What is a Functional Movement Screen?

If you have heard about a functional movement screen but are looking to learn more, you’ve come to the right place; a functional movement screen is a tool that attempts to identify mobility, stability and imbalance issues in your movement. The functional movement screen or FMS is made up of seven exercises that are designed to identify areas of weakness and imbalances. This functional movement screen test can be performed at Block Chiropractic Sports & Wellness with our physical therapist in Smithtown.

What is a functional movement screen? And what is it made up of, the functional movement screen consists of seven exercises and your performances on each test is scored between 0-3. Here are the seven exercises:

- Deep squat

- Hurdle step

- Shoulder mobility

- Rotary mobility

- In-line lunge

- Active leg raise

Trunk stability push up

The cutoff score for this test is a 14, anyone who scores lower than this has a higher chance of sustaining an injury due to the deficiencies in these tests. After completing this test, you should have a better idea of how good your functional movement is and how likely you are to experience an injury. These tests have been proven to be reliable sources of information on testing your functional movement. The people who have participated in the FMS test have ranged from young individuals to middle-aged people of all different levels of physical fitness from elite athletes to individuals with average levels of fitness.

If you have ever wondered what a functional movement screen is and if you should take the FMS test, hopefully now you have your answer. But, if you have any other questions regarding this test, our physical therapist in Smithtown can answer any questions you may have. This test can be very beneficial especially to those who want to avoid injuries like athletes. It will allow you to see how likely you are to be susceptible to an injury. If you are looking to try the Functional Movement Screen test contact Block Chiropractic Sports & Wellness today to meet with our physical therapist in Smithtown!