If you’ve read my stuff before, then you know that I am, well, a big geek. I think I probably took fitness geek to a whole new level with my bench press assessment article, talking about the work value of a bench press based on arm span. I think this article will further raise the bar on geek in the fitness industry.
This article is about what typical problem areas I see based on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS for those who like to keep things short) assessments that I perform. Not familiar with the FMS? Check out functionalmovement.com, or read on for a brief overview. Then follow the article to see an overview of the results I’ve seen in terms of what functional movements tend to cause the most problems, and how the results are different based on gender and whether someone is an athlete.
Lastly, I’ll share my take on what this should mean for your training (or programming for trainers) if you do not have access to the FMS or other assessment options to help guide you. Read more…
Have you ever wondered if your movement on land was limited? That maybe that was limiting your ability to move well on skis? If yes, try the movements in this video.
If you find that you have trouble with any of these movements, or that they feel differently from one side to the other, you have a limitation. Read more…
I had an article published in Ski Pro Magazine this fall, Reducing the Risk of Low Back Pain. For those of you who are skiers but not instructors in Canada, here is the link to the online version of the magazine:
I have a feeling there may be a lot of golfers out there. And I suspect just a few of them (read: most) are interested in improving theirs swing. And another small subset (read: large) are addicted to everything to do with golf. And that these people may just be interested to get a complete assessment of their swing, of the way they move without a golf club in their hand, and of the correlation between the limitations in the way they move and the problems they are having with their swing. And hopefully they will also be keen to do the few corrective exercises that will help them to improve their movement and their swing. I would think that those who don’t play as much as they want to because their back gets sore from a round of golf would be particularly keen on this.
I recently did a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) assessment on a golfer friend of mine down in Massachusetts who gets up at 430 am every day to fit 9 holes in before work. Despite that incredible dedication to this game (addict?), he has struggled with low back pain of late, and his game has also been suffering somewhat. Take a look at what we found out from his assessment: Read more…
Just back from the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Golf Fitness Instructor certification course, and since I’m a geek, I just had to try the swing assessment even though I’m still travelling. As part of the course, I have the results of my rotational movement assessment using the TPI screen; why not review some video of my swing and compare? As luck would have it, the cottage that I’m at actually has a set of golf clubs in the basement. I’m sure the owner won’t mind me taking an iron out onto the lawn. (Only one divot!)
The TPI assessment includes 11 tests and takes about 10 minutes. For non-golfers, I will integrate some of these tests into my current assessment that includes the Functional Movement Screen. For golfers, I will stick with the TPI screen combined with the swing 2 dimensional video assessment.Read more…
If you’ve ever wondered whether you should do some sort of warmup before a day of skiing, I can provide a simple answer for you: Yes. What you should do is a bit more of a challenge. To help with this, I have created a video that shows a set of 9 activation exercises and dynamic stretches that will help to prepare your body for the ski day ahead.
Each exercise can be done on snow, in your boots, and the only equipment you need is your poles. The warm-up includes: Read more…
You book a great week-long ski vacation somewhere out west. Maybe Heavenly? Lake Louise? Whistler? You can’t stop thinking about knee deep powder, and 3,000+ vertical feet, and runs that take half an hour to ski down. Then you start thinking about that, and you remember the last ski vacation you took:
Your legs were tired by lunchtime on the first day;
You woke up on day 2 and they felt like cement pillars but you pushed through.
