At Pure we strive to provide an excellent quality of service. In order to provide the best for our clients, we have dedicated ourselves to having the highest qualified staff in the field. Our strength trainers are Certified Exercise Physiologists (CSEP-CEP), which is the gold standard certification for health and fitness professionals in Canada (see our previous blog post for more details). Another designation that our strength trainers have worked hard to achieve is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) certification, which allows them to perform a functional movement test on individuals to assess how their bodies are moving. The test is administered during the initial assessment process and guides the strength trainer in creating the ideal program for their client.
What is FMS?
The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a tool used by health and fitness professionals to help them identify limitations or asymmetries in an individual’s body. The FMS uses a ranking and grading system that documents seven fundamental movement patterns critical for normal functioning. By placing the client’s body in positions that challenge their ability to balance and move through a specific range of motion, it provides observable performance of basic motor locomotive skills and stability patterns.
Why FMS?
The importance of the FMS is that it focuses on fundamental movement patterns which are used in everyday motions. Issues in these areas can reduce the effects of functional training and conditioning, and make advancements more difficult for a client to reach. The FMS allows the strength trainer to properly prescribe exercises that will progress these limitations, reduce injuries, and optimize the effectiveness of training. It also provides a functional baseline to track a client’s improvements. Furthermore, the FMS’s grading system is a great tool for exercise professionals, physiotherapists, and physicians to communicate with each other about treatment and progress.
The Functional Movement System has two levels of certification. The first level teaches the exercise professional how to perform the screen, how to identify limitations or asymmetries, and how to grade them. The second level goes beyond simply identifying the issues; it teaches how to use corrective exercises to help improve the problems and how to incorporate them in training programs. All the strength trainers at Pure are FMS Level 1 certified (FMSC) and many of them have taken the initiative to get their level 2 as well.
At Pure, our mandate is to provide our clients with the best possible service. As a result, our staff “go the extra mile” and are committed to educating themselves to the highest degree. The FMS is backed-up with years of research and is known to be one of the best assessment tools in the field; it only made sense we get certified!
