Movement Screens as an Integral Part of Achieving Peak Performance

Despite how common this might sound, it is everything that is wrong about how we think about fitness, injury and recovery. As a physical therapist, our primary goal is to prevent injury whenever possible, and it is possible much more often than you might think.

As movement specialists, physical therapists have a variety of tests and screens that can identify even the smallest deficiencies in movement that can lead to big problems – or big injuries – down the road. A movement screen is a test which assesses movement patterns, the mobility and the stability of either individual joints or the entire body. Think of movement patterns as your coordination – the order of the way you move, mobility as your range of motion and stability as your ability to balance or steady yourself. One of the screens we use the most is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), but there are others that are equally evidenced based and even more specific to individual movements.

Whether you are currently working out and trying to get better, or are not working out – but want to start moving better, there is no better way to do it than to start with a screen. By first finding the things that aren’t moving well, and focusing on them, you can make the biggest impact to overall performance in the least amount of time. Think of it like this, when something is wrong with your car, you don’t simply take it to the mechanic and tell him to fix everything. Instead, you run diagnostics, find exactly what’s wrong, fix that, then move on with your life. Ths what a screen is for your body and why it is so important.