Are you living in constant pain? Do you feel pain so consistently that you’ve come to believe it’s normal?
I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t be living with ongoing, daily pain. You shouldn’t be ignoring the pain you’re in because it’s probably telling you something important about how your body is working.
I recently attended an educational course through Functional Movement Systems, that discussed pain during movement. They taught 25 of us (a combined audience of physiotherapists and fitness professionals), an SOP for movement. Their philosophy is that we need to get moving well before we begin moving more. As fitness professionals, we need to protect those we’re working with, before we can correct them. Let me share a little more about these principles.
FMS Movement Patterns Principle 1: move well, move often.
We spent a lot of time learning how to screen our clients to determine how well they move. Through testing 7 movement patterns in FMS’s Functional Movement Screen, I’ve learned how to better assess my clients’ mobility and stability. This screen allows me to see a person’s weaknesses, imbalances, asymmetries and compensations. These are often issues that lead to injury down the road.
FMS Principle 2: protect.
If you’re in pain while moving, it’s not okay. We’re only as strong as our “weakest link”. This screen helps me find a person’s weakest link, and work to strengthen it. I learned the importance of sometimes removing a movement or exercise from a clients’ routine, until they’ve corrected the exercise pattern. When you continue practicing an incorrect movement pattern, you’re only solidifying something you’re doing wrong. This can lead to injury over the long-term.
FMS Movement Patterns Principle 3: correct.
By using this new system, I’m able to utilize corrective exercises to improve a dysfunctional movement pattern. I’m better able to progress my clients through their development plans. I know to always start by working on mobility, because without it, stability and motor control can’t be maximized. This system will improve my clients ability to adapt positively to what I put them through during a training session.
I love the fact that after taking this course, I now have an SOP to review each client’s movement. I also of course, like the fact that I now have some new fun and challenging exercises for you to all try in the near future!
To Sum it up..About Functional Movement Patterns
This FMS course was an informative course that’s altered the way I structure my program design. It’s great to receive validation of what I’ve always believed, that living and exercising in pain is not right. Chronic pain is not normal.
If you feel chronic pain, after you are cleared by a medical professional to exercise, it’s important that you start by moving better, before moving more often. Protect yourself by removing an exercise if it doesn’t feel right. And work with a fitness professional to correct your dysfunctional movement patterns.
Please reach out to me if you would like to hear more about my FMS learnings.
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