PTCS: Functional Movement Assessment: Why Better Exercise Programming Starts Before the First Exercise
When a new client walks through the door, it can be tempting to start thinking immediately about exercises.
What movements should you choose? How many sets? How much resistance? What should the program look like?
But there's an important step that comes first:
Understanding the person you're creating the program for.
At Pinnacle Training & Consulting Systems (PTCS), we teach fitness and healthcare professionals about human movement, functional assessment, exercise selection, and the science behind making informed programming decisions.
What Can a Functional Assessment Tell You?
Two people can have the exact same goal and need very different approaches to reaching it.
A functional or movement assessment can help professionals gather useful information about how an individual moves before determining what comes next.
Depending on the professional's scope of practice and the type of assessment being used, that may include looking at:
Movement patterns
Mobility
Stability
Strength
Balance
Coordination
Asymmetries
Movement limitations
Previous injuries or existing challenges
How the individual performs specific movements
The goal isn't simply to find something "wrong."
It's to better understand the person in front of you.
Assessment Can Help Guide Exercise Selection
An exercise isn't automatically good or bad simply because it appears in a textbook or workout program.
The more important question is whether it's appropriate for this particular person, at this particular point in their training or recovery.
Assessment can provide information that helps professionals make more informed decisions about exercise selection, modifications, progression, and programming.
It also gives you something valuable to compare against later.
As your client, patient, or athlete progresses, reassessment can help you evaluate changes and determine whether the current approach is accomplishing what you intended.
Go Beyond Memorizing Exercises
Anyone can memorize a list of exercises.
Professional education should help you understand why you might choose one exercise over another.
That requires a deeper understanding of human movement, biomechanics, assessment, exercise programming, and the individual you're working with.
At PTCS, our evidence-based educational programs are designed to help professionals connect scientific principles with practical application.
Our continuing education opportunities include online courses, live seminars, advanced certifications, educational videos, and mentoring for fitness and healthcare professionals.
Better Information Can Lead to Better Decisions
Good exercise programming doesn't begin with asking, "What's a good exercise?"
It begins with asking better questions about the individual who will actually be performing it.
Whether you're a personal trainer, strength coach, physical therapist, PTA, athletic trainer, massage therapist, or another fitness or allied health professional, developing your assessment and movement knowledge can give you more information to draw from when making professional decisions.
Ready to deepen your understanding of human movement, functional assessment, and exercise programming?
Pinnacle Training & Consulting Systems
(PTCS)Phone: 443-528-0527
Email: ptcg1999@verizon.net
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