Injury Prevention For Runners in Milwaukee, WI

As any runner knows, staying healthy is key to improving performance over the long term. Runners are always looking for the newest way to prevent running injuries and help them train smarter, from compression socks, self-massage products (roller sticks, Roll Recovery, and balls with tiny spikes for your feet), heart-rate monitors, and even full leg compression sleeves.

Most of the products that you buy help you recover from hard training or treat running injuries. But what if there was a way to identify your individual injury risks and correct the problem before injury occurs to stay healthy and keep running? Well, there is a way to diagnose your personal movement inefficiencies and weaknesses to prevent injuries from happening in the first place! Who needs to spend hundreds of dollars on gimmicky recovery products if you’re not overly beat up from training in the first place?

FMS for Running

We use the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) to systematically identify individual weaknesses and imbalances to determine injury risk. FMS consists of 7 exercises and 3 simple movements to test for pain. Each exercise is scored on a scale from zero to three. A score of three means the exercise is performed with perfect form. A score of zero is received if the test is not able to be performed without pain. So a perfect total score of 21 would indicate a very low risk of injury based on physical factors. A person with a score under 14 is probably already suffering or has experienced several injuries and in need of help from a rehab specialist (sports chiropractor or physical therapist).

FMS consists of the following movements:

1. Deep Squat
2. Hurdle Step
3. In-Line Lunge
4. Shoulder Mobility
5. Impingement Clearing Test
6. Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR)
7. Trunk Stability Push Up
8. Press Up Clearing Test
9. Rotary Stability
10. Posterior Rocking Clearing Test

After the test…

Once you’ve been screened for your injury risks, you’ll be given a short series of easy-to-perform, personalized corrective stretches and exercises to help you improve your weaknesses or imbalances and stay running injury-free!

USA Track & Field (USATF) has recently implemented FMS as part of the Olympic Training for many of the top track & field athletes leading up to Rio. Pictured to the right is Emma Coburn, who won the Silver Medal in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase in Rio!

 

Resources and Research:

1. The Application of FMS in Track & Field

2. Hotta, T, et al. Functional Movement Screen for Predicting Running Injuries in 18-to-24-Year-Old Competitive Male Runners. J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Oct;29(10):2808-15.

3. Loudon, JK et all. Functional movement screen scores in a group of running athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Apr;28(4):909-13.