Moving Isn’t Important, Until You Can’t

Many of our patients are doing a great job of trying to stay fit. They are exercising, walking or running, or even training with a fitness coach or personal trainer.  That’s fantastic. But what if you have some underlying movement dysfunction that you or your trainer is not picking up on? In this article we talk about the benefits of a proper movement assessment.

The majority of people, including athletes, don’t notice any impingement in their movement until they have pain or experience limitations.  Without performing a movement assessment, however, most people (or their trainers) won’t understand what their movement limitations mean.  It’s understandable that some trainers and athletes want to get to work right away with lifting weights, running, training etc., but if the goal is to improve fitness, or increase sports performance, isn’t it best to evaluate first?  How will you know what to focus on for training? What if you have an injury history? How do you assess your innate ability to move properly? These are valid questions.

Take the squat for example. Even if you are performing it properly, if your whole body is not moving to its fullest capacity, you could be setting yourself up for injury. Now add weight (strength) to that limited mobility squat (dysfunction), and you’ve increased the chances of injury.

The ability to move well is often overlooked in the annual health assessment, too.   Most medical professionals are not musculoskeletal experts, so they don’t recognize that most body and joint aches and pains have a musculoskeletal dysfunction behind them. Instead of sending the patient to physical therapy for a movement assessment, they prescribe medications or injections.

These two great quotes by Gray Cook sum up the point everyone should understand: “Moving isn’t important, until you can’t”; and “Don’t add strength to dysfunction”.

The Benefits of a Proper Movement Assessment

A proper movement assessment gives us the information we need in therapy to:

• Correct Movement Deficits
• Increase Strength and Balance
• Reduce the risk of future injury
• Help patients achieve fitness and training goals

The Assessment

At Superior Physical Therapy, we perform movement assessments using a system called 3DMAPS (Three-Dimensional Movement and Performance System). This allows us to scientifically and accurately pinpoint those areas of the body that are not moving properly.

This system allows us to test the body’s ability to move in three planes of motion, assess the body’s chain reactions, and test the fundamental movements: Lunging, Squatting, Jumping, Reaching, Lifting, Pushing, Pulling and Walking.

In conclusion, you need a movement assessment if you want healthy, pain free movement, and to avoid injury while training.  Superior Physical Therapy is offering a day of free exams Friday October 28^th.  There are 20 spots available. To reserve yours now call 231.944.6541.

Our Invitation Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t9ua9ySS6F8