Why do we insist on assessing every clients’ movement

Has anyone ever taught you how to walk, run, jump or squat??? Probably not…

At Chris Mears Health and Fitness we believe to help everyone improve their movement as we believe that good coaching around movement is a fundamental aspect to keeping the body injury free. Correcting poor movement patterns, postural imbalances and balancing repetitive motions are the main aims.  

Every client that steps through our door and commences a fitness programme always starts their journey by undertaking a movement assessment.  Depending on their training history, pain, goals/objectives, the detail of the assessment can vary.  The resulting information is priceless and helps to underpin the foundations of a fitness programme to help the client to become the best version of themselves which is robust to cope with their individual daily demands.

When I begun my Strength and Conditioning Internship with the GB junior tennis players I begun to understand that the eye was in the detail.  Individually bespoke plans were devised to improve upon the players weaknesses and to enhance their strengths ensuring first and foremost they could cope with the repetitive nature of their sport but also to perform at their highest level.  These plans all were derived from a specific movement assessment which took into account movement restrictions, limitations, and strength capacity.  

Now you might be thinking ‘I am not an elite performer’.  However assessing and improving movement should not be limited to just the elite.  Growing up, we develop habitual movements and patterns, that start to form patterns that could be dysfunctional and prevent us from moving optimally.  Issues derived from a movement assessment could be contributed by a tennis player serving 1000 times a day or even just an office worker sitting for 12 hours a day.  The principal remains the same.  Do something often enough without working on the opposite movement and a problem could potentially arise. 

In the past 8 years I have seen a lot of individuals perform exercises that are performed so badly that they work the wrong muscle groups and instead of improving their movement could actually be more detrimental.  Good form and mobility within the gym is essential and this is more often or not forgotten in search for a heavier weight.

There are many aspects to developing a fitness programme, and we ultimately pride ourselves on improving your movement quality and enabling you to train harder with a reduced injury risk.  This is not to say, you will be immune to injuries, BUT you will be in far better shape to cope with the demands of your daily routine and activities.  So if in the near future you plan to start training for a big event or even just want to prevent day to day aches and pains, this could be something of real interest for you.

One of the assessments we utilise is an Overhead Squat Assessment which is a very intricate motion requiring optimum strength and flexibility to be performed well.  This test allows us to look at muscles and how they perform in conjunction with the others.  

…Did You know??

“limited rotation at the spine, places us at a greater risk of developing a shoulder injury, as that weak link in the kinetic chain forces the shoulder to make up for a drop in power”

From head to toe we will assess how to move that will enable us to build a programme for you to get in the best shape possible helping you to move better and reduce your injury risk whether that is playing a sport or even just sitting at your desk.

One reason as to why I am so passionate about improving your fitness is because I suffered for a long time without gaining the right guidance in how to look after myself.  My main sport growing up was tennis and being fit for tennis, meant playing more tennis and basically my body couldn’t cope with it.  It wasn’t until I received a steroid injection and guidance on how to strengthen myself when I was 20 (better late than never)that I began to feel like my body could meet the demands of my sport.  This meant me getting in the gym to strengthen the body appropriately and now I feel confident in my fitness to outlast the majority of people and touch wood have not had any back issues since.

So my tip to you: Understand your body’s strengths and weaknesses and get your body in its best possible shape in terms of strength and mobility.  As a result your longevity and ability to withstand the daily demands of your life and sport will be enhanced!