibility, strength, endurance, and power.  Many individuals are performing high-level activities even though they are inefficient in their fundamental movements.  This results in poor movement patterns, training around a pre-existing problem, or simply not train their weakness.

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The best equipment and programs cannot produce results if the fundamental weaknesses are not exposed and addressed.

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When I coach clients, each of their workouts is based on their weak links.  The weak links are physical or functional limitations.  To isolate these weak links, your body’s fundamental movement patterns need to be considered.  Most people will not begin strength and conditioning or rehabilitative programs by determining if they have adequate movement patterns.  

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A common issue that I see is low back pain.  

Low back pain can result from a myriad of reasons.  Some of those reasons include:

degenerative issues in the spine

prolonged periods of sitting or standing

footwear choices

old injuries that produced scar tissue in the connective tissue

limb length discrepancies, etc.  

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All of these causes can produce flexibility, stability, and strength issues.  In this video, I explain why someone with low back pain needs to do a movement assessment.  

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The movement assessment can pinpoint what issues need to be addressed.  In the case of low back pain, the client sits a lot for their job.  Their core is weak since sitting in a chair for 8 hours doesn’t require much core strength.  Their glutes, hamstrings, low and upper back muscles are weak.  These muscles aren’t stimulated to contract when sitting all day long in an office chair.  These areas are often found to have muscular weakness, poor core, and joint stability when a movement assessment is performed.  

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Can you imagine this individual being prescribed a strength program that involves squats and deadlifts?  Squats and deadlifts require not only leg strength but a very strong posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, low back) and a strong back.  Not to mention a stable core as well.  Can you imagine what would happen to this individual's performance if they had bad squatting and deadlift form because their core was weak?  Or that their back was weak?  Their performance would suffer and they are treading shaky ground where injury can likely occur.  

This makes it essential to assess your fundamental movements before beginning a rehabilitative or strength and conditioning program.

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By looking at the movement pattern and not just one area, a weak link can be identified.  This will enable me to focus on those areas in your programming.  I then assign an exercise to correct it.  When this is accomplished, they will have greater movement efficiency, which will lead to improved performance and hopefully a decrease in injury potential.  If your weak links are not identified, your body will compensate, causing inefficient movements.  It is this type of inefficiency that can cause a decrease in performance and an increase in injuries.  This is what makes my programs different from most online training programs.

In all of the Health Habits Roadmap programs, in-person and online personal training programs, movement patterns are assessed.  

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Questions about the Health Habits Roadmap, any of the personal training programs, or Nutrition Programming, fill out the Contact Form and we will respond to you withing two business days.