Screening, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

Screening

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a wide-ranging screen that looks at the quality of a certain movement pattern (Kiesel, Plisky & Butler, 2011). This will help to determine any weaknesses or imbalances that may impair sporting performance.

The FMS consists of 7 different tests, each scored out of 3.

0 - Pain during test.

1 - Some errors in movement pattern.

2 - Minor errors in movement pattern.

3 - Correct movement pattern with good technique.

Tests;

1. Deep Squat - Feet shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward. Dowel held above head with flexed and abducted shoulders and extended elbows. Slowly lower into a deep squat position, keeping heels on the floor, head and chest facing forwards.
2. Hurdle Step - The hurdle height is adjusted to the athletes tibial tuberosity. Stand with feet together, toes touching the base of the hurdle. Dowel is place across the back of the shoulders. Slowly step over the hurdle and touch heel to the floor, then return leg to the start position.
3. In-Line Lunge - The dowel is placed behind the back with the hand of the back foot grasping is at the cervical spine and the other hand holding at the lumbar spine. The athlete lunges forward in a straight line so the heel of the forward foot is in line with the knee of the back leg.
4. Shoulder Mobility - The athlete stands with feet together, they make a fist with each hand. One shoulder is maximully adducted, extended and internally rotated and the other maximully abducted, flexed and externally rotated. The distance between the fists is then measured.
5. Active Staight Leg Raise - The athlete lies supine on the floor with both legs extended out. The mid point of the thigh is located and the dowel placed there, so it is perpendicular to the extended legs. The athlete then raises one leg up, keeping it straight, the distance fromt he heel of the foot to the dowel is measured.
6. Trunk Stability Push Up - The athlete lies prone on the floor with feet together, their hands are then placed shoulder width apart in line with their chin (female) or forehead (male). They then perform a push up from this position, keeping their body in a straight plank position.
7. Rotary Stability - The athlete starts in the hands and knees position, with their knees and 90 degrees and ankles dorsi flexed. They then raise the same hand and foot of the ground, keeping the arm and leg straight, they then bring there hand and knee together to meet in the middle.

(FMS, 2011)

Two more tests were also performed in screening, to look at the upper body strength and control during pushing and pulling movements.

Push Up - A normal push up is performed to assess the scapula muscles strength under load. Table 1 shows points of interest for this test.

Bend and Pull Up - The athlete stands with hand sabove head, then bends their torso forward at the hip, letting their arms hang down. Their shoulders are then retracted and elbows flexed, bring their arms back as if performing a bent over row exercise, the arms then hang again, and they then return to the start position with arms above their head. Table 2 shows points of interest for this test.


 (Kritz, Cronin & Hume, 2010)

 (Kritz et al., 2010)

A screen was performed at the beginning of the off-season and then again just before the beginning of the in-season.

Evaluation

Testing an athlete’s repetition maximum helps to provide a baseline of the athlete’s strength, this then helps in the writing of the exercise programme and any progressions (Brewer, 2005).

For this athlete a 1RM max will be used to determine their baseline. A 5RM test can also be used, however it has been suggested that this is aimed more towards the developing athlete (Brewer, 2005).

A base weight is added and the athlete performs the exercise for 1 repetition, more and more weight is gradually added until they cannot complete the 1 rep or good technique is lost. A 3-5 minute rest is suggested between each addition of weight (Brewer, 2005).

An evaluation was performed at the beginning of the off-season and repeated every 2 weeks to monitor any improvement, so the programme could be correctly adjusted.

Reporting


At the beginning of this off-season, the primary resistance training goal for this athlete was muscular hypertrophy. For this reason, the programme included numerous exercises to build muscular size and strength. Another of the goals was to build ankle stability to help prevent further injury, for this reason a prehabilitation component was added to the programme.

At the start of this off-season this athlete had a mass of 95 kg, this has now increased to 96.5 kg, showing that muscular hypertrophy has taken place, as desired. In the 3RM tests, his maximum weights have increased for most exercises showing an increase in strength all round.

During the pre programme FMS is was noted that the athlete had stability issues whilst performing the hurdle step test with the left foot being the stance foot. As this was noted, a variety of ankle stability exercises were performed in the programme. After re evaluating his ankle stability it has been noted that it has increased and his performance during the hurdle step test has improved.

Another note made during the initial FMS was that the athlete lacked some rotary strength and stability during the rotary. Therefore, exercises were included which involved rotational aspects. After re evaluating this test, it has been shown that his rotational strength has improved and this should help to improve his passing during matches.