A Common Sense Approach to Evaluating Movement

Presented by Gray Cook

Video Runtime: 63 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 12 Minutes

A Common Sense Approach to Evaluating Movement is an introduction to a new way of looking at movement through the lens of function. By dividing movement into four distinct levels and discussing the specific factors valuable to evaluating movement at each level, we learn how we’ve often looked at movement, and our attempts to improve it, from the wrong perspectives. The course uses the natural developmental sequence to delineate the four levels of movement as Health, Function, Fitness, and Skill, and asks the basic question, Are you investing your attention at the proper level?

Meet your instructor

A man in a long-sleeve shirt stands indoors, embodying digital healthcare advancements, in a black-and-white image for medbridge.

Gray Cook

Gray Cook is a practicing physical therapist and orthopedic certified specialist. He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist and kettlebell instructor. He is the founder of Functional Movement Systems and author of Athletic Body in Balance and Movement. His work promotes the concept of movement…

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Chapters & learning objectives

1. Defining Movement Hierarchy

This introduction looks at how movement is defined and describes natural human movement development through postures, patterns, and time. A layered model of movement is presented, and support is provided for the distinctive value of Movement Function. Definitions are provided for terms used throughout the course.

2. Focusing on Function

Using Function as an entry point may help us face many current dilemmas caused or exacerbated by an inauthentic movement culture. An argument is made for implementing a pattern-based movement screen to efficiently determine the level at which movement problems occur. “Listening” to movement in this manner requires standards but offers great benefits in professional communication and accountability.

3. Approaching Movement Systematically

A discussion of movement quality vs. quantity leads to a description of the seven patterns on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and how they help observe mobility, stability, strength, and symmetry. This movement philosophy is extended to the health care model (SFMA), as pain is differentiated from function and dysfunction, and the fitness model (FCS), as minimum capacities are explored in four quadrants of general movement control. The developmental hierarchy is continued in the concept of “well before often.”

4. Developing Movement Complexity

The principle of “Protect/Correct/Develop” is applied to Health, Function, and Fitness to illustrate the use of the systems in general and specific contexts before the cultivation of Skill and Performance. A discussion of corrective exercise presents the SAID principle and reinforces the need for functional standards in methods that seek to improve movement.

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