The lines between the gym and the workplace are blurring and Emily Drosdik of Well Fit USA is taking lessons from the realm of strength conditioning and finding innovative solutions in the workplace.
She is taking the Functional Movement Screen and applying it to help workers, especially active workers, avoid injury and improve performance. The screening is a proven technique used to assess how a person moves, identifying areas of tension, injury, or restriction.
By using the screening Drosdik has found that employees can become aware of physical problems before they become an issue. Those issues can take the form of costly workmen’s compensation cases, but also the impact from lowered on the job performance, or lack of focus due to low-grade pain.
John F Kennedy said “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the bases of dynamic and creative intellectual activity”.
By helping companies understand how to apply lessons tested in the gym by the strength and conditioning industry has produced a simple tool that helps avoid injury, provide corrective assistance, and improve workforce performance. Improving physical fitness and as a result overall performance.
The Functional Movement Screen was developed by Gary Cook and Lee Burton in 1995 based on research, scientific evidence, and practical application. The screen produces an overall aggregate score ranging from 0 to 21. Researchers have found that individuals with scores lower than 14 are two to four times more likely to be injured than those with a score above 14.
Seven Movements of the Functional Movement Screen
There are seven movements included in the screening, each is scored with a range from 0 to 3. The scores can be simply explained as follows:
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0 – The movement was painful and the individual should be referred to a healthcare professional.
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1 – The individual was unable to perform or complete the movement.
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2 – The movement was performed but was done with some form of compensation.
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3 – Ideal, the individual could unquestionably perform the movement.
The scores from each of the seven movements are added together to create an aggregate score.
The seven movements are often difficult for many to perform. These should be done with adequate supervision and coaching to ensure that the movements are done safely and properly.
Deep Squat – Performing the deep squat will assess the mobility of the hips, knees, and ankles as well as the shoulders and thoracic (upper) spine.
Hurdle Step – This movement assess the mobility and stability of the hips, knees, and ankles while in performing a stepping motion.
In-Line Lunge – Is another movement that helps identify issues in the shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle mobility and stability while also assessing the flexibility in the quadriceps and stability in the torso.
Shoulder Mobility – Performing this movement highlights common areas of tightness and injury by assessing the range of motion in the shoulders.
Active Straight Leg Raise – This movement is performed laying flat on the ground to assess active hamstring flexibility while maintaining stable hip position as well as active extension of the opposite leg.
Trunk Stability Pushup – Performing this test allows the stability of the torso to be assessed while the upper body is in motion.
Rotational Stability – This is a more challenging movement that assesses torso stability while both the upper and lower body are in motion.
By performing these seven movements under the watchful eye of someone trained in the use of the Functional Movement Screen can identify areas of limited mobility, tension, or injury.
The Results
Companies are adopting the Functional Movement Screen and seeing results.
One study in Tucson, Arizona involved screening 433 firefighters and reduced injuries by 44% and reduced time lost to injuries by 62% over a 12 month period.
The Orange Country Fire Authority worked with 113 firefighters to compare their Functional Movement Screen with past injuries and injury-related costs. The found that 47% of the firefighters scored below 14, but those firefighters accounted for 72% of the injuries and 85% of the total injury costs incurred by the entire group.
Wellness Innovation
Finding new ways of using existing knowledge is innovation. By providing education and training for companies to learn the Functional Movement Screen, Emily Drosdik is providing real and practical help that delivers results.
That is just one of the ways that Well Fit Innovative Solutions is improving workplace wellness.
Readers can find out more about Emily Drosdik and the innovative application of the Functional Movement Screen at Well Fit USA
Source: Troy Pesola from MobiusLife