How can the Functional Movement Screen identify exercise imbalances?

In my experience of nearly 30 years, I found some FMS are a bit limited. Or the fitness professional isn’t quite as observant as they should be. Me to add a couple of simple movements, and explain why first one steps walking forward while grabbing a knee at each step. This will show you their gait if they’re having balance issues, and if they’re having issues with knees and hips, by where their feet are placed. Second one is skipping. This will also show balance gait and foot placement. These movements will show any ankle issues as well as foot issues. It’s all in the observation.

The FMS, while a fairly imperfect means of measuring exercise capability, does give a coach a good sense of a client’s movement competency in the short term. Given the complex nature of some of the movements, a client’s ability to follow directions in the FMS can help you understand how well a client can take direction and ultimately be autonomous with their movement in the long term. For example, if a client already understands what a squat and lunge are, then simpler, more rudimentary versions of those exercises in a training program won’t be as difficult to coach in a one on one session.

I agree FMS is very important to the fitness professional to ensure that the member or client is able to perform the movements without causing injuries to themselves. Plus, it’s helpful to make sure you correct these foundations before they go onto heavier and harder movements that could cause damage later if these foundations are not fixed now.

I agree, 100% biggest issue is the fitness professional, being observant during the movements. They must walk around the member client during the movement.

The FMS is unloaded movement, so it can’t be completely accurate in predicting how a client will move under load. Some of the positions required for proper FMS execution are also unnecessarily complex, and don’t readily simulate what real gym floor movements will look like. For these reasons, I think the scoring system for the FMS is flawed and should be taken with a grain of salt.

I personally enjoy using the FMS as a tool to see an individuals movement before they start an exercise program with us. At Strive, we have the large amount of our clients participating in group training and the FMS provides us with a starting point to see movement during our consultation in a short amount of time. Over the years it has lead to clients remembering certain injuries or movement deficiencies that when first asked they said “nothing is wrong”. The FMS has allowed us to better prepare for individuals who are starting training with us. As well as lead to the individual feeling more confident that we take their movement into consideration when planning an exercise program.

100% agree very important to retest, at least on a monthly basis to ensure that the foundation is being corrected This will help the trainer and client realize the importance of following up on insuring. The movements and foundation are working correctly.

In my experience, learning more about the FMS, it’s applications, limitations, and overall effectiveness came from constant repetition and implementation over the course of my stint at a big box gym. It sounds cliche, but it’s just like functional training — the more reps you do, the more you start to understand the nuances and different facets of where it is and isn’t useful. I’ve performed over 750 FMS assessments, and the thing Ive discovered across the board is that the exercises included in the movement screen are always changing, always evolving, and should occasionally be re-screened every so often. Since a client’s initial FMS scores can be skewed by a multitude of factors, like sleep, fatigue, and motor function on a given day.

The tool is intended to be objective but there is nuance that must be used to truly apply it appropriately to fitness clients and patients alike. Like any other tool... No sense in using a screwdriver to bang in a nail when you have a hammer available.