The Functional Movement Screen & Y Balance Test for Improved Personal Training

[maximusr86]

The FMS Screen and Y- Balance Tests are an effective method for determining faulty movement patterns that lead to injury. After conducting the screen, a personal trainer can learn determine which corrective exercises are helpful for improving a movement pattern. For example is a client has had problems with running injuries, they probably won't do well on the the hurdle step and the inline lunge.
If that's the case a corrective exercise workout might include:
(Muscles and Joints Targeted) Low Back, Hips, Groin, Hamstrings
-Standing Forward Fold
-Seated Forward Fold
-Butterfly Groin Stretch
-Cross-legged Stretch: “Indian-Style” forward fold. Variation: Track torso over one leg.
-Spinal Twist: Seated, bend one leg over the other extended leg with foot touching floor. Twist toward bent leg with opposite elbow pushing knee back.

Muscle and Joints Targeted) Back, Hip and Leg Stretch
-Lying Bent-Knee Hamstring Stretch: Lying down, bend one knee and pull to chest in the “kneepit”
-Spinal Roll with Variations Seated position, bring knees to chest and hold. Gently roll backwards up and down spine. Variations: Crossed-legs. OR Legs extended overhead.
-Squat Stretches: Squat and hold. Scale by holding onto rack or leaning against a wall. Variations: Sumo squat while pushing knees outward with hands.

To learn more about the how the FMS & YBT can prevent injuries and enhance movement quality check out our pdf.

Max Rand
Fitness Manager
Sand and Steel Fitness
Alexandria, VA 22314

[jonmd123]

Yet every study on the topic says otherwise.

[maximusr86]

Yet every study on the topic says otherwise.

What studies are you referring to? If you don't mind please send me the links. Thanks.

[KyleAaron]

I'm 50-50 on whether to delete this thread and ban the OP for spam, as he has zero posts before this. But let's see if he's here to advertise or discuss.

I've done an FMS course. I have applied it. It wasn't useful. This is the evidence of my experience, and of many studies.

It's personal trainers trying to become physiotherapists. It's not our job to diagnose issues, it's our job to teach correct movement. It's just a continuation of that old trend of the Wingate test and bodyfat calipers, the theory being: if in the first session you tell a client what is "wrong" with them, they're more likely to sign up for personal training. "You know you're fat, weak and clumsy, now I'm going to give you a SCORE to tell you exactly how fat, weak and clumsy you are to three decimal places!" But it doesn't work, in fact it makes the potential client feel inadequate and humiliated so they never set foot in the gym again.

If someone cannot perform an overhead squat with a piece of dowelling, you have four questions to ask,

1. Do they need to?
Obviously a weightlifter needs to do this, it's the bottom position of a squat snatch. But if you have a 65yo with a bad back and recent heart surgery who just wants her back to stop hurting and to be able to pick up the grandkids without fear of injury, does she need to do an overhead squat? How about... a squat?

Analysis of needs often reveals that a regression would do as well or better.


2. Would they do it better if you coached them on it?
In the FMS course we are specifically told not to coach the movement. For example, in the OP's pdf, we see a guy doing a hurdle step and leaning to one side with his shoulders. The OP suggests, "To help, we’d administer 3 corrective exercises: the inline lunge, the TRX skater squat, and the Airex Halo half-kneeling lunge."

That might work. But how about this. Say to the guy: "Stand up straight, even up the bar."


3. Would they do it better if they actually had a load?
This is a trick I have seen performed at Crossfits following the Starrett philosophy. You get them to put a piece of dowelling in the front squat rack, they can't get it on their shoulders. You take them away and get them to do a bunch of stretches with more dowelling and wrap some rubber bands around their joints and maybe tape them up, then come back and have them try again... with a barbell. Now they can do it, miracle of coaching! But they could have done with a barbell in the first place. The load stretches out their triceps etc, allowing them to put it on their shoulders.

Again looking at the guy with the wonky shoulders stepping over the hurdle... he holds a stick wonky. Would he hold a 20kg barbell wonky? How about 40kg? I would suggest that he would not, since being wonky with a stick he can manage, but being wonky with 40kg would make him fall over. Adding a load would "correct" the "imbalance".

Adding a load, if done sensibly, often sorts out issues.


4. Do they need to?
This is asked twice because after going through all the rest you can assess again. For example, having seen that after being told to straighten up and given a barbell, the wonky-shoulders guy straightens up, you might say, "okay, so he can lunge, he just can't lunge with a stick - but does he need to? Maybe he only needs to lunge with a barbell." Or you might say, "Does he even need to lunge? Maybe if he just got stronger at squatting and pressing, he'd be better at lunging anyway?"


A thing is perfect not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. We can add complexity in an effort to make ourselves feel and look smarter and humiliate potential clients, or we can make it all as simple and short as possible to make it all accessible to people.

[401Delta]

A thing is perfect not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

^^This x2.

[scienceoverhype]

I'm a coach at a MBSC Thrive and they're big on using the FMS. I only use it because it's required; I never tell my clients the "interpretation" of the results because it's borderline fear mongering. For my private clients and MMA fighters, the only screen I use is the active straight leg raise. IMO, the rest of it is superfluous.

[Camms1234]

I was thinking for getting my FMS cert as it seems like all the cool kids have it.

Wouldn't you then have to spend $500 more to also get the kit to perform the screenings?

Gray Institute has an alternative called 3D Maps. It uses more natural movements for its screening. Perhaps that is a more practical screening for normal folks instead of overhead squats etc.
Also no equipment required.

[SerpentHearted]

I was thinking for getting my FMS cert as it seems like all the cool kids have it.

Wouldn't you then have to spend $500 more to also get the kit to perform the screenings?

Gray Institute has an alternative called 3D Maps. It uses more natural movements for its screening. Perhaps that is a more practical screening for normal folks instead of overhead squats etc.
Also no equipment required.

wouldn't bother with either tbh.
like a lot of certifications, someone put 'em together arguably with good intentions and based mostly on speculation. over time we see whether they serve the purpose they claim, for example injury prevention and so on. As best I understand the current state of affairs, they do not.