New Year New Start
Happy New Year to everyone. Every two years, personal trainers have to get recertified. I took a couple of courses, but one really resonated with me. Functional Movement Systems has been around for quite a while and I have read lots of their stuff and even implemented some. Functional movement is how you move in your daily life. For instance you rarely do a bicep curl all by itself unless you are enjoying a glass of water. More often we do complex move like bending at the waste to pick up a baby or groceries out of the car. So, why would you isolate a single muscle group when you are working out? Instead functional movement focuses on every day movement patterns and connecting upper and lower body movements. This idea works very well for athletes as well. It seemed appropriate to take the introductory FMS course on their signature FMS screen. I did that the summer of 2020, and it aligned with what I have been planning for quite some time (more on that in a moment). A screen in the fitness world and for FMS, is a series of movements that a client performs. The purpose of the screen is to establish how well a client moves. If you don't move well it is hard to embark on a training program that contains that movement, and doing so could even lead to injuries. I have performed the screen on myself (always my first client) and other family members. I was impressed at how the FMS screen caught functional movement that was flawed. These weak links are where programs need to begin. Without a screen the trainer is flying blind, so to speak, and a program might never address an issue that needs immediate attention.
The screen process made me think about sport specific training, (specifically lacrosse since those are the athletes with whom I most often work). Why not screen the basic sport skills too? You are only as good as your weakest link. If I can't throw left handed a good defender will try to take away my strong side and force me to use that weak link. A basic screen of lacrosse skills can identify weakness and that becomes the focus of your lacrosse training. It is so logical it is the duh factor, right? Not so much. As a lacrosse coach what do I see kids working on? All the advanced stuff that they rarely get a chance to use. I am not against working on those skills, but at the expense of an essential skill that you use day in and day out, it just doesn't make sense. As a coach I shouldn't be teaching a toe drag dodge if you can't even do a simple split dodge effectively. I shouldn't be teaching a ding dong check to a defender who can't even contain an opponent with his feet. It is like building a house without a foundation. Once the foundation is in place, everything else will function better.
Where is all of this discussion leading? In the next few blog posts, I will be outlining my system for settting up programming. It will be two pronged; one on physical training, and one on sports specific training.