Functional Movement Screen

Weekly Programming Links: Group Class, Venice Barbell Club, Track Night, Gymnastics Club

Monday, June 2, 2014

Prehab

Banded Hip Extension
Monster Walks
PVC Dislocates
Banded Overhead Stretch

Warmup

15 Bird Dogs, each side
5 Hip Circles, each side/direction
High Knee Stretch + Walking Lunge, 10 per side
10 Push Ups
:30 Plank
10 Ring Rows
10 Squats

Classic Strength

Back Squat 3×5- Rest 90 seconds
Press 3×5- Rest 90 seconds

Notes:  You will perform your back squats first, then your presses second.  This is the same work being performed as the Advanced strength, except without percentages.  This is designed for the newer athlete that does not have a true 1 rep max, but we still want you to keep track of these numbers because you will be repeating them over the coming weeks.    Perform 2 warmup sets and then add weight each set as needed. 

Advanced Strength

Wendler Cycle 2, Week 3

Back Squat: 75% x 5, 85% x 3, 95% x 1+
Press:  75% x 5, 85% x 3, 95% x 1+

Notes:  Percentages are based off 90% of adjusted 1 RM. When you see 1+, that means you do the max reps you can manage with that weight, with the goal of setting a rep record in each workout.  Perform a few warm up sets before getting into your working sets.  Keep rest intervals around 2 minutes.

Partner Conditioning

4 Rounds each for time:
400m Run
500m Row
-20 min cap-

Notes:  One person runs while the other person rows.  When both have finished they switch and complete the other movement.  That is one round.  Both partners must finish their row/run before switching and beginning the next movement.

Cool Down

Roll Calves
Roll Quads
Pike Stretch

To all the Rugby players: USA will be competing against Japan at Sub Hub Center on June 14th.  Anyone going? 

This weekend I attended the FMS Cert in San Francisco.  Our instructor, Brett Jones, was one of the original adopters of FMS in 1998 and an extremely knowledgeable guy.  I likened him to KStar but without the big words; he had magic hands and mobility tricks that would fix major dysfunction in 10 minutes or less, but he could still explain everything in the most basic terminology required.  Awesome.

The Movement Screen is comprised of seven basic human movement patterns that require mobility and stability.  It is a diagnostic tool that will highlight very quickly your greatest limitations and asymmetries contributing to any movement dysfunction you may be suffering from.  It does not determine why a faulty movement pattern exists, it simply discovers which movement patterns are the most problematic for you.  Once you have identified them, you can now address it before they lead to any potential injuries.

In the Marina del Rey gym we have plastered on the wall: Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity.  This weekend made me realize that we have moved away from this adage a bit lately.  We need to constantly go back, review, and hammer away at the mechanics of a movement to reinforce the correct movement patterns.  If you can’t do a squat perfectly with just your body weight, how do you expect to do a perfect squat under load?  And if you do a body weight squat with a bunch of compensations, how much stress can those compensations withstand with weight until they lead to an injury?    FMS addresses this perspective with their Performance Pyramid.  At the base of the pyramid is Movement, the foundation to everything else.  Above it is Performance, like back squatting or doing pushups.  The top is Skill, which refers to sport specific practice.

What happens at times, however, is known as the Over Powered Performance Pyramid.  In this version there is movement dysfunction, usually in mobility or asymmetries, and the athlete has a massive engine and horsepower, so there is a disproportionate amount of Performance in relation to Movement.  They are a car with a massive engine, but without the suspension or brakes to handle it.  The result is almost always a major accident long term.  The opposite can also happen, the Under Powered Performance Pyramid, usually associated with too much mobility and not enough strength.  Even though these athletes are hyper mobile, they lack the stabilizers or strength required to do movements safely.  They also are at risk for injury if they do not address their strength imbalance.  

The goal is to develop the optimal Performance Pyramid.  If you have the mobility and stability required to perform basic human movements correctly and through full range of motion (Mechanics), you can begin to strengthen and reinforce those correct movement patterns under load (Consistency).  Once you have reinforced those movement patterns and developed them with proportional amount of strength, mobility, and symmetry, your body will be working optimally and you can now safely increase its performance (Intensity).  

Next time you are in MDR take a look at the wall and be honest about any movement limitations you have been training with that could lead to potential injury down the road.  We all know our goats and weaknesses, the key is to address them.  Sometimes that means taking a step back now to take two steps forward later.  That is a hard pill to swallow, but much easier than being forced to take ten steps back and starting over completely due to an injury.  Ask McCoy for example, who has reworked his Snatch technique 3+ times in the last two years to break through plateaus.   Ask anyone else who has suffered a major injury and they will tell you it wasn’t worth it.  

I will be running FMS Screenings on some athletes at the gym and giving corrective exercises to address any issues we may find.  I’m super excited to have a systematic approach to attack this issue and I’ll share any results with you in the future!  In the meantime, talk to Steve, talk to one of your coaches, visit the Prehab section of the website, and train smarter not harder.