Lesson 22: Introduction to Movement Assessment and Analysis

This course introduces terms and concepts related to movement assessment, movement analysis, motor control, movement impairment, and postural dysfunction. This course is a prerequisite for future courses discussing various assessments, corrective exercises, and manual therapy, including mobility techniques, activation techniques, integration, and neuromuscular re-education techniques. Special consideration is given to the Brookbush Institute’s preferred "top tier" movement assessment, the Overhead Squat Assessment (OHSA).

Examples include:

• Ideal Posture: Ideal arthro- and osteokinematic motion maintained by optimal myofascial activity and length, as a result of accurate sensation, integration, and activation of the nervous system, both statically and dynamically.
• Relative Flexibility: A hypothesis introduced by Shirley A. Sahrmann that “stiffness in one muscle group or joint will cause compensatory movement at adjoining joints that are controlled by muscles and soft tissues that exhibit less stiffness”. In essence, your body will follow the path of least resistance, and/or move around motion that results in pain.

Additional terms defined in this course include postural dysfunction, movement impairment, dysfunctional movement patterns, neuromuscular efficiency, length-tension relationships, reciprocal inhibition, synergistic dominance, joint dyskinesis, relative flexibility, compensation patterns, and optimal flexibility. A practical example is presented in this course, in which these terms are applied to the assessment and analysis of an anterior pelvic tilt. Further, this example is related to the potential decrease in strength or sports performance and increased risk of musculoskeletal injury.

Additionally, “rules” for the analysis of human movement are described to aid movement professionals in the assessment of movement quality. Examples include:

• Rule # 1: All systems (muscular, fascial, nervous, and skeletal) contribute to every motion.
• Rule #4: Every muscle produces an equal amount of force at both proximal and distal attachments.

Sports medicine professionals (personal trainers, fitness instructors, physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, athletic trainers, etc.) must develop the ability to perform a movement assessment to develop optimal exercise programs and therapeutic (rehabilitation) interventions. Further, this course is essential knowledge for future courses discussing additional movement screens (e.g. Overhead Squat Assessment, Dynamic Postural Assessment, Functional Movement Screen, L.E.F.T. Test), altered motor function (e.g. motor control, dyskinesis, movement impairment syndromes), signs of dysfunction and the risk of injury (e.g. the effect of pain on normal movement, musculoskeletal injury and correlated signs - knee valgus and future ACL rupture) and sports performance (e.g. optimal motion, neuromuscular efficiency, strength, power, and agility).

For more advanced courses on movement assessment check out:

• Overhead Squat Assessment: Signs of Dysfunction
• Overhead Squat Assessment: Sign Clusters and Compensation Patterns
• Goniometry: Upper Body
• Goniometry: Lower Body

Caption: Two different views of the skeletal system in an anatomical position